Super shiny, super happy!

So having done a workshop with the fabulous Melanie Muir (if ever you get a chance to take a class with her do!!) and seen the amazing finish on her jewellery, and watched her use her Foredom Bench Lathe to polish her cuff bracelets I just had to get one! I have been considering upgrading from my home made polishing mop on a dremel for some time but was thinking of getting a bench grinder and buying a spindle. Having seen the Foredom in action, it struck me it was very quiet and the speed is variable which I think is useful and I decided it was the tool for me and probably worth the extra money.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I polished my first thing - WOW! It changes the whole look of the material. I used to be pleased with the finish I got before but this is a whole new league of beauty! Boy was I happy! I went to bed dreaming of making the whole world shiny!

Let me illustrate

The cuff I made in Mel's workshop - finished with micromesh polishing cloths and buffed on my muslin buffing wheel on the Dremel - now it's not perfect because it as made in a workshop and it's the first one I made but I was fairly pleased with the finish. this also isn't a great photo but it had a sheen to it but not a proper shine.

Here it is after a little polishing on the Foredom, yes this is a better photo but the difference in real life is as noticeable!

I was intrigued to find out the the sanding/buffing balance Melanie used was so different to what I had been doing. I was heavy on the sanding and light on the buffing and she is the opposite. Needless to say that has raised a whole heap of experiments I want to do to find out the optimum process for maximum shine vs effort. I also have several different polishing mops so want to find out how they differ. Is there a shininess scale? I will of course let you know what I find out. I have a huge, huge long list of things I want to do/should do so it may not be anytime soon.

Hope you all have a Happy Easter! I gave up on covering eggs with polymer clay as I couldn't make them perfect - more practise ready for next year (something else on that list!)