[Jewelry making - Article 00014] - [Orchid] Agate Burnisher... Gone Forever

[Randy Smith]

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Hi All,

    I guess its time for me to step up to the plate and give y?all a new
    tool.  I've been using it for several years, and gave some  to Jean
    Stark and Katherine Palochak (Of Iridescent Patina Fame). 

    Katherine used it in her class with good  results, and I have been
    using it for seveal years for regular burnishing as well as Keum-Boo. 

    How about a burnisher that never gets hot? 

    How about one that costs about $1.00? 

    How about one that you can make yourself in 10 minutes? 

    How about one that can have any angle from horizontal that you can
    think of? 

    How about one that you can change for a particular job? 

    How about one that does not stick to metal? 

    How about one that has a point on both ends? 

    How about one that can be round, flat, pointed, any diameter, any
    width? 

    How about one that will easily polish silver or gold? 

    I use pyrex rod. 

    A half-inch diameter pyrex rod x 48 inches long, from
    arrowsprings.com costs under $7.00.  Cut it into 4-12 inch lengths,
    and you got 4 burnishers with a point on each end for a total of
    9?<G>?(Texas math). 

    Pyrex has all the above characteristics. 

    You can, using an acetylene-ox torch, melt the end and form it to
    any shape. 

    Don?t like to use fire?  Use your lapidary wheels and cut the end
    and then  polish it using 1200, 8000, then diamond polish. 

    Heat the end, grab the molton metal with a pair of long-nose pliers,
    and draw it out to the thickness you want. Cool it off (air cool
    rather than quench), cut off the excess on the end (you can use
    sissors) , and then fire polish the end to get the ultimate
    smoothness. 

    Fire polish is heating the end untill the surface gets ?glassy?. 

    Heat the rod about an inch from the end, and bend it to any angle
    that suits your job.  I like about a 45 degree.  If I?m doing
    keum-boo, I like the angle to be a little bigger so I am not
    directly over the kiln. 

    I came upon the idea when I was making pyrex marbles.  I can hold a
    half-inch piece with a 2000-3000 degree ball of molton glass on the
    end, and it's cool as close  as 4 inches from the ball of glass. 

    You can buy any diameter (from 3 mm to 38 mm)  that fits your hand,
    but the bigger the diameter, the harder you can push, and the less
    likely it is to break. 

    It will also polish silver and gold, and can be used to stir your
    coffee when you arent using it?<grin>? 

    And?if you drop it and break it, heat both ends at the break, melt
    them together, let it cool, and keep working. 

    In my opinion, it beats the heck out of metal and agate burnishers. 

    If anybody is interested, I can custom  make a set of 4 (8 ends) 
    for about $30 dollars for my time, or if interested, will write up
    an article for LJ so yall can  see how to make the  burnisers. 

    I can put some pictures up on my Web site too if needed. 

    Hope someone gets lots of  use out of this. 

    Love and God Bless 
    -randy 
    http://www.rocksmyth.com 


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