[Jewelry making - Article 01340] - Re: [Orchid] Polishing Sequence & Gold recovery

[Judy Hoch]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

>     Can any one suggest the usage of magnetic polisher, vibrator with
>     steel media, and buffing. My thing is which one should be used
>     first, second and third, to get the best result. And some
>     important information about the recovery aspect of gold from
>     buffing and the preparation of the flux. 

    A usual sequence for mass finishing would be first to run abrasive
    media to smooth - this may be one or two steps depending on how much
    grinding is needed.  Then burnish with Stainless steel or ceramic
    media, then to buff with a mixture of wood chips, wood pegs and a
    polishing compound appropriate to the metal being finished. 

    If you are processing very detailed work, a preprocess step might
    include the magnetic pin finisher to burnish the  details that the
    coarser media can't touch. 

    This presumes that you want a conventional bright finish.  For
    brushed, textured, stippled or other specialty finishes, you would
    use some of these steps, but not all. 

    As to metal recovery, the only time you will generate scrap would be
    in the abrasive steps.  The liquid that I like to use is a
    non-chelating compound that will capture and settle the precious
    metal.  After a day of settling, I pour off the top clear water and
    pour the remainder cloudy stuff into a flat drying pan. Evaporation
    occurs, and then you add the white stuff to your sweeps and process
    as normal.  You can usually run 8 to 10 batches using the same rinse
    before you have to start over with new solution.  Depending on how
    nasty the work is, etc. 

    One of the major advantages to mass finishing is that it removes a
    very small percentage of precious metal as compared to hand
    finishing.  The numbers I've been quoted are 0.05% for mass
    finishing as compared to 5 to 10% for hand finishing.  While those
    numbers are probably not exact, the proportion saved with mass
    finishing is substantial. 

    For more information, see my website for a book on the subject. 
    Orchid supporters such as Rio Grande, Gesswein, Otto Frei, and
    Elaine Luther at Creative Texture Tools can supply the book, Tumble
    Finishing for Handmade Jewelry: Small Scale Mass Finishing. 4th
    edition. 

Judy  Hoch, G.G.
judy AT marstal.com
www.marstal.com

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________