Magnetic polishers level of polish

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi,

What level of finish is possible with a magnetic polishing machine?
Does the piece still require more traditional methods of polishing as
well to achieve the best results? Is there much difference between
the magnetic polisher and a barrelling machine (noise,finish quality
etc.)?

Thanks in advance,
Steven.

2 
What level of finish is possible with a magnetic polishing
machine? Does the piece still require more traditional methods of
polishing as well to achieve the best results? Is there much
difference between the magnetic polisher and a barrelling machine
(noise,finish quality etc.)?

Steven - The magnetic polishing machine is simply a burnishing
device. It does not smooth the metal, it simply burnishes it. It is
exceptionally useful for very small work, filigree, complex heads and
designs with complex interstices. I use it for polishing hand made
earwires and complicated bails. It is good on small round things and
when you want a kind of sparkly finish.

The main difference between the magnetic polisher and a rotary
barrel is the size of the media used to burnish the work. In a
barrel, the common media is mixed shapes of stainless steel - kind of
like BBs. The steel in a magnetic polisher is very fine small wires
in short lengths.

If your work needs to be smoothed, you would usually employ a
vibratory machine with some kind of abrasive media prior to using the
burnishing of the rotary tumbler.

As to noise - the magnetic polisher is fairly quiet and usually run
for about 15 to 20 minutes. The rotary is noisier and usually run for
30 to 45 minutes. The vibratory machine is typically run for 3 to 4
hours and makes quite a racket.

Magnetic machines are very expensive, rotary ones are the cheapest
and the vibratory ones are in the middle for cost.

Get the book - Tumble Finishing For Handmade Jewelry: Mass Finishing On A Small Scale - available
from most of the Orchid sponsors. Amazon doesn’t have it.

Judy Hoch

3

Hello,

a magnetic polishing machine can be made by yourself. It is very
straight forward and easy aswell. I’ve seen it ones on youtube how
this can be made. In matter of fact, it’s just a disk with 4 evenly
spaced strong magnets secure mounted on a small electrical powered
motor. The bowl, which is mostly made out of strong plastic (or non
magnetic material), is separated from this disk by a case covering
the motor and the disk. The distance between the disk and the bowl
need to be as small as possible yet sturdy enough in order to take
the biggest advantage of the magnetic force and providing a secure
platform for the bowl.

Details can be found on youtube if someone feels like building one.
The stainless steel pins can be purchased by rio grande or other
stores aswell as the additional liquid for the water (I use a soft
detergent).

I can’t recall the title of the subject to build this magnetic
polisher on youtube, sorry for this one !

Enjoy and have fun
Pedro

4

With regard to Pedro’s comment:-

http://majorleagueduning.com/Stuff/Bob/MagTumbler/MagneticTumbler.htm

kind regards
Don iorns