Polishing methods for gold & steel

[sweeney90]

I recently purchased a Dremel and a number of dialux compounds in hope of learning to be able to polish and restore watch cases. I have had a go at a number of old watches ( steel ) I own with mixed results. I have followed the charts provided by Dialux and used the compounds in order. I have noticed the cases look better when I have finished but they still show scratches and sometimes a fogging that stays even after it’s been cleaned. I have yet to attempt a good case for obvious reasons but would like to in the near future. I have been using cotton mops for first phase and an extremely soft mop for final polish. If anyone could help with and advice on mop heads or speed setting or anything else it would be greatly appreciated. 
 

cheers guys 

[jdm]

8 minutes ago, sweeney90 said:

sometimes a fogging that stays even after it’s been cleaned.

That could be Dialux green, try switching to blue, or even another brand fine compound.

8 minutes ago, sweeney90 said:

 I have been using cotton mops for first phase.

These won't remove scratches on steel, for that you need buffing with a pressed fibers solid wheel. There has been ample discussion about that, including the buffing/polishing naming use and the mandatory warning about the possibility of ruining crisp edges. Just enter either of the two terms in the search box top right.

[oldhippy]

Jewelers rouge with a soft mop is best for gold. Then wash out is soapy warm water and dry with a clean cloth. What you call fogging can be caused by heat. I used a bench buffer with various types of mops.  

[xyzzy]

For gold plated, I used a soft mop and Dialux red.  Clean in the ultrasonic with something with ammonia in it.  It'll make it shiny, but there's nothing to do for scratches.  The plating will just get buffed off.

For steel, you can get quite good results.

I like Dialux gray then blue.  I haven't found the soft cotton mops to do much to steel and use the harder pressed wool disks.  You can get narrow disks that allow one to be more selective about what to polish.  I haven't found the finer Dialux green to be better than blue or for an additional pass of green after blue to make a visible difference.

Even Dialux orange, which is supposed to be the more aggressive, doesn't seem to remove much material.  Maybe in a full sized buffer it would.  But on the dremel it really doesn't seem to.

So for removing scratches, I use silicone abrasive wheels.  These work great.  The medium (black) is good for removing scratches.  Coarse (white) also works well too, but it's more work to get out the sanding marks it leaves.  The blue and red ones aren't as useful at scratch removal, but you need them to get out the scratches from the black.

I have a glass plate and lapping film too, for sanding flat surfaces, like 1970s Seiko cases and bracelets.

Some hints:

Keep the wheel moving.  If you hold it in one spot you get a non-fair spot.  Plan the motion you'll make to keep the wheel flat against the surface while following the contours.

Don't run the wheel perpendicular to a case edge, always parallel.  You'll soften the case's lines far more if you when buff across an edge.  And don't run the wheel ON the edge either.

Don't push harder to get a more aggressive buffing action.  Use a different compound or wheel.  Or maybe just recharge the wheel.  The tiny ones seem to run out quite quickly.  Like one side a single bracelet link.

If you want to remove a scratch from a flat surface, you'll need to sand it with something flat to get it looking flat again.  You'll get a wavy non-fair surface with any kind of buffing wheel that removes material.  Polish is ok if it's not too aggressive and you keep the wheel moving.

A brushed finished is way more forgiving than a polished one!

Clean when switching grits.  Clean the watch, clean off the work surface you might set the watch on, use different wheels and mops, don't set the fine grit mops down on top of something coarse grit dust on it, etc.

[HectorLooi]

For large items like a watch case or bracelet, I prefer to use a bench top polishing lathe. A Dremel tool with a small diameter wheel is more likely to create an uneven surface finish.

To remove deep scratches, I use an abrasive rubber wheel. For a high shine finish, I use a homemade wheel made of medium density fibre board and charged with blue polishing compound.

It is important to true, dress and clean all wheels to prevent vibrations and chatter.

Finishing and polishing is an art. Practice on different objects around the house first. Practice on different materials from plastics, silver, gold, stainless steel...

Each material will have a different feel and require slight changes in techniques and materials used.

Experiment and have fun. Cheers.

[mikepilk]

For scratches in steel I use wet and dry stuck to wooden sticks (Cousins sells them), so I can keep sharp edges. For deep scratches I'll start with 240, them move to 400,600 grit (800 for finer scratches), before using Dialux orange, on a hard felt wheel on the Dremel.

I finish with Dialux white with a soft felt or cotton mop - which I also use for gold. 

[sweeney90]

On 10/29/2021 at 12:48 PM, mikepilk said:

For scratches in steel I use wet and dry stuck to wooden sticks (Cousins sells them), so I can keep sharp edges. For deep scratches I'll start with 240, them move to 400,600 grit (800 for finer scratches), before using Dialux orange, on a hard felt wheel on the Dremel.

I finish with Dialux white with a soft felt or cotton mop - which I also use for gold. 

Thanks for the tips, if you were going to sand a gold case what grade of sandpaper would you recommend? 

[mikepilk]

I wouldn't want to sand a gold case. Only polish. I'm not used to working with solid gold cases, hopefully someone else can advise? 

[Stymied]

Yes, I know this is focused on polishing, yet I would like to hear thoughts on using a file to dress a well-worn yellow metal crown on a Bunn Special I have. I had originally avoided changing for a new crown to keep the original with the watch. Now I'm thinking a file might be too aggressive for the plating. Anyone attempted to dress a well-worn crown? Thoughts?

Best Wishes,

Bruce

[jdm]

53 minutes ago, Stymied said:

I would like to hear thoughts on using a file to dress a well-worn yellow metal crown

For which purpose you want use a file on a crown? Il will certainly remove plating where it touches. Also any motorized polishing will do the same.

[Stymied]

3 hours ago, jdm said:

For which purpose you want use a file on a crown? Il will certainly remove plating where it touches. Also any motorized polishing will do the same.

You're right...I wasn't very clear. The old crown has worn enough that winding can sometimes be problematic. Still the color and patina of the old crown is a fine match to the case. I'd like to dress the crown and would even be willing to re-plate......but then I would lose that nice matching with the case. I had also thought that a limited roughing with some abrasive might bring back some of the traction when winding. Thoughts?

[jdm]

1 hour ago, Stymied said:

Thoughts?

That if you don't want to replace it, it would be better to leave it as it is for now. Experiment on something else first.