Lapidaryforum.net
Rock Art => Tumbling => Topic started by: LadyDarkKitten on June 29, 2016, 11:40:46 AM
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I'm curious about the effects of stainless steel jewelry shot on soft stones that bruise easily such as opal. If I tumble jewelry that features softer stones should I include plastic or ceramic medium in the barrel to reduce bruising or will it be okay to just use jewelry shot?
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I find that sand isn't to hard on metal, not sure about for opal though.
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I put silversmith pieces turquoise in stainless shot in a Loto to clean it up.
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Opals don't bruise. They just break. I have actually tried Opals (lower quality) in a vibe with Porcelain beads and they survived. I would not recommend it though as it is a crap shoot. Plastic pellets will burnish but will take a very, very, very long time. Best to finish up your silver before setting and keep the soft and fragile stones out of the burnisher.
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Opals don't bruise. They just break. I have actually tried Opals (lower quality) in a vibe with Porcelain beads and they survived. I would not recommend it though as it is a crap shoot. Plastic pellets will burnish but will take a very, very, very long time. Best to finish up your silver before setting and keep the soft and fragile stones out of the burnisher.
Good info, thanks. I'm actually a wire wrapper, so the jewelry shot is to help harden the wire and burnish. I usually work in dead soft, I guess when working with opals I'll get half hard wire.