Tumble Polishing PMC
Directions: Place shot in tumbler barrel and barely cover with
burnishing fluid. You can use either a
commercial jewelers burnishing fluid or 1-2 drops of dish soap in water. Brush pieces with stainless steel brush and place
in barrel with shot and fluid. Tumble pieces
for 30-60 minutes, check, and tumble more if desired.
Change burnishing fluid when dirty.
Pieces should be free of ash
(if made with burnable core), and thoroughly rinsed (if antiqued) before tumbling. Contamination of burnishing solution will cause
unsatisfactory results. Very dirty solution
and shot can cause pieces to become dull and gray.
If work pieces containing
gold are tumbled, be sure to rinse shot well before next use. Gold particles in the solution will plate onto
silver.
Be sure to change the
burnishing solution frequently. Dirty
solution can cause pieces to become dull and gray.
Cleaning Barrel and Shot: If stainless steel shot becomes dirty (your pieces
just wont shine up and actually get dirty during tumbling), you can clean it by
using a Coke bath. Rinse shot in strainer
and return to barrel. Barely cover shot with flat
Coke (or other non-carbonated mild acidic solution).
Tumble for 15-30 minutes. Rinse
shot and barrel. Repeat if necessary. If jewelry is blackened, repeat coke bath one more
time with the jewelry in the barrel.
Burnishing Solution: Burnishing solution concentrate sold by jewelers
is a specially formulated mildly acidic soap solution ideal for burnishing silver and
gold. A drop of dish soap and water can be
substituted.
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