[Jewelry making - Article 00697] - Re: [Orchid] Polishing Gravers

[Ian W. Wright]

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    The quickest and most successful method of polishing gravers or any
    hard steel is to use daimond lapping compounds. these can be obtained
    from gemmological supply places - usually in a small syringe which
    will last for years. I use a total of 6 grades for polishing my watch
    parts and work through them from the coarsest to the finest,
    depending on how scratched the steel is to start with and how high a
    polish I need on the finished part. The coarsest grade I use is 45
    micron and the finest 0.25 micron. You should completely harden and
    sharpen the graver first and then start polishing with the coarsest
    grade of diamond on a flat supportive surface such as the perspex
    sheet I use. When the surface looks to have an even degree of
    scratches or be uniformly dull, thoroughly clean it, take a new piece
    of perspex and repeat the process with the next finest grade of
    diamond paste. Carry on like this until you have the degree of
    polish you require. Cleanliness is absolutely vital as just one grain
    of a coarser grade of compound will ruin the next finer polish.
    Writing about it probably takes longer than doing the job... 

    In finishing gravers for normal use and for honing the face to
    resharpen edges, I use old computer chips. The old 386 and 486
    processors and some of the other older memory chips were encased in a
    ceramic material which is absolutely ideal for bringing hard steel up
    to a brilliant shine. You need to test the chips first to make sure
    you done have a plastic coated one - the ceramic ones usually have a
    purple or grey colour cast. Technology really is useful <G> ! 

Best Wishes,
Ian

Ian W. Wright
Sheffield  UK

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