The polished silver piece is the latest step in its finish. Its quality depends largely on its success in the market, so it is essential to do well. On the web "Arte y Plata" we found a great article detailing the whole process and we offer it below.

Silver is much cheaper than gold, but its finish is also much more problematic and, unfortunately, does not always receive due attention. Moreover, it should be noted that the appearance of the finished piece is one of the most important selling points. However, although the process requires a high degree of skill, allows obtaining a wide variety of finishes, according to the technique used.

Some types of polishing

Some small items such as brooches, rings, bracelets, etc ... sometimes polished in the same way that the gold items. There are different kinds of finish for silver pieces with oxidation mimicking the old silver, rhodium bath imitation white gold pieces, the finish "butler" named for its resemblance to the silver of family use (has very thin stripes because of the frequent cleaning), polished of pieces with high-gloss and then treated with a fine bath ofbright silver, the matted with sandblasting, etc.

Pretreatment

Before you start grinding operations is essential that the pieces have been pickled treat properly and are completely free of blemishes.

Precautions caustic solutions.

The use of solutions of potassium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide is not very often ... but, if used, should not be too concentrated, because silver tarnish is easily and difficulties arise when moving to subsequent treatment

Stages of the polishing process

In general, treatments for silver polishing, can be divided into three stages: grinding, removing scratches from the rough and final polishing:

1. Grinding: The first phase inevitably involves some removal of metal, small chips start to clear the lines from the file and other previous operations such as stamping, spun, stamping, etc. For this operation, usually used emery, stone slate under a wet abrasive to achieve a finer grit or pumice powder mixed with oil to enhance the abrasive action. This can be done manually or with the help of a polishing motor. The wheel type and size depends, among other things, the shape and size of the pieces to be treated. The trays are often blunted to hand with Italian pumice.

2. Removal of scratches from the rough: The second stage is designed to eliminate wear and tear caused by the previous treatment, using cloth wheels. In fact, during this operation, the surface layer spreads or flows, so that the tiny lines being phased out. The polisher uses a cotton cloth or linen and cotton and a compound rate of Tripoli.

3. Final polishing: In this last part is polished with a brush and fatty red polish. It finishes with dry eye. In other cases, polished first with green pasta, though, currently, this pasta is only rarely used for silver. The final touch is earned by working with softer wheels impregnating with jeweler's rouge mixed with water, alcohol or paraffin metilito.

Changes as appropriate

Grinding and polishing the silver pieces varies with the size, grade and shape of objects. The solid silver articles can be frosted so that they are completely smooth. Then the fat is removed and finished with rouge powder or paste using cotton wheels. If necessary, the flat parts are grounded before and then polished with brushes or felt wheel with Tripoli.

A.Pieces with a matte silver thickness: The pieces with a matte silver thick Gratan first and then end up polishing them with a calcium compound, in a soft wheel. It ends with rouge.

B. Glossy or matte gold: When the pieces should be dull brown, brown them in this state and if, on the contrary must be pre-polished brilliant to get the best shine possible and then gilded.

C. Lathes for polishing small parts: The smaller pieces are polished with the engines used by jewelers. (...) For special jobs such as silver boxes, poles, etc ... are used for grinding and polishing machines larger than provide higher performance and are more similar to those used to treat industrial metals.

D. Discs or polishing wheels, polishing machine is carried out with the help of rug pads or other material (muslin, flannel, parachute silk, wool, etc.).. The wheels of cloth worn on an irregular basis so that, from time to time, must be trimmed to flatten them. When using disks made of coarser material, you get a certain amount of ground but with a very small loss of silver. The continuation of the polishing process, using a finer material, eg wool, provides a cleaning effect.

E. Frosted silver pieces: When polishing machine, the part is slightly frosted, therefore, if they are pieces with a matte silver coating should be sought prior to flatten silver. If the parts have to be polished by hand, the silver coating should be as thick as possible.

F.Grinding parts that are not flat: The pieces are not flat can be treated with round brushes or cloth wheels and Italian pumice powder mixed with a little oil. Then treated with a compound of Tripoli in a press cloth, and finally completes the polished red paste, dry. In all cases the speed of rotation of the wheel is about 2800 rpm. The diameter of the brushes and polishing wheels varies depending on the size of the workpieces.

G. Grinding and polishing of large pieces: Large pieces of silver, such as centerpieces, corporeal objects, etc. treated with grinding and polishing machines whose operation requires a source of energy. (...) For these large items such as abrasive grinding is used pumice lumps or powder, slate stone, grinding wheels, emery powder, charcoal or Tripoli.

Note: The text has been taken entirely from the web http://arte-y-plata.com/joyeria/pulir_joyas.html

The video is part of the web www.wendyculpepper.com and has been copied from YouTube.