I'd picked up a wheel/pin kit a little while back. Surprised by the effectiveness, to be perfectly honest. The sharpened pins are nothing short of fantastic for getting into tight spots. Love 'em!
Got home last night and my new Foredom TX was waiting for me. I opted for a basic kit: the motor and the metal pedal, as I already have a number of handpieces. Love the tool, putting it mildly! Its performance is stunning. The biggest surprise, however, came from the metal pedal. I find it noticeably easier to control than the plastic, and it puts less strain on the foot. Win-win. The TX rocks at polishing steel with wool felt. I should know better by now, but I'm always surprised by how much the torque of the tool affects the luster of the metal. And it happens pretty fast. Right now it's my favorite tool. Thanks, Melissa, for the inspiration and the instruction.
Thank you Yifatiii. Yes, there is a different one. The Pin Aluminum Oxide points are much harder and almost like a gritty stone. Whereas the Pink Silicone Polishing wheel feels almost like a hard pink eraser. They will impart VERY different surface finishes. The oxide will give more of a brushed/scratched finish and the silicone will be very smooth and high polish.
Thank you, Melissa you truly are a damn good wonderful teacher !!! I'm so glad you were born ! I was blind, but now I can see the light ! because you set my mind free ! Thank you, baby, thank you from the bottom of my heart Thank You!
Thank you , Melissa also for being a great teacher. I was not clear on how to use my rubber polishing point to polish out the ding or dent in my watch bezel. This info video worked out great for me. Thanks again.
Thank you for making this video. I have a regular hand held electric dremel. I am a bit knew to all of this and it came with standard pieces. It didn't have any instructions on what these pieces were or how to use them. I tried to buff some jewelry I made and I used some Fabuluster that ended up just turning my pieces all black and gummed them up with this weird hard substance. I had to work really hard at cleaning that stuff off. Do you have any tutorials or can point me in the direction of the different types of buffing pads, grinding pieces , and so forth? Also I bought the fabuluster but it came rock hard in a container (I was expecting a cream consistency) and I am just lost on the various types of buffing products out there and where to buy them. Again, thanks so much for making the video and taking the time to answer questions!
This was an very informative. I love that jewelry piece and would love to know how to make smaller ones into earrings. I think I can figure it out without too much waste but I'm new to working with silver and definitely new to using a torch. I have made a couple nice pieces though by fusing Fine Silver and also by fusing Argentium. I haven't learned to use solder yet but I've studied and I'm certain I "can" solder. I think the hardest part of jewelry making is the polishing.... especially when one doesn't have power tools and has to do a polish completely by hand without power tools. Thanks for sharing and again I ❤️❤️❤️ that jewelry piece! 😊
Hello ☺️ I love your channel. I just purchased my first flexshaft starter kit, and I'm so excited to use it! Since this video is 8 years old are there any additional tips or anything that's changed that I should know about? Thanks so much ☺️
Good question. These are going to be a bit more aggressive than the radial discs. And I find that I get more of a brushed finish with the radial discs.
You are right. They do look like sugar on top. I just got done looking through all my stuff, and the only other thing that I could find in Pink are the 3M "spider" wheels. But they don't look a thing like I I have shown in the video.
Hi Melissa. Thank you for a great demo. Question: could I use these flexshafts to polish Turquoise and Tourmalene? I turned a plate on my lathe, and cut 1/4 inch grooves along the grain-lines about 1/16th in deep. I applied Tourmalene and super glue. Now I am trying to get a shine to show off the beauty of the black stone. I am not satisfied. I'm at 400 grit now but want to get to 2000 grit before polishing, hopefully using a felt buffing pad to really get a mirror finish. Any suggestions are really appreciated. Thank you. Be Well Ed
@@edvachal1564 as long as you have the right accessories you can. I think there might be better accessories than these particular wheels. Agilo has some called Cabshine. I don’t do a lot of stone polishing, so I can’t really speak to all of them, but I know people use it for that all the time along with ZAM
Hi Tx for this video. Do you have any tips on how to clean the silicone pads as you work? Is there a quick way of spinning on low and touching a cleaning pad or something as these get dirty quite quickly.
Guess what Yifatii, I found some wheels that you might be referring to. They are called Airflex wheels. They look similar to those I used in the video, but made differently. I don't know if they give a brushed look or if it is a high polish, But I thought I would let you know that I did actually find another type.
Joanne Forman, I find that finishing it off with a little rouge is best. Otherwise you can kind of see little lines from where you have gone over the metal with the wheels. Or if you don't do it with rouge, you can always use a polishing cloth and I find that works also.
Thanks for your speedy reply melissa ! I purchased a set of these wheels and wasn't sure how to apply their use. What kind of mandrel are you using for the stick ? I have the wheels not the stick. However, the sticks look very handy for scroll work clean up I'm new to metal smithing and have lots to learn. I'll be visiting your site often !
Joanne Forman The mandrels I am using are just called "Mini Mandrel Plain 3/32" I currently have 6 of them and they are only $1.50 each plus shipping. Let me know if you are interested and I can send them to you.
Final polishing should always be done with a cotton wheel 'without' rouge. Rouge, made up of things like RUST particles, tend to eat in to the metal and their function is to make the shape's standard deviation approaching to 0. In the final polishing, you only want to remove all the waxy particles from the surface hence use (cleaner fingers and) a fresher cotton buff wheel and what you will get is a coating like (wet) finish.You may find it interesting to know that in the pharmaceutical industry almost same passion is required to impart the sugar coated tablets a super glossy finish creating an almost 0 standard deviation surface, using bees wax and a cotton wrapped rotating drum pan. However, the pharma polishing is extremely critical as it may take about 50 steps spanning over 8-10 hours to reach to that ultra high gloss on the perfectly elliptical tablets.
Complimenti per il video,molto dettagliato,posso chiederti dove si possono acquistare quel tipo di medaglione che stai lucidando per poterci lavorare,grazie.
Do you mean a #20 handpiece (the quick change one?) If so, yes, you certainly could. You would just need to make certain you have the 3/32" mandrel. But other than that, it would work perfectly.
Melissa Muir I meant to ask, do you think these would work well for sterling disks or is there something you can recommend to remove scratches and polish sterling disks?
Rose Oatley This is exactly what I use these for. I just had a couple of pieces that had some scratches and tool marks on them and these clean those up rather quickly. I think you will like them.
Good video but it should be noted that different manufacturers of polishing wheels, pins, etc. may have different color coding for different grits. Unfortunately there seems to be no industry standard. I always find your videos informative. Thanks.
That is very true. And of course I didn't realize that at the time of this filming. But as I have begun to work with newer companies I am finding this to be the case. It certainly makes things difficult when you find a set that isn't marked. LOL.
can anyone tell me roughly how much a replacement flexi-shaft would cost ? Theres very few outlets where I am , and a lot of rip-offs . Im using Pro-Craft 220V The shaft itself broke (not the motor or hand-piece) and he told me Id need to wait a week for an engineer , so Im pretty sure he,ll try charge me through the roof for the repair Anyone ?
Ollie Phelan where are you located? Have you contacted Pro-Craft directly? I am not familiar with that brand, but I wouldn't think it should cost too much. I know people buy replacement shafts and replace them on their own without too much difficulty. You could even contact Otto Frei or Rio Grande and perhaps they can direct you. Sorry I am not much more help than that. :(
Well, no it isn’t sponsored by anyone. And yes, the ads are there so I can afford to buy tools to review. People don’t give me everything for free. The majority of the tools you see in the videos I do are purchased by me. Every now and then I offer them for sale and that too helps me to buy more so I can offer you more free videos. If you don’t care to watch the ads, you could to the paid subscription to TH-cam or avoid my videos. Sorry you are upset with it.
It’s TH-cam that inserts the ads, not the content provider. Very few of us who watch the videos here like them, but none of us has a choice - certainly not the people who put their blood, sweat, tears, and MONEY into creating the videos for us.
Actually im not impressed by the flexshaft, ill stick to my tumbler, less mess better results. Thanks for the video . ive been researching flex shafts and polishing capabilities and have not seen what im expecting.
I'd picked up a wheel/pin kit a little while back. Surprised by the effectiveness, to be perfectly honest. The sharpened pins are nothing short of fantastic for getting into tight spots. Love 'em!
Got home last night and my new Foredom TX was waiting for me. I opted for a basic kit: the motor and the metal pedal, as I already have a number of handpieces. Love the tool, putting it mildly! Its performance is stunning. The biggest surprise, however, came from the metal pedal. I find it noticeably easier to control than the plastic, and it puts less strain on the foot. Win-win. The TX rocks at polishing steel with wool felt. I should know better by now, but I'm always surprised by how much the torque of the tool affects the luster of the metal. And it happens pretty fast. Right now it's my favorite tool. Thanks, Melissa, for the inspiration and the instruction.
I am glad you like it Lucy. Thank you for sponsoring me. :)
Clear, concise video that covers a lot of things I hadn't thought about as I'm about to use my flex shaft for polishing for the first time. Thanks.
Good luck And you might find it helpful to follow up with a bit of Zam at the end.
Brilliant video Melissa, love it! Thanks so much.
Thank you Yifatiii. Yes, there is a different one. The Pin Aluminum Oxide points are much harder and almost like a gritty stone. Whereas the Pink Silicone Polishing wheel feels almost like a hard pink eraser. They will impart VERY different surface finishes. The oxide will give more of a brushed/scratched finish and the silicone will be very smooth and high polish.
Perfect timing! I just bought a set of these silicone polishing wheels! Thank you for sharing :)
The pins are really great for those tight spots.
Thank you for a very informative video, Melissa. 💜
I am glad you like it. Thanks.
Thank you, Melissa you truly are a damn good wonderful teacher !!!
I'm so glad you were born !
I was blind, but now I can see the light !
because you set my mind free !
Thank you, baby, thank you
from the bottom of my heart
Thank You!
Thank you , Melissa also for being a great teacher. I was not clear on how to use my rubber polishing point to polish out the ding or dent in my watch bezel. This info video worked out great for me. Thanks again.
*****
That is fantastic Fran. I am so glad it was helpful for you.Thanks for the feedback.
Thank you for making this video. I have a regular hand held electric dremel. I am a bit knew to all of this and it came with standard pieces. It didn't have any instructions on what these pieces were or how to use them. I tried to buff some jewelry I made and I used some Fabuluster that ended up just turning my pieces all black and gummed them up with this weird hard substance. I had to work really hard at cleaning that stuff off. Do you have any tutorials or can point me in the direction of the different types of buffing pads, grinding pieces , and so forth? Also I bought the fabuluster but it came rock hard in a container (I was expecting a cream consistency) and I am just lost on the various types of buffing products out there and where to buy them. Again, thanks so much for making the video and taking the time to answer questions!
This was an very informative. I love that jewelry piece and would love to know how to make smaller ones into earrings. I think I can figure it out without too much waste but I'm new to working with silver and definitely new to using a torch. I have made a couple nice pieces though by fusing Fine Silver and also by fusing Argentium. I haven't learned to use solder yet but I've studied and I'm certain I "can" solder. I think the hardest part of jewelry making is the polishing.... especially when one doesn't have power tools and has to do a polish completely by hand without power tools. Thanks for sharing and again I ❤️❤️❤️ that jewelry piece! 😊
Great closeup work Melissa - that really helps. Would you not get an even higher polish if you then used mini mops with rouge?
Hello ☺️ I love your channel. I just purchased my first flexshaft starter kit, and I'm so excited to use it! Since this video is 8 years old are there any additional tips or anything that's changed that I should know about? Thanks so much ☺️
Actually I am just starting a whole series of videos with Foredom on how to use the various accessories. The first one will be out tomorrow.
@@MelissaMuir Ooo I look forward to watching it. Thanks! 🥰
Nice amount of info to add to our repertoire of things to know
Thanks Mike.
Melissa, how do these differ from the feathery 3M radial disks? When would you choose one over the other?
Good question. These are going to be a bit more aggressive than the radial discs. And I find that I get more of a brushed finish with the radial discs.
You are right. They do look like sugar on top. I just got done looking through all my stuff, and the only other thing that I could find in Pink are the 3M "spider" wheels. But they don't look a thing like I I have shown in the video.
Thank you so much for this viedo!!
Hi Melissa. Thank you for a great demo. Question: could I use these flexshafts to polish Turquoise and Tourmalene? I turned a plate on my lathe, and cut 1/4 inch grooves along the grain-lines about 1/16th in deep. I applied Tourmalene and super glue. Now I am trying to get a shine to show off the beauty of the black stone. I am not satisfied. I'm at 400 grit now but want to get to 2000 grit before polishing, hopefully using a felt buffing pad to really get a mirror finish. Any suggestions are really appreciated. Thank you. Be Well Ed
@@edvachal1564 as long as you have the right accessories you can. I think there might be better accessories than these particular wheels. Agilo has some called Cabshine. I don’t do a lot of stone polishing, so I can’t really speak to all of them, but I know people use it for that all the time along with ZAM
@@MelissaMuir Thank you so much for your input Melissa. I just today got some ZAM so I will try it out.
Be well. Thanks Ed
Awesome work!
Is that 3mm diskholders or 2.35? 😀
Those shown in the video are 2.35mm.
@@MelissaMuir Thank you, Ma'am
Hi Tx for this video. Do you have any tips on how to clean the silicone pads as you work? Is there a quick way of spinning on low and touching a cleaning pad or something as these get dirty quite quickly.
I use a bit of sand paper to clean and shape mine.
The wheels are my favorite to use. I'll have to get some pins though.
Guess what Yifatii, I found some wheels that you might be referring to. They are called Airflex wheels. They look similar to those I used in the video, but made differently. I don't know if they give a brushed look or if it is a high polish, But I thought I would let you know that I did actually find another type.
Can using the Silicone Polishing wheels as described in you wonderful video replace using jewelers rouge as a final polish ?
Joanne Forman, I find that finishing it off with a little rouge is best. Otherwise you can kind of see little lines from where you have gone over the metal with the wheels. Or if you don't do it with rouge, you can always use a polishing cloth and I find that works also.
Thanks for your speedy reply melissa ! I purchased a set of these wheels and wasn't sure how to apply their use. What kind of mandrel are you using for the stick ? I have the wheels not the stick. However, the sticks look very handy for scroll work clean up I'm new to metal smithing and have lots to learn. I'll be visiting your site often !
Joanne Forman The mandrels I am using are just called "Mini Mandrel Plain 3/32" I currently have 6 of them and they are only $1.50 each plus shipping. Let me know if you are interested and I can send them to you.
Final polishing should always be done with a cotton wheel 'without' rouge. Rouge, made up of things like RUST particles, tend to eat in to the metal and their function is to make the shape's standard deviation approaching to 0.
In the final polishing, you only want to remove all the waxy particles from the surface hence use (cleaner fingers and) a fresher cotton buff wheel and what you will get is a coating like (wet) finish.You may find it interesting to know that in the pharmaceutical industry almost same passion is required to impart the sugar coated tablets a super glossy finish creating an almost 0 standard deviation surface, using bees wax and a cotton wrapped rotating drum pan. However, the pharma polishing is extremely critical as it may take about 50 steps spanning over 8-10 hours to reach to that ultra high gloss on the perfectly elliptical tablets.
That is very interesting to know about the pharmaceuticals. Thank you for the suggestions and feedback as well.
Hi your link to your blog leads to a dead page. Perhaps you don’t have a blog anymore?
I don’t have the blog anymore. Thanks for letting me know about the link.
Great video as usual!!! Thanks!!
Do you need to clean the polishing wheels after you use them. If so what do you use?
Brent Farler Sometimes I do clean and reshape mine. I use a file or a diamond coated file to do that.
What is you use to refine gold before polishing?
Would you need to tumble your piece or polish with rouge after this or this is all that need to be done as far as polishing? Thank you.
Good question. I will usually hit it with a bit of ram afterward and it is good to go.
Melissa Muir What is “ram”?
Tool Time Tuesday, it is a bit late, but posted all the same. Learn to make your pieces shine with Silicone Polishing wheels and pins.
They work really well. I love them.
Complimenti per il video,molto dettagliato,posso chiederti dove si possono acquistare quel tipo di medaglione che stai lucidando per poterci lavorare,grazie.
Grazie. Ho realizzato il pezzo da solo.
Is this process only for Sterling Silver? Can it be used on copper or brass?
+Gloria Borrero No, the process would be the same for Copper and brass as well.
Can you use these with a Foredom SR 20?
Do you mean a #20 handpiece (the quick change one?) If so, yes, you certainly could. You would just need to make certain you have the 3/32" mandrel. But other than that, it would work perfectly.
Melissa Muir Thanks for getting back to me. :) I will give these a try.
Melissa Muir I meant to ask, do you think these would work well for sterling disks or is there something you can recommend to remove scratches and polish sterling disks?
Rose Oatley This is exactly what I use these for. I just had a couple of pieces that had some scratches and tool marks on them and these clean those up rather quickly. I think you will like them.
Melissa Muir Yay! Thank you so much. I'm excited to use them. I just placed my order. Have a good day! :)
Thanks Melissa!
Is the pins rubber bullet
Yes, I believe so. But they also come in cylinder shape.
spellman so anything I don't know how to do on this
nice mem i gold palish warker i nid gold palis cemicul help ??
Good video but it should be noted that different manufacturers of polishing wheels, pins, etc. may have different color coding for different grits. Unfortunately there seems to be no industry standard. I always find your videos informative. Thanks.
That is very true. And of course I didn't realize that at the time of this filming. But as I have begun to work with newer companies I am finding this to be the case. It certainly makes things difficult when you find a set that isn't marked. LOL.
can anyone tell me roughly how much a replacement flexi-shaft would cost ?
Theres very few outlets where I am , and a lot of rip-offs .
Im using Pro-Craft 220V
The shaft itself broke (not the motor or hand-piece) and he told me Id need to wait a week for an engineer , so Im pretty sure he,ll try charge me through the roof for the repair
Anyone ?
Ollie Phelan where are you located? Have you contacted Pro-Craft directly? I am not familiar with that brand, but I wouldn't think it should cost too much. I know people buy replacement shafts and replace them on their own without too much difficulty. You could even contact Otto Frei or Rio Grande and perhaps they can direct you. Sorry I am not much more help than that. :(
Thank you.
Thank you. :)
I am able to order them for you if you would like. Just let me know you can send an email to me. Melissa at MelissaMuir . com. :)
Sponsored video and I have to watch an ad first
Well, no it isn’t sponsored by anyone. And yes, the ads are there so I can afford to buy tools to review. People don’t give me everything for free. The majority of the tools you see in the videos I do are purchased by me. Every now and then I offer them for sale and that too helps me to buy more so I can offer you more free videos. If you don’t care to watch the ads, you could to the paid subscription to TH-cam or avoid my videos. Sorry you are upset with it.
It’s TH-cam that inserts the ads, not the content provider. Very few of us who watch the videos here like them, but none of us has a choice - certainly not the people who put their blood, sweat, tears, and MONEY into creating the videos for us.
Actually im not impressed by the flexshaft, ill stick to my tumbler, less mess better results. Thanks for the video . ive been researching flex shafts and polishing capabilities and have not seen what im expecting.
What attatchment are you using for the pins?
In this case I was using a 3/32 screw mandrel.
@@MelissaMuir I'll have to look for that, my set came with what looked like an actual screw . Thank you
I will get you a link when I get home later tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.