Methods of Polishing - A Little Education For You

DH tried the buffing wheel on the "Navajo Pearls" yesterday and wasn't happy with the result. So today he'll try a stationary vibratory tumbler with a corn cob media that we have at the shop. I rarely use the vibratory tumblers - they're very slow - preferring instead to use the wet media rotary tumbler with jewelers shot. But beads can't be used with a rotary unless the holes are plugged in some manner. The jewelers shot  will work its way into the bead through the stringing holes and sometimes it's almost impossible to get it back out. 

Jewelers shot is a mixture of stainless steel shapes to 
get into every nook and cranny. It has small straight 
pointed pins, round balls, and angled items that 
can totally reach every surface needing polishing. 

The corn cob media is a super fine grind. It will go into the beads, no doubt, but it can easily be shaken back out after the cycle is completed. It will take some time for that to be accomplished, and tumbling in this is a slower process, but it can give good results. It's well worth the try. 

The jewelers shot gets used in a rotary tumbler. The 
black cylinder above gets disassembled, and soapy 
water (or the Shine Brite) and the items needing polishing 
are put into the black rubberized cylinder, then the 
lid is carefully screwed on making a vacuum, and 
the entire item is placed into the motorized unit 
which spins the cylinder. A good tumble polish can 
take several hours. I'll leave it on for a while, then 
dump, rinse, dry and it's ready to go. Not beads, 
though. The stainless steel shot gets stuck inside 
of beads. 

I received a new roll of shrink wrapping and the shrink wrapper repair kit yesterday. I'll get them both into use within the next week. I'm pretty sure the small amount of shrink wrap I still have won't last too much longer. I'll write DH a note telling him to put the next group of prints to be shrink wrapped on the table in the framing room and I'll start on that tomorrow, if we're slow in the store. 

A vibratory tumbler is used either wet or dry. In 
this case we'll want to use it dry. It's a slower 
method of polishing, but it's effective. It loads 
from the top, and is often used by rockhounds 
to polish their stones because it can be left 
to polish gently for days, if necessary. 

As for DH ... it's been more than three days since he's said "Boo" to me. I suppose I'm frustrated and a bit angry, but I'm also in a state of "I don't really give a shit" too, because this happens far too often. I'm just going on with my life right now. I'll deal with all of this crap after the beginning of next year. 

Corn cob abrasive material is made to use 
dry. It will get into the interior of the 
beads, there's no stopping that, but it 
can be shaken out with a bit of effort, and 
it does give a beautiful shine. I only hope 
he doesn't go overboard. I would like the 
beads shined, but not too brightly. 

Sharon, I know you read my blog. I ordered you one thing that MIGHT be able to get to you by Christmas, but probably won't. I'm also making you something that I'm in the middle of, and it also MIGHT be to you by Christmas ... maybe. I'll be working on that today while I have the final Zoom call of my "Limiting Beliefs" class. I'd love to get this sent off to you soon, but Christmas is next week, and deadlines are looming. 

On that note, I'm going to get rid of all of this stress in the pool - LOL. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. Be safe, be loved, and be happy. 

Navajo Pearls and Polishing Equipment

We definitely got a big blow through our area around the dinner time and on into the night. It was a very fast-moving storm front, with lots of tornado warnings and even a few tornado watches in place. All we got from it was a stiff wind for a few hours, some growling thunder, and our lights flickered a couple of times. I consider us lucky - high winds can be horrible and we dodged a bullet on this one. I'm quite sure someone got hit with more than a pass-through, but thank goodness, we were just fine. I'll have to wait until the sun is up to see what, if any, damage was done to our trees and back yard. 

Navajo Pearls can come in many different sizes, shapes, 
and finishes. Here (l-r) are round, rondel with a stamped 
design, uniform rounds, and antiqued lentils. 

My Friday will be spent polishing several strands of "Navajo Pearls" that DH found in our inventory at the shop, Basically, Navajo Pearls is a strand of round or shaped handmade silver beads, generally not super large, that hang anywhere from 18" to 30" in length. Since each of the beads are handmade, they are lovely examples of the smith's craftsmanship. 

Here is a lovely strand of stamped, graduated 
Navajo Pearls. I really love Navajo Pearls, like 
I love basic Heishi. Both are necklaces that 
are extremely versatile, wearable in many 
different situations. 

Ideally these should be polished on my buffer - a machine that holds two different fluffy buffing wheels which are loaded with an appropriate polishing compound. The only way to safely place the necklaces against buffing wheels is to have them wrapped around a holder of some type, and for these, that will have to be fairly large in diameter. The necklaces are strung on hand-made chains which will break if the curvature is too tight. 

We have a buffing machine similar to this one. A 
two-spindle motor set into an air vacuum that 
pulls away the dust and collects it on filters 
inside the cabinet. The motor on the actual 
buffer is quite powerful. Used incorrectly, 
serious injuries can occur. The wheel 
diameter these can accept is around 6 inches. 

I had a box of buffing wheels and appropriate polishing compounds which I kept next to the buffer when we still had it at the shop. Of course, the machine is now at home along with most of my jewelry supplies, and that box is MIA. I'll have to "suggest" that DH take a hunt for it today because I'll need it for these necklaces. I'll also suggest that he pull an appropriately sized piece of cut wood from our woodshed to use as a holding vehicle for the pearls themselves. If he can find my buffing wheels and compounds, my life will be a lot easier. He wants two of these available for sale on Saturday. I can polish them on Friday, but I need the materials. Polishing a necklace on the buffer without a holder is extremely dangerous. 

Larger production locations have industrial polishing 
and buffing machines. Here, you see two men buffing 
items on these large wheels. The're wearing aprons because 
it's dirty work, and they're also wearing face shields. Care 
has to be taken - you can lose fingers in these machines. 

There's lots more on my mind that I could chat about, but I really think it's time to wrap this up and continue with my day. I hope your day is wonderful and filled with joy. I'll be back tomorrow.