Just curious if you polish silver articles to a mirror shine before brightcutting or do you prefer a satin finish?
Question: Western brightcutters...do you polish first?
- Thread starter sam
- Start date
didyoung
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Yes...a good polish before engraving.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
If you are asking about "Western" style bright cutting?
Depends on the job. Mostly I don't take the time to go up as far as a rouge finish.
I usually stop at a compound called "Zam"...
Bright cut engraving usually doesn't leave much surface space "exposed" and there is no "background" to speak of.
When there IS background - up against an overlay or a raised border of some kind - it's usually "frosted". Done with wriggling & wide liners in a criss cross kinda pattern or just stippled.
Brian
Depends on the job. Mostly I don't take the time to go up as far as a rouge finish.
I usually stop at a compound called "Zam"...
Bright cut engraving usually doesn't leave much surface space "exposed" and there is no "background" to speak of.
When there IS background - up against an overlay or a raised border of some kind - it's usually "frosted". Done with wriggling & wide liners in a criss cross kinda pattern or just stippled.
Brian
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Yes, western style. I've been studying Diane Scalise's DVDs and am going to do a silver bracelet and was wondering if a slight brushed finish would be better than a high polish so it would contrast with the brightcuts. Right now it's a 4/0 steel wool finish.
You're right in that there isn't much exposed surface except near areas shaded with a liner.
I don't have a buffer so it looks like hand polishing is in order.
You're right in that there isn't much exposed surface except near areas shaded with a liner.
I don't have a buffer so it looks like hand polishing is in order.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
There was a time... not so long ago... when there were no polishing machines.
Kind of like before cars, airplanes, radios, TV's, this computer and the infernal "smart"phones... and pneumatic graver handles...
Sweat ruled. Probably also contributed to the addition of cusswords to our vocabulary too?
B.
Kind of like before cars, airplanes, radios, TV's, this computer and the infernal "smart"phones... and pneumatic graver handles...
Sweat ruled. Probably also contributed to the addition of cusswords to our vocabulary too?
B.
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I've hand polished my share of guns and a slew of custom knives so I'm no stranger to it. A buffer would be nice for some things, though. I did have one once but lost it in a flood.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Got some new words to share? Off the forum of course...
I've only got 'em 4 or 5 languages so far. Come in handy when visitors are around.
B.
I've only got 'em 4 or 5 languages so far. Come in handy when visitors are around.
B.
Sadly, I often let 'em fly no matter who's around!
Here's one for ya. It's not exactly a cussword but it's handy at times: Stercus fit. Latin for "manure occurs".
brian: if you pay for shipping, i'll send my special glossary. included is an entire chapter covering graver slips !
Andrew Biggs
Moderator
Damn right.........in some situations words like bother, blast, bleeding' heck, oh no and ouch........just don't cut the mustard or sooth the soul
Cheers
Andrew
Belprime
Member
Sounds like a good idea for a sticky... just in case it's needed.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
And title it what?
"The Origin of Hand Engravers Dialect"(s)?
"How To Understand What Your Engraver Says"?
Your turn Leonard...
Brian
"The Origin of Hand Engravers Dialect"(s)?
"How To Understand What Your Engraver Says"?
Your turn Leonard...
Brian
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Every chance I get to learn cuss words in another language, I take it. I've got a few good ones I've collected. One of my favorites is in Polish.
mdengraver
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I find I use the polishing machine less and less. The foredom flexshaft usually does a better job for nooks and crannies. Most people I know who polish do it in the buff!
Haraga.com
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Matchless Green. Get it from K&G. Lakeside Arizona.
My go to words are "mother f....r" and "co.k su..in fu...n c..t". As a back up I throw the chair at a spare bench in the soldering/buffing room.
PS then I go smoke the cigarette.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Yeah, I've used the green... ran out of it long ago.
Forgot where it came from. Too lazy to search for it and Zam seems to get the job done.
I knew it was somewhere in AZ, because that's where Vic got it.
B.
Forgot where it came from. Too lazy to search for it and Zam seems to get the job done.
I knew it was somewhere in AZ, because that's where Vic got it.
B.
Haraga.com
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I never saw the Matchless at Vic's. D'holder put me onto the green. I like it because it works equally well on soft and hard metals.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
So does Zam. And you can use it on some stone cabachons too.
It was in a wooden box under the buffer... along with a collection of bricks of tripoli and stubs from various other compounds.
When he was still up here (in San Jose) and I was in his shop on weekends - the end of the day ritual was to blow yer nose and visually check and sometimes compare the color of your "buffer boogers"... (we didn't use microscopes in those days)
I remember the green. And brown. And red. And sometimes blue. (No, I misremembered the blue, that happens in MY shop)
And then you'd wipe yer face with a rag before venturing out into humanity again.
B.
It was in a wooden box under the buffer... along with a collection of bricks of tripoli and stubs from various other compounds.
When he was still up here (in San Jose) and I was in his shop on weekends - the end of the day ritual was to blow yer nose and visually check and sometimes compare the color of your "buffer boogers"... (we didn't use microscopes in those days)
I remember the green. And brown. And red. And sometimes blue. (No, I misremembered the blue, that happens in MY shop)
And then you'd wipe yer face with a rag before venturing out into humanity again.
B.
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Haraga.com
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I saw that he used a lot of White Diamond then the odd time he would buff a final with some green rouge.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Dunno... I have white diamond too. Never use it much anymore. Probably left from 30 years ago?
B.
B.
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