I spent all day today trying to polish the inside of small settings for some rosecut tourmalines, without success. The stones are small and near translucent and a range of beautiful blues and blue-greens.
I started out making sure each piece of silver was polished before assembly, then polished again after soldering on the backplate, bails, and shot embellishments. And then I tumbled in steel shot for 1hr 45min.
Wouldn’t you know, the inside of the setting is still pale white and hazy and I tried everything I could think of, all the tips snd tricks I’ve learned over the years (swiftly points, toothpicks, cotton w/a bit of Zam on a small tapered cone bit, stainless steel brush bit, etc…and nothing would work.
So I even tried creating an open bezel (cutting out the backplate of tiny bezel setting is not recommended - I have so many cuts on my fingers!) but that made the pretty stones look dull and grey. So sad
What do you do to “polish the inside of the setting to a high shine” (as recommended in the Orchid archives)???
I searched everywhere but no one actually tells you how - just to do it. Sigh.
I’m about to embark on a several-piece project that involves setting small cabs, 3mm-5mm, in each piece. I’ll be using grey moonstones, peristerite, adularia, black onyx and amethyst. 4 of the 5 are translucent to some degree, so I will have much opportunity to perfect this polishing method.
I thank everyone in advance!!!
Still waiting for Spring in central MA,
Lori
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