Automated Electro-polishing of Jewellery Pieces
Rings, ear rings, studs, necklaces, bracelets, brooches, watch parts and more can all be finished using electro-polishing machines. They are especially good at reaching into inaccessible internal contours without degrading the intricate detail of delicate filigree jewellery and other fine decorative pieces created from precious metals such as yellow, red and white gold, as well as silver.
The ability to finish filigree pieces has gained importance as additive manufacturing enables even more fine detailing to be 3D printed than could ever be crafted by hand. At best, any attempt at hand finishing will not yield a satisfactory outcome for the time involved. At worst, it may damage fine detail.
Rapid development of electro-polishing technology means there are now machines that require low investment and are small enough to sit on a table-top, They are easy to use, can be operated directly via a touch-screen or via a mobile phone app. Different parameters can be stored for easy recall and reuse for precise repeatability. These are ideal for smaller makers and artisans.
Another important advantage is the ability to easily recover precious metal deposits from the cathodes. Process times are short and time that would be spent hand finishing is freed for more productive use.
Fintek are pleased to offer UK fine precious metal artisans, jewellery and watch makers, the EF range of electropolishing machines from OTEC Präzisionsfinish GmbH. Click the link below to find out more.
Disc Finishing for Jewellery Pieces
Disc finishing achieves polishing by placing the jewellery pieces into an open drum with a suitable granulate media. Rotation of a disc at the bottom of the drum creates a toroidal stream inside the stationary drum. As the jewellery pieces move through the stream they are efficiently polished. Disc finishing is much more effective than traditional vibratory equipment.
OTEC Präzisionsfinish disc finishing systems are available in compact table-top variants that are specially developed for jewellery makers. For larger users, their ground-breaking industrial CF disc finishing machines are also available with multi-drum set-ups.
For large batch processing of small items, separating units can be specified and these make it easy to remove jewellery from the process granulate.
To keep jewellery items separate from contact during processing, drag finishing machines are a good alternative. In drag finishing the workpieces are placed on specially designed holders that are fixed to rotating heads. The speed and direction of rotation of the heads can all be fine-tuned, as can the angle of emersion in the process media, to deliver perfect polishing of selected surfaces.
Again process parameters are easy to store and recall for process repeatability.
