About the Sterling Silver Finishing Process
A contemporary approach to finishing sterling silver. This method is much less hazardous to your health and the environment. Once the molten silver has cooled and the investment is removed from the sprew tree the jewelry is steamed and pressure washed. At this point it's bathed in a mild acid to remove any extra leftover material and prepare for the next step. Each cast piece is removed from the sprew tree and cleaned up with hand tools, files, fine sandpaper and the like. If any soldering or assembly is required, it would be the next step. Once everything is prepared we move to final finishing.
This is the part where some magic happens. Over the the years new technology has come to this 5000 year old process call 'vibrating centrifugal magnetic finishing". Imagine thousands of smooth tiny stainless steel pins and beads pounding the surface of your jewelry. Depending on the texture and detail of the jewelry surface will determine the size of the finishing material. It comes in many sizes and shapes which will require some experimentation to perfect. Another interesting thing is the process will not remove any silver from the surface. These tiny hammers are burnishing the surface the same as using a polished steel burnisher and rubbing it against the surface. The media reach into the smallest crevices and channels, easily reaching places impossible through hand polishing. The result is that the surface becomes bright, shiny and work-hardened.
The hammer effect of these tiny metal shapes actually hardens the surface realigning the molecules making the surface more durable. The jewelry will go through this process two or three cycles very from 30 to 90 minutes. With the correct media the process will polish the finest detailed pieces to a brilliant finish. Each time the media is moved, washed and returned with the jewelry to the processor. We use a cola wash the media between cycles. "Coke the Real Thing" a whole new market! Go green with less dust and health issues or at the very least minimize the exposure.
A contemporary approach to finishing sterling silver. This method is much less hazardous to your health and the environment. Once the molten silver has cooled and the investment is removed from the sprew tree the jewelry is steamed and pressure washed. At this point it's bathed in a mild acid to remove any extra leftover material and prepare for the next step. Each cast piece is removed from the sprew tree and cleaned up with hand tools, files, fine sandpaper and the like. If any soldering or assembly is required, it would be the next step. Once everything is prepared we move to final finishing.
This is the part where some magic happens. Over the the years new technology has come to this 5000 year old process call 'vibrating centrifugal magnetic finishing". Imagine thousands of smooth tiny stainless steel pins and beads pounding the surface of your jewelry. Depending on the texture and detail of the jewelry surface will determine the size of the finishing material. It comes in many sizes and shapes which will require some experimentation to perfect. Another interesting thing is the process will not remove any silver from the surface. These tiny hammers are burnishing the surface the same as using a polished steel burnisher and rubbing it against the surface. The media reach into the smallest crevices and channels, easily reaching places impossible through hand polishing. The result is that the surface becomes bright, shiny and work-hardened.
The hammer effect of these tiny metal shapes actually hardens the surface realigning the molecules making the surface more durable. The jewelry will go through this process two or three cycles very from 30 to 90 minutes. With the correct media the process will polish the finest detailed pieces to a brilliant finish. Each time the media is moved, washed and returned with the jewelry to the processor. We use a cola wash the media between cycles. "Coke the Real Thing" a whole new market! Go green with less dust and health issues or at the very least minimize the exposure.
Rob McKee Luckyboy Studio Designer |
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