Barrel Polishing a Pierced Form

Today's Technique

Polishing our Sterling Sheet

page 114

Materials

Rotary Tumbler
Stainless Steel Shot
Burnishing Compound
Pierced Sterling Sheet (from last week's post)

Steps to Success


1. Fill the tumbler with enough water that your pieces are covered by about 1.5 to 2 inches of water. Add your burnishing compound and your pierced form to be polished.

2. Tumble for anywhere between 1 and 8 hours - depending on the intricacy of your piece.

"The amount of time the piece should be polished for will depend on the speed of the motor, the type of work being polished, and the amount of work-hardening required." page 114

3. Rinse your piece and the stainless steel shot when finished polishing. Dry your piece and the stainless steel shot. Do not let your shot sit in the tumbler. Be sure to dry it completely on a flat surface - and don't forget to clean your shot so that it retains is mirror finish!

As you can see, some of my surface finishes have now disappeared. I will add them again later if they still fit the piece. We shall see!!

I know, simple one this week. 

Next week we will begin putting our creation together 

- see you then!

art is sexy

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