My supplier delivered my order of Nickel Silver today. I formed a quick cover to see how well the low temperature silver solder works. Then on to the buffing wheel. I'm using #5 soft compound but cannot seem to get the buffing wheel marks out. You can see them in the photo below. I've had the same issue with polishing brass as well.
Anyone familiar with working with Nickel Silver want to share some tips?
Thanks,
Don Goguen
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I do know that nickel silver is very hard. It may take several course grades of polishing compound to get those out.
Brass should be a little easier to work with.
For one thing it appears you have a buffing wheel that is contaminated with dust or grit. It looks like the scratches are caused by a larger grit than your buffing compound.
Take a “buffing wheel rake” and get rid of this layer. Reapply the buffing compound. It also appears in this case you may need to sand this with a fine emery cloth and start over.
For buffing fine items like this, after buffing the wheel needs to be covered with a plastic bag to keep contamination off the wheel. The final buff should be with a floppy loose wheel. The course needs to be the sewn type.
When rough buffing I have used the black and the red and ended up with white compound. Rio Grande jewelry supply, New Mexico supply has all sorts of this type of things.
Cheers
Bob
Thanks Bob
This was a rough first pass. I bought a new wheel and only used it on some brass with red compound. I've used 1500 grit wet paper on the brass but even with different wheels, haven't been happy with the final results. The brass was just practice material while I waited for the nickel silver to arrive. I bought dead soft grade figuring it would be easier to work with and solder. Forming and soldering is dead simple. From a distance, it looks great but I'm hoping for better. I'll look into what a "buffing wheel rake" is and pick one up if I can find it. Been using a flat bar with a burr edge to dress the wheel. Works up a bit of fuzz on the bench.
While I'm at the store, I'll pick up a couple new soft wheels.
Don
I use tripoli or fastcut compond for removing scratches from EPNS (Electro plated nickle silver) with a stitched sisal buff in my business http://supplybaydesign.blogspot.com/ all sourced from Josco. For polishing I use Josco Green compound on a loose leaf calico buff.
Perhaps try the tripoli first rather than the fastcut to see if that removes the scratches....better to "under do" than "over do".
To keep a shine, I use autosol polish obtainable from an auto accessory shop.
Thanks guys for the input. I am certain Bob is right and the issue is the buffing wheel and grit. Keep in mind this is not a finished cover. It was just a quick sample I put together. I know the edges need sanding but the top surface area was free of scratches when I started. I use adhesive backed paper covering the metal when bending and the same covering the brake when bending. This keeps the piece in pretty good shape except for the edges that are bent.
I've looked into what is available for wheels and will pickup some new ones this weekend and try again. I also need to consider getting a dedicated machine for this. I am using one side of my grinder with the wheel guards removed. It looks like I'll be doing a lot more of this type of work as I am considering making my own guitar hardware now that I found a company to do laser cutting in small volume.
Bob, I found the wheel comb on Amazon. Thanks for the tip. I'll also look into some of the other suggestions. I'm kind of swimming in various compounds but will check out the tripoli and do need to pickup some type of finishing polish/wax/sealer.
Don, lots of good ideas here for buffing compounds. Also check out Brownnells gunsmithing site, gunsmiths buff alot of parts. All so band instrument repair suppliers brass/nickel instruments get buffed.
Cheers
Bob
Don Goguen said:
Thanks guys for the input. I am certain Bob is right and the issue is the buffing wheel and grit. Keep in mind this is not a finished cover. It was just a quick sample I put together. I know the edges need sanding but the top surface area was free of scratches when I started. I use adhesive backed paper covering the metal when bending and the same covering the brake when bending. This keeps the piece in pretty good shape except for the edges that are bent.
I've looked into what is available for wheels and will pickup some new ones this weekend and try again. I also need to consider getting a dedicated machine for this. I am using one side of my grinder with the wheel guards removed. It looks like I'll be doing a lot more of this type of work as I am considering making my own guitar hardware now that I found a company to do laser cutting in small volume.
Bob, I found the wheel comb on Amazon. Thanks for the tip. I'll also look into some of the other suggestions. I'm kind of swimming in various compounds but will check out the tripoli and do need to pickup some type of finishing polish/wax/sealer.
Bob, thanks, In my previous life I was a jeweler and then ran a metal polishing shop for ten years.
Don
Bob, thanks, In my previous life I was a jeweler and then ran a metal polishing shop for ten years.
Don
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