What are some polishing options for heavily scratched jewelry?

My friend Cuong has this watch back he would like polished:

Bruce (safety green shirt)

I would say the buffing wheel in Jewelry (training required if I am not mistaken) should get a good majority of those out. The deeper scratches, I am not positive about, but probably can also be buffed out or at least minimized. The challenge would be not going too deep or else the stamped lettering may also erode away as part of the process.

A buffing wheel looks like it should work, thanks!

Bruce

Please observe that the wheels we currently have for the buffing wheel are for gold, silver, and cuprous metals and not for steel.

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Thanks for the clarification Terry!

@bmihura I have one I use for polishing woodturning resins that might work for that watch (assuming it is steel). I can bring it up Thursday or Saturday as I am teaching some classes.

No steel is allowed on our buffs, but you can buy your own buff and label it as yours and use it. Please also note that the buffing machine is Training Required.

I’ll be up there for another class Saturday evening and if @Lordrook has a buff he wants to sacrifice for it, then I can give you a quick demo at 6pm.

Safety glasses will be required, no long sleeves, hair tied back, let me know if that works for you. :slight_smile:

Edit: Also a particulate mask is highly recommended.

There is a buffing wheel in the metal shop. Just be careful using it.

That thing is dangerous, I’m in the process of building a backstop for it, I was trying to polish up once of those dms logos we cut, it caught, jerked out of my hand and was embedded in the wall by the vapor hone. Just another reminder that the buffer is the most dangerous thing in the metal shop :slight_smile:

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I thought that happened. I saw the buffing wheel stuck on the copper. If he had a fixture or something to keep a good hold on it, it would be fine.

I was none too happy about it, I was thankful that there was nobody around, I quickly decided that I didnt want it polished that bad haha. I agree a fixture would be the answer. I’m thinking that ViseGrips might be good enough.

Thank you ALL for the informative replies.

I will opt to use the Metal Shop’s buffing wheel with maybe two words of training, several tens of minutes of experience, and full knowledge of its “embedding pieces in the wall” aspect.

Bruce

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have you tried steel wool?

No, but I will, thanks Nick.