Advice please....

[Quinn]

whenever I take a silver item out of my tumbler, I find that it is lovely and sparkly with a high polish apart from around bezels, or intricate details where there is a dull shadow around these parts, how do I either prevent this happening or alternatively how do I correct the problem post tumble?

Thanks

PS . I planished my thumb at the weekend and it is still throbbing!

[Critchley]

Can't help with the silver but condolences for the thumb.

[mizgeorge]

Have you got pins in your shot mix?

[Quinn]

Hi George,

No , its a mixed shot from Cooksons, do pins come separately? Listen at me .... how dim do I sound? If you think it is the problem, would you be able to recommend a place that I could get some "pins " from?

[mizgeorge]

It's the pins that are the most expensive element, so they're sometimes not included with mixes. They make a huge difference though - they're the bit that gets into all the little crevices - the other shapes are too big, and just bounce past them.

I have a feeling Manchester Minerals (amongst others) sell the pins alone, so you could just add some to your mix - about 100g to a kilo should be about right.

I know I've seen somewhere in the UK with small bags of pins. If I can find the link, I'll pass it on

[Quinn]

Thanks George, you are a genius, I'll have a look at Manchester Minerals asap.................

Best Wishes Lisa

[Quinn]

George you are a genius, thanks so much for your generous advice, I received my pins from Suttons this morning and have been tumbling like a demon, adding the pins has transformed my life ! And I'm not exaggerating , it used to take me hours to rid the pieces of it's insightly shadows around bezel cups etc ( and of course you end making new marks and having to polish them out).

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, I would give you a million reps, but I think that I might get into trouble.

With warmest gratitude
Lisa

[SnowflakeJewellery]

I have exactly the same problem with my shot from cooksons!

Can I ask which pins you bought from Suttons? After reading your post and the responses, I found magnetic pins and ceramic pins on their website. I do not have a magnetic tumbler so would the magnetic pins work? And would the ceramic pins work if mixed in with the rest of my steel shot?

I can't wait to try it out, as I'm fed up with polishing out the marks!

Many thanks,

Christina

[Quinn]

Hi Christina,

At Suttons thay are called needles and if you add about half of the tub to your mixed shot and they come out brilliantly. I am ecstatic with results.

George is my jewellery hero now,
Stainless needles 250g
Ref: PE066.

Price: £10.79 (£12.41 Including VAT at 15

[SnowflakeJewellery]

Thank you thank you thank you!



Christina

[mizgeorge]

So pleased it worked for you!

I suspect there are a lot of people out there wondering why their tumblers aren't giving them the results they could be getting because they've not got the right shot

[Quinn]

Ceramic Chips

I was always under the impression that ceramic chips in a tumbler create a matte finish , but I have just been reading a silversmithing book that says that it is useful to tumble a piece of jewellery in ceramic chips to give an even professional finish before the the final polish tumble with mixed shot.
Has anybody had any practical experience of this and if so does it improve the end finish?

thanks
Lisa

[Bluechair]

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering if anyone knows the answer to Quinns question about the ceramic chips? I was under the same impression, that the ceramic ones were used for a satin/matt finish and the steel were used for a polished one.

Thanks