I have been using wire mesh baskets (and nylon kitchen-type
strainers) in my ultrasonic for many years. I use these for holding
small parts like earrings but also put rings in them as well. It now
seems to me that any kind of basket greatly decreases the cleaning
ability of the ultrasonic. What is your opinion? Are baskets a ‘No,
no’ for the ultrasonic?
Thanks in advance.
Dale Pavatte
Diamonds For You
Hi Dale:
I have been using wire mesh baskets (and nylon kitchen-type
Sometimes you don’t have a choice, it has to go in a basket because
either there is no other way to suspend it or it’s one of those
crappy micro pave pieces and the tiny stones are bound to fall out
and you don’t want to have to drain the sonic to retrieve them. The
baskets probably do cut down on the efficiency of the sonic to clean
the piece somewhat. I use plastic strainers with nylon mesh so as not
to abraid things.
David L. Huffman
I have been using wire mesh baskets (and nylon kitchen-type strainers) in my ultrasonic for many years. I use these for holding small parts like earrings but also put rings in them as well. It now seems to me that any kind of basket greatly decreases the cleaning ability of the ultrasonic. What is your opinion? Are baskets a 'No, no' for the ultrasonic?
They say baskets severely limit the ultrasonic waves, but sometimes
there’s little choice.
If I can, I use a Pyrex[tm] beaker.
Paf Dvorak
I’ve gone back to using wires across the top and little wire hangers
suspended from them, on which the jewellery is hung. This is because
the steel meshbasket my machine came with was scratching things I’d
spent ages polishing!!!
Helen
UK
Mesh breaks up the waves into smaller waves which are weaker and
don’t clean as well as when a solid container is used. Janet in
Jerusalem
I've gone back to using wires across the top and little wire hangers suspended from them, on which the jewellery is hung.
I tried using little hooks in corks, but unless the piece is very
light, it sinks.
Paf Dvorak
Mesh breaks up the waves into smaller waves which are weaker and don't clean as well as when a solid container is used
I appreciate the quote and other answers. There’s another thread
something about gold not being gold unless it’s gold or some such
foolishness, too. We use baskets because we need to use baskets very
often. We ultrasonic until things are clean and then they are clean
and then we are finished.
I don’t actually see any need to agonize over some of this stuff,
myself.We also use 14kt gold for 14kt jewelry and 18kt gold for
18kt. jewelry and somehow manage to sleep nights.
I don't actually see any need to agonize over some of this stuff, myself. We also use 14kt gold for 14kt jewelry and 18kt gold for 18kt. jewelry and somehow manage to sleep nights.
I don’t think it’s a case of losing sleep. Not in my case anyway. I
would happily use a basket if I could, but having my polished
jewellery come out really scratched and dull from the stainless
steel basket was a bit of a kick in the teeth. So back to my old
method it was.
Helen
UK
but having my polished jewellery come out really scratched and dull from the stainless steel basket was a bit of a kick in the teeth.
We used to get plastic sieves in Chinatown. The smallest were 19
cents, as I recall. We’ve had trouble finding them in recent years,
though we’ve found some other varieties. There does exist a plastic
tea strainer that works even for cleaning small melee. Those havea
~really~ fine mesh. No, you can’t use stainless sieves for jewelry,
but there are plastic ones out there. Plastic frames with plastic
meshes. We use a rack when we can but we’ll have a half dozen sieves
stacked in the ultrasonic at times. All with stone-loss risk, each
separate so they don’t scratch each other.
Hi Paf
Try attaching a couple of corks together. I use champagne corks for
they are twice the size of a regular wine cork and they don’t sink.
If you use wine corks, try attaching 2-3 together for a better
float. I don’t really use wine corks anymore, for more are made of a
non-cork material and more wine bottles have screw-on tops.
Sometimes a little experimenting helps to figure out what works
best.
Joy
I have been expecting this solution to be offered, but no one has so
far. In the class I take, zip-lock bags are filled with enough
solution to cover the piece, the work dropped in, the bag sealed. A
wire hooked through holes punched in the top of the bag above the
seal is used to suspend it in the tank from a dowel laid across the
tank.
Different pieces can be placed in separate bags, if any stones are
loose they stay in the bag. Nothing scrapes against other pieces,
and in a class situation students can pull their bag out without
disturbing others.
Noralie
No, you can't use stainless sieves for jewelry,
Yes, I should have realised that myself. A little daft of the
ultrasonic cleaner manufacturer to include a steel basket in the
professional jewellery model that I purchased! Lesson learned.
Helen
UK
The plastic bags sound like a great idea, but I use the type of nets
used for fish tanks. The mesh is very fine and soft so nothing gets
lost and nothing gets scratched. I think I got the idea from
Ganoksin a few years ago!
OK, a bit confused here. Why can you not use stainless steel mesh or
basket for jewelry? Is it just because the jewelry will bump against
the steel and get scratched or what? I’ve been following the thread,
but this is not clear to me.
Linda Kaye-Moses
A little daft of the ultrasonic cleaner manufacturer to include a steel basket in the professional jewellery model that I purchased!
I’m not disagreeing with anything that’s been said, but I feel a
strange need to stick up for my poor little basket. I use the
stainless steel basket all the time to suspend beakers or jars in the
sonic. After I cast I put the castings in a beaker of water, usually
overnight, then in the morning put the beaker in the basket in the
sonic for a few minutes and all the investment is off the castings,
then pour the plaster and water into my quench bucket. I also will
remove masking material used when plating in liquid paint stripper
that is in a jar in the basket because that’s faster. Or if I have a
little crud under a stone that I can’t seem to clean, I’ll put the
piece in a jar of drain cleaner, in the basket in the sonic. Plus I
will often put things that are in process that are weird shapes and
maybe held in spring tweezers in the basket to clean. I use it
constantly. But I never use it for things that are polished. I’d miss
it if I didn’t have it.
Mark
I use a fine mesh basket that comes with coffee machines to hold the
paper filter. Works well.
I have been expecting this solution to be offered, but no one has so far. In the class I take, zip-lock bags are filled with enough solution to cover the piece, the work dropped in, the bag sealed. A wire hooked through holes punched in the top of the bag above the seal is used to suspend it in the tank from a dowel laid across the tank.
If you need to use a container you want to use glass or stainless
steel beakers or jars. Plastic will act as an attenuator for the
waves. Hooks suspended from a dowel across the top of the tank or on
nylon fishing line are other good alternatives.
As John said we use what we need to hold things and the zip-lock bag
is not a complete no no you just need to remember that it will
reduce the power transmitted to the work as will fine mesh baskets.
In most cases people loose far more power by not keeping the solution
in the tank at the right level. That line or step in the side of the
tank is not just there for decoration but to show the proper fluid
level for the tank. Those transducers are tuned for a certain fluid
level and filling it too full or allowing it to get too low affect
wave patterns and therefore cleaning results.
James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
OK, a bit confused here. Why can you not use stainless steel mesh or basket for jewelry? Is it just because the jewelry will bump against the steel and get scratched or what?
I think so. When I bought my cleaner, which is my second one, I was
thrilledthat it came with a steel basket, as my first machine had
nothing. However, after a while, it occurred to me that it was the
steel basket that was ruining the surface of my jewellery with
scratches. I couldn’t understand why I was not seeing those
scratches while finishing, especially as I loupe regularly. I was a
bit slow on the uptake to say the least!
Helen
UK
I use the stainless steel basket all the time to suspend beakers or jars in the sonic.
Fair comment Mark. I hadn’t thought of that idea.
Helen
UK
Hi Linda,
Why can you not use stainless steel mesh or basket for jewelry? Is it just because the jewelry will bump against the steel and get scratched or what?
Exactly, the pieces vibrate against the steel mesh and get all
scratched up. That only matters once you’ve polished them. You can
use plastic coated hooks once the work has been polished (rings or
pendants), it won’t scratch anything. Something like this.
But when the piece is in process, if it’s a ring, I use this
stainless steel rack because I don’t care if it’s scratched a little
and the plastic coated hooks break down over time. Something like
this.
If it’s something other than a ring, like a component (unpolished),
that won’t hang on a hook, I use the steel basket or a nylon mesh
basket. Something like this.
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep8041
If it’s a hard to hang object that’s been polished, I usually just
swish it in the sonic (using plastic coated tweezers) and steam
clean it without hanging on or in anything to protect the
mirror-like finish. But you could use the nylon mesh or one of the
other suggestions in the thread, just not steel on your nice
polished surface.
Make sense?
Mark