Bamboo Burs
Repurpose a skewer for precise polishing
By Helen I. Driggs
Sometimes a commercial polishing wheel or attachment just won’t get where you need it to go. For those times, I use bamboo skewers from the kitchen gadget drawer to create instant polishing points and attachments for my flex-shaft. I’ve created a whole collection to use with different cutting and polishing compounds. This concept also works using toothpicks or even chopsticks, as long as the chuck of the handpiece will open wide enough to fit their diameters.
To try this, you’ll need a bamboo skewer, jeweler’s saw, ruler, marker, ball bur, and polishing compound.
1. Saw off about 1.5 inches of skewer, preserving the pointed tip. Then, saw off a second section of skewer using the same measurement. This will create two separate polishing tips.
2. Using the non-tapered section first, choose a ball bur slightly smaller in diameter than the skewer and cut a hemispherical indentation in the end of the bamboo. This will result in a “cup” polishing bur.
3. Gently sand both of the bamboo tips to eliminate any splinters.
4. Insert the bamboo cup bur into the handpiece and tighten without crushing or deforming the other end of the bamboo. Charge the bamboo with rouge, Tripoli, or any other polishing or cutting compound.
5. Use the bamboo cup bur as you would use a regular metal cup bur. I like to use mine to polish prong tips, balled wire ends, granules, shot, and domed rivet heads.
6. Charge the pointed bamboo “cone” bur using the same method; I just run the motor slowly and pick up an even coating of compound all over the tip.
7. The cone tip is fantastic for getting into tiny, tight bends, drilled holes, narrow openings, and along the inside of delicate openwork.
8. Store your bamboo polishing tips in a dedicated zip-top bag with the type of compound you charged them with clearly labeled to avoid cross-contamination.
Helen I. Driggs is an experienced metalsmith, lapidary, and studio jewelry instructor. Her latest book, Metal Jewelry Workshop, was published in 2017.