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Wire Jewelry Tool Tip: Stone Setting and Burnishers

By on February 16, 2015
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by Judy Ellis, Wire-Sculpture.com

Product of the Week for February 16, 2015

This week we feature our Stone Setting Tools

What is Burnishing?

Burnishing creates a pleasing glossy finish on other finished projects. This adds a lustrous shine resulting in a professional, polished look on the piece. Hand burnishing produces a highly reflective finish by using a variety of specialized tools to compress and flatten the surface of the precious metal.

Each stroke, which involves a tool pressing against the surface of the piece, creates a bright streak. The trick is to layer or overlap each streak to form a continuous bright surface over the desired area. If an even finer, longer-lasting surface is needed, the piece can be burnished again perpendicular to the original stroke. While time consuming and labor intensive, hand burnishing does not remove any of the precious metal from the jewelry and can produce a very striking effect.

What is a Burnisher?

A burnishing tool is a device used to create a polished or textured finish on the surface of an object. Used in both art and manufacturing, different types of burnishing tool can be applied to metal, wood, or ceramic materials. Burnishing an object can both improve the properties of the material or alter its appearance depending on application.

How to use a Burnisher:

Use your burnishers to de-bur the end of your jewelry wire after it has been cut or to smooth bezels around stones and gems. Just a couple of twists are all it takes to put those small, but oh-so-crucial adjustments on your wire-jewelry masterpiece.

Let’s take a look at a few of the burnishers we carry and their

Burnishers:

Use a small burnishing tool to get into tight spots and smooth and polish

Bezel Roller Deluxe
This improved bezel roller is an upgraded version to assure a better job – faster and easier. With a wider blade (3mm) and re-designed handle, our Bezel Perfect is more ergonomic. The highly polished roller blade assures smoother, more uniform results than conventional bezel rollers, especially on wider bezels.
Prong Pusher
This handy tool has a polished steel tip set in a comfortable wooden handle. It’s used to bend prongs while setting stones
Solid Scraper 7IN

Solid Scraper 7IN

Scrapers are used for smoothing, cleaning, and de-burring plastics and metals. With their hardwood handles they prepare the surface for soldering, removing excess solder and opening bezels. Can be resharpened on a bench stone.
Agate Burnisher - Straight

Agate Burnisher – Straight

Natural agate stone burnishers are the perfect tool for metal clay work, applying gold and silver foil or Keum-boo applications. Also works to burnish unfired metal clay. Can be used like a steel burnisher for smoothing metals and closing bezels, but unlike steel burnishers, they will not damage stones

The burnisher is one of the most under-utilized tools you can have on your workbench!

Happy Wrapping!

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