Mini super stones

jerrywh · Mar 14, 2015

Andrew,
It would be real nice if you gave us a mini tutorial on the process you mentioned. How do you cut the burs along the cut or slip?

Brian Marshall · Mar 14, 2015

Great explanation Doug!

I would add that there are basically 3 shapes of burnishers. The roundnosed bullet type, the lentil cross section shape that can be used from either side, and the more or less flat gently rounded bottom style. (the latter was not a joke, they are that shape)

All of these are commercially available straight or bent, long or short, thick and thin, wide and narrow. Normally in hardened tool steel and carbide for our puposes.

Uses also vary according personal preferences.

Though I have carbide burnishers, I rarely use them. Two instances come to mind. For platinum, because it will not stick - and for harder steels and perhaps titanium?

My personal everyday burnishers are hardened tool steel. Both bent. Lentil cross section. (yes, I do use both sides) One is maybe 5mm wide, the other around 10mm wide. Both were made by me, though the handles I stuck them in came from something else - maybe files?

One problem I have noticed is that what students show up with nowadays - purchased from jewelry suppliers - are useless as they come. This is becoming more and more common as the tool manufacturers cut costs (quality) and have less and less understanding of what the tool is actually used for.

Every single one of them has to be reworked. Smoothed out and brought to a high polish. Several were not even made of hardened steel.

I've also seen carbide burnishers that were delivered without a high enough polish.

THE POLISH IS CRITICAL! Without it, you are simply transferring tiny scratches from the burnisher to your surface. Not only that, your burnisher will not slide over the surface freely.

I do disagree with Doug on one point. I never use a lubricant while removing a slip.

If you've chosen the right burnisher for the material and your burnisher really HAS a mirror finish - that's all you need.

I actually wipe down the surface with alcohol or a degreaser and wear disposable gloves on some burnishing "fixes". At the very least, I try to keep even fingerprint oils away from the area I am burnishing.

You can see that the oils attract further contamination under the microscope. Those smudges get down into the crevice you are trying to "heal" and you can never get rid of the tiny line that will remain.

I find that doing it dry and surgically clean gives me a better result. As usual, your mileage can vary...

Brian

mitch · Mar 14, 2015

dhall said:
Hi Dani,

Also, using some form of lubricant can be helpful to minimize friction and galling of the metal.
Best regards,
Doug

i use Engraver's Universal Lubeâ„¢.

Big-Un · Mar 14, 2015

Bob A said:
What do you use to grind them? Thanks Bob

I use the diamond lap.

Dani Girl · Mar 14, 2015

Can anyone furnish us with a picture of their various kinds of burnishers or ones they recommend?

Thank you everyone

Danae.

monk · Mar 14, 2015

dhall said:
Hi Dani,

As you can tell, burnishers can come in many forms, can be a mixed blessing, and can be used in various ways. Here is one method that can work well. As mentioned earlier, try this on some scrap stock first. This doesn't usually happen, but it helps if you have some blank space around the errant cut. In the midst of heavy coverage, you might need a different technique, i.e. carve out and inlay replacement stock, and re-cut.

The concept is that you are capitalizing on the ability of the metal to "flow" or move under the pressure of the burnisher. Ideally, you want to move a small amount of metal from both sides of the cut towards and in to the cut's groove. The displaced metal "fills" the void (at the expense of slightly lowering the surface of the surrounding metal. The trick is to do this in as subtle a manner as possible, so that when viewed or rotated in the light, as little of a surface ripple is evident as possible. The fine abrasive stones can help with the blending/smoothing of the surface, at the end of the process (perhaps similar to blending/feathering the surface in automobile sheet metal body work).

The cross-section shape of a burnisher has an impact on how the work proceeds. A smaller radius is more aggressive and moves a smaller amount of metal more quickly, but is more challenging to use without leaving gouges or ripples in the burnished surface. A larger radius cross-section touches a greater surface area, under pressure, and ultimately has greater resistance to moving metal, but can leave fewer deep/unsightly marks in the burnished surface.

The procedure is as follows. All of the initial burnishing strokes are made parallel to the direction of the cut. Begin at a small distance away from the cut. Do not start burnishing directly on the cut. As your burnishing strokes are being made parallel to the cut, gradually move the burnishing strokes closer to the cut. If possible (and with some experience and practice) attempt to not burnish over the same exact place in this first course of burnishing. Every place where you have burnished, you have slightly work-hardened the underlying metal, and it is more resistant to being "pushed" or moved towards the cut. Hence, the need to gradually move the burnisher in essentially parallel strokes, ever closer to the cut. If possible, burnish metal on both sides of the cut, moving the metal evenly towards the cut. Remarkably, you will see the depth of the cut diminish, to the point where it is essentially filled in. If the cut is of uneven depth, burnish more lightly in the area near the shallow part of the cut, and with greater pressure in the area around the deeper part of the cut.

After this first course of burnishing, you'll know if you need to do more, if the cut is not filled in. Repeat as needed, recognizing that each successive pass of burnishing will be less effective, due to work-hardening. After getting the cut filled with the metal you've "pushed", you might try some finishing burnishing strokes at slight angles to the cut, with an eye towards blending or feathering the burnish marks to minimize their presence. After you smoothed the surface as much as possible with your burnisher(s), then it's on to the stoning. Some folks might choose to use multiple burnishers, e.g. a smaller radius to move more metal initially, graduating to a larger radius tool later, during the smoothing phase. Also, using some form of lubricant can be helpful to minimize friction and galling of the metal. Jeweler's bur lubricant can work well for this.

Done with care, the repair can be virtually invisible.

Best regards,
Doug

i applaud you for this response. at least now she has the scoop on how it's done. the newbies should write this down in a looseleaf !

monk · Mar 14, 2015

here's the very first one i bought. it was-is hard enough. but right out of the box i had to shave some of the unevenness out of it. for your knife work, i'd think this would be too large i also have a 1/8" carbide rod i rounded on the end. it was highly polished to start with. you can shape the back ends of drill bits to the size/shape that would suit the work you do. such can be held securely in a good pin vise or such.

dlilazteca · Mar 14, 2015

dhall said:
Hi Dani,

As you can tell, burnishers can come in many forms, can be a mixed blessing, and can be used in various ways. Here is one method that can work well. As mentioned earlier, try this on some scrap stock first. This doesn't usually happen, but it helps if you have some blank space around the errant cut. In the midst of heavy coverage, you might need a different technique, i.e. carve out and inlay replacement stock, and re-cut.

The concept is that you are capitalizing on the ability of the metal to "flow" or move under the pressure of the burnisher. Ideally, you want to move a small amount of metal from both sides of the cut towards and in to the cut's groove. The displaced metal "fills" the void (at the expense of slightly lowering the surface of the surrounding metal. The trick is to do this in as subtle a manner as possible, so that when viewed or rotated in the light, as little of a surface ripple is evident as possible. The fine abrasive stones can help with the blending/smoothing of the surface, at the end of the process (perhaps similar to blending/feathering the surface in automobile sheet metal body work).

The cross-section shape of a burnisher has an impact on how the work proceeds. A smaller radius is more aggressive and moves a smaller amount of metal more quickly, but is more challenging to use without leaving gouges or ripples in the burnished surface. A larger radius cross-section touches a greater surface area, under pressure, and ultimately has greater resistance to moving metal, but can leave fewer deep/unsightly marks in the burnished surface.

The procedure is as follows. All of the initial burnishing strokes are made parallel to the direction of the cut. Begin at a small distance away from the cut. Do not start burnishing directly on the cut. As your burnishing strokes are being made parallel to the cut, gradually move the burnishing strokes closer to the cut. If possible (and with some experience and practice) attempt to not burnish over the same exact place in this first course of burnishing. Every place where you have burnished, you have slightly work-hardened the underlying metal, and it is more resistant to being "pushed" or moved towards the cut. Hence, the need to gradually move the burnisher in essentially parallel strokes, ever closer to the cut. If possible, burnish metal on both sides of the cut, moving the metal evenly towards the cut. Remarkably, you will see the depth of the cut diminish, to the point where it is essentially filled in. If the cut is of uneven depth, burnish more lightly in the area near the shallow part of the cut, and with greater pressure in the area around the deeper part of the cut.

After this first course of burnishing, you'll know if you need to do more, if the cut is not filled in. Repeat as needed, recognizing that each successive pass of burnishing will be less effective, due to work-hardening. After getting the cut filled with the metal you've "pushed", you might try some finishing burnishing strokes at slight angles to the cut, with an eye towards blending or feathering the burnish marks to minimize their presence. After you smoothed the surface as much as possible with your burnisher(s), then it's on to the stoning. Some folks might choose to use multiple burnishers, e.g. a smaller radius to move more metal initially, graduating to a larger radius tool later, during the smoothing phase. Also, using some form of lubricant can be helpful to minimize friction and galling of the metal. Jeweler's bur lubricant can work well for this.

Done with care, the repair can be virtually invisible.

Best regards,
Doug

tip archive worthy!

Andrew Biggs · Mar 15, 2015

Hi Jerry
I'm on my way to the Baselworld show in Switzerland so I can't do anything till I get back.
Memory allowing I'll try and do something then
Cheers
Andrew

SamW · Mar 15, 2015

When I polish my burnisher I always work outward towards the edge so as to keep a clean sharp edge around the perimeter because I find that the burnisher makes a really good concave scraper.

Just a little gas for the fire...

Christian DeCamillis · Mar 15, 2015

Dani,

dhall give a great explanation. If you think about it this way it may help. Metal doesn't compress so therefore when you put a force to it it will displace somehow. Using this knowledge you can make it do what you want it to. The metal will move to the path of least resistance. So if you want to fill the slip you need to put the force moving in the direction of the slip or cut. as dhall says pushing the metal towards the path of least resistance the slip so it flows in to it so to speak is the way to go. If you put the pressure from the top it will create a big valley. I generally first hammer with small punches along side the slip using and sliding the punch towards the cut. then you can hand burnish it smoother. You must also blend out from there all around the area feather it in or it will still show. some sanding or stoning is usually necessary. This may also mean you have to do a little touch up or re cutting of the design effected.

The technique that Andrew describes is one that Ken Hunt taught. it is good for a miscut line across a design but for a normal slip it will still leave a deep but small dot at the end of the slip.

If the slip or miscut is deep enough then here is a video I did a while ago showing how to inlay steel into steel. These are only three minutes each. This is for a raised inlay for a repair but just stone it all the way flat.

Part one [video]http://www.engraversstudio.com/apps/vblog/Video/View.aspx?id=e914bfb69b[/video]

Part Two [video]http://www.engraversstudio.com/apps/vblog/Video/View.aspx?id=b12d5838fa[/video]

Part three [video]http://www.engraversstudio.com/apps/vblog/Video/View.aspx?id=4fe234c457[/video]

Hope this helps ,

Chris

maplesm · Mar 15, 2015

Your site states the requested video doesn't exist.

dlilazteca · Mar 15, 2015

Found this

Sam Alfano's Tips & Tricks for Hand Engravers - Repairing Slips
http://igraver.com/slips.shtml

Saludos,
Carlos

jerrywh · Mar 15, 2015

Sam.
you sure come up with some neat ideas. Now I have to go reshape all my burnishers

Brian Marshall · Mar 15, 2015

There is good reason to take workshops and classes.

No matter how much you can find online or on youtube - you will never see or hear the full range of important knowledge/skills... unless you do it LIVE - in person.

I try to take two or three every year... and every one I have ever taken has been worth far more than any time or money invested in attending.

Probably taken somewhere north of 60 of them over my lifetime?

Brian

KCSteve · Mar 15, 2015

I printed off and saved both Doug and Brian's advice - they both should go to the Tips archive.

mitch · Mar 16, 2015

mine is short & straight. (let the jokes begin...)

SamW · Mar 16, 2015

My burnisher is like Mitch's but is more rounded on the end. Mitch, do you remember where you bought that?

Brian Marshall · Mar 16, 2015

And how much work did you have to do to it to make it usable?

B.

Marrinan · Mar 16, 2015

I have made some of mine out of to grade jewelers/watchmakers tiny screw drivers. The food ones are often tool steel.-Fred

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