Time Saving Surface Processing: A User’s Report Part 1
2 Minute Read
The film Otec offers surface processing equipment for jewelry firms. The size of the equipment can be selected to suit the requirements. The space-saving ECO-Maxi was developed for crafts firms. This machine can be operated with three different work containers. The containers for magnet polishing, wet processing and dry processing can be switched using a grip.
The goldsmith can start with one container and purchase the others later on. While the jewelry pieces are being freed of embedding mass and oxides or are ground and polished, the goldsmith uses the time for other work. Ultimately, the question as to whether the ECO-Maxi is worth it for goldsmith businesses is dependent on how many items of jewelry the firm processes with the ECO-Maxi. Ms. Gerundt has managed a polishing firm in Pforzheim for 24 years. In the following interview, she passes on her experience with the ECO-Maxi.
Art + Design: Why did you decide to purchase the ECO-Maxi?
Kornelia Gerundt: It saves me a lot of time. It saves me 50 to 60 percent of the time required for grinding and polishing. There is no need to finish the polishing with a woolen wheel, apart from in a few exceptions. Items of jewelry can be polished up quickly, especially after trade fairs or exhibitions. The material erosion is lower than when processing by hand with sandpaper, grinding and polishing. With the ECO-Maxi, the work stages of sandpapering and grinding are performed with the settings pre-grind and fine grind.
Art + Design: What kind of mistakes did you make at the start?
Kornelia Gerundt: I wanted to process too much jewelry in one go. This meant that the pieces kept banging into each other, which caused damage. Now I never take more than 200 g of jewelry in one go.
Art + Design: What experiences have you had compared to the polishing drum?
Kornelia Gerundt: The revolving plate on the base of the container and its ribbing mean that grinding and polishing bodies in the ECO-Maxi rotate. This makes it substantially more effective than the polishing drum, in which the polishing body slides over the jewelry items lying at the base of the drum. Unlike in the ECO-Maxi, the water is not constantly replaced by circulation. It is far more difficult to exchange the water in the polishing drum. Metal particles and grinding wear collecting in the water rub into the surface of the jewelry items. Additionally, the steel balls in the polishing drum harden the surface to such an extent that I am barely able to give the work pieces an extra polish by hand. Compared to the polishing drum, the form of the ECO-Maxi significantly facilitates filing and emptying.
by Christine Patrich
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