Jewelers of America

Jewelers of America

Year 1

Bench / Manufacturing, MJSA Journal Archives

Crystal Clear: Polishing

Keeping clean while polishing under a microscope

By Fabio Penuela

One of the most important steps in making jewelry is polishing. After all, could you imagine handing a finished piece of jewelry to a customer without first polishing it? Every piece of jewelry needs to be polished, and nothing is better than polishing a piece under a microscope at the bench. A microscope allows you to see the little but very important details, helping you do a better polishing job. But polishing is also a dirty process, as all the sandpaper and polishing compound can leave a mess at the bench. While there are benchtop polishing systems, they can be expensive and the vacuums on some aren’t very efficient because many use vacuum bags and can clog easily. 

Wanting a better solution, I created my own efficient system for less than $200. It doesn’t require vacuum bags; instead, the gold dust is collected in a reusable bucket.

1. To create your own version, you’ll need a shop vacuum, a cyclone dust separator, a small bucket with a lid, two feet of thin steel wire, a PVC elbow, duct tape, some flexible hose, and clamps.

2a. Using a micromotor with a cylinder cross-cut bur or similar cutting tool, cut out a 2.5 inch circle from the middle of the bucket lid.

2b. Attach the cyclone dust separator to the lid with screws and the fittings pipes provided with the cyclone.

3. Cut two pieces of the flexible hose to the desired length based on your work space and attach them to the cyclone with the clamps.

4a. Now the lid can be placed on the bucket.

4b. The top hose from the cyclone will connect to the vacuum, while the other one must be attached to the elbow, which will allow you to position the suction hose at the right angle while you’re working under the microscope.

5. Bend the steel wire to make a hook that can be attached to the arm of the microscope. This hook will be used to rest the elbow of the hose. Make sure the length of the hook is at the right distance of the focus of the microscope so you will be able to clearly see every detail of the workpiece as you are polishing it.

6a. The completed system.

6b. Now you can polish jewelry at your bench while also enjoying a clean shop. And thanks to the centrifugal force of the cyclone dust separator, the system won’t let any metal dust particles go to the vacuum shop filter; all of the gold dust will settle in the bucket, allowing you to easily reclaim it for refining.