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Amber Polishing – The Definitive Guide

Amber is a naturally beautiful fossilized tree resin that comes in different colors and is widely used for making amber jewelry and ornaments. Baltic amber jewelry is very popular among the jewelry parts.

Many people find it extremely hard to handle amber well, which eventually damages your beautiful jewelry.

In this article today, you will learn:

1. How to polish amber stones effectively and efficiently
2. How to handle amber so that it may retain its beauty

Keep reading to find out more.

1. What Is Amber?

Now, as you have read earlier, amber is a fossilized tree resin that is popular because of its color.

It takes many years to form, and it is brittle. Amber is widely used as a decorative element.

It is used to make jewelry. For example, it can be used to make necklaces, earrings, pendants, etc.

Baltic amber is the most popular amber in the market.

Black amber is another popular amber stone, and polishing black amber can be a tough task if you don’t use the right technique.

2.  What Is the Best and Most Effective Way of Polishing Amber?

You can polish amber using mass finishing machines. However, you’ll first have to cut your raw amber into smaller pieces.

Amber is best dealt with in smaller chunks. You can complete the cutting process quickly by using a circular saw.

A circular saw gives a clean and straight cut on amber pieces. However, you can also opt to cut your amber pieces manually.

For the manual method, a fine-toothed saw is recommended. However, manual cutting is quite risky.

It is difficult to achieve a clean and straight cut manually. It requires skill and experience.

You need to invest in an amber polishing kit to do the manual polishing work.

This can be challenging for you, especially if you are new to handling amber.

After cutting the amber pieces into smaller chunks, you can grind the pieces – give them a shape that you desire.

Shaping your pieces requires a sanding wheel. You can further resize your pieces using the sanding wheel.

You can also decide to grind your amber pieces manually – using sandpaper. This manual process is time-consuming.

When grinding your amber pieces, friction will cause your piece to warm up.

For authentic pieces, it shouldn’t be something to worry about. It will survive the process.

For softer grades of amber, you can use water as a coolant during the process.

The next process will be polishing the pieces using mass finishing machines.

You can use either a centrifugal disc finishing machine or a vibratory tumbler to complete the polishing process.

Now, the ideal polishing media when polishing amber pieces in both mass finishing machines is porcelain media.

Porcelain media is gentle on the surfaces of your amber pieces.

You can be sure that with porcelain media, your amber pieces will not be scratched.

The centrifugal disk finishing machine works in an exciting way.

It has container-like equipment, whose bottom part is a disc that spins at incredibly high speeds.

The walls of the container are stationary – they act as brakes to the centrifugal force generated by the spinning bottom part.

The vibratory tumbler polishes your amber pieces by vigorously shaking its bowl to generate friction.

The generated friction is necessary for finishing the process.

You need to make sure that you fill the centrifugal disc finishing machine’s container to its optimum working level.

The same applies to a vibratory tumbler.

You shouldn’t overfill them because they will not polish effectively.

In summary:

Amber is first cut into smaller pieces using a circular saw. You can also use a fine-toothed saw to cut manually.

Always handle amber in smaller pieces.

However, manual processes are quite tricky to achieve a clean and straight cut. They require experience and expertise.

A sanding wheel is used to shape and resize the newly cut amber pieces.

You can also shape and resize your amber pieces manually – using sandpaper. It takes a considerable amount of time.

Then, polishing is done using mass finishing machines.

3. How Long Does Amber Polishing Process Take?

The amber polishing process should not take long. It will depend on the finishing method that you’ll choose.

For example, when you decide to complete the whole process manually, the process is going to take a great deal of time.

Contrary to that, finishing your amber pieces using mass finishing machines will not take a lot of time.

Also, with mass finishing machines, you get to eliminate the possibility of human error.

Now, mass finishing machines only take a few hours to tumble. The recommended polishing media is porcelain media.

The centrifugal disc finishing machine uses centrifugal forces to complete the polishing process quickly.

The vibratory tumbler is also designed to finish the polishing process in a timely and efficient way.

Bottom line:

It is advisable to complete the process using mass finishing machines.

Doing it manually consumes a considerable amount of time and energy.

4. How Can Dull Amber Be Revived?

First, you need to understand why your amber pieces become dull.

The first and most probable reason why your amber pieces are dull is that they have dust on their surfaces.

You can revive them by simply using a dry cloth to wipe the dust off their surface.

The second reason is that your amber pieces may have your sweat on them, especially if they are jewelry like bracelets and pendants.

You can remove the dull look by soaking a soft cloth in lukewarm water. Then, squeeze the fabric to get rid of excess water.

Wipe the surface of your amber pieces gently. Then, dry the amber pieces with another soft cloth.

You can further enhance the look of your amber pieces by pouring a little amount of olive oil on a dry cloth.

Rub the olive oil on your amber pieces. If the olive oil is in excess, you can wipe it off using another dry cloth.

That will rekindle the look on your amber. It is simple and efficient.

It further helps slow down the oxidation process on your amber pieces.

Just to prevent further damage to your precious amber pieces, you can store them separately from other jewelry.

A jewelry bag would be most appropriate. It will prevent scratches and exposure to chemicals such as perfumes and hairsprays.

5. Can Amber Be Polished Using a Mass Finishing Machine?

Yes. Amber can be polished using mass finishing machines.

You can use a vibratory tumbler to polish your amber pieces.

Another mass finishing machine that can be used is the centrifugal disc finishing machine.

When using these mass finishing machines, the recommended polishing media is porcelain media.

It is soft on the surfaces of your amber pieces. It will not scratch them.

The polishing process does not take a lot of time to complete. It only takes a few hours.

However, before polishing using mass finishing machines, it is recommended to cut your big pieces of amber into smaller ones.

You’ll cut the pieces using a circular saw. It gives an excellent cut and saves a great deal of time.

Smaller pieces can be handled in a better way. You will then grind using a sanding wheel.

The sanding wheel will help you resize your pieces too.

After you have completed those two processes, then you can polish using either mass finishing machines.

6. Is Polishing Amber Expensive?

Polishing amber is not expensive. The type of finishing process that you’ll decide to use will also dictate the cost.

The mass finishing process is relatively cheaper and easier compared to manual methods.

Running mass finishing machines, such as the vibratory and centrifugal disc finishing machines, is not expensive.

Also, porcelain polishing media, which is popularly used nowadays to polish amber, is not expensive to acquire.

The process will only take a few hours to complete. They will also be polished uniformly.

Bottom line:

Polishing amber should not be expensive, provided the correct polishing procedures are followed to the letter.

7. What Polishing Media Is used to Polish Amber?

The popularly used polishing media for your amber pieces is the porcelain polishing media.

It is popularly used because it does not end up damaging your amber pieces. It does not scratch its surface.

It also comes in different shapes and sizes, necessary for polishing even the most intricate part of your amber piece.

8. How Can I Remove Scratches from Amber?

Now, removing scratches from your amber pieces requires you to simply polish your amber pieces.

However, you will not necessarily be required to use mass finishing machines.

You can remove these scratches by simply using a cotton buffing wheel.

You will, however, be required to hold the piece firmly to avoid any accidents that may end up ruining your amber piece.

It will get rid of the scratches.

You can further seek more exceptional polish by using mass finishing machines.

Polishing compounds can also be included in the process. These compounds must not be alcohol, chloroform, or acetone-based.

Further, the polishing compound mustn’t be neutral-colored because it may end up discoloring the surfaces of your amber pieces.

You should also avoid polishing your amber pieces using steam cleaners or even a jewelry machine – they damage your amber.

9. How Is Raw Amber Polished?

Raw amber is the untreated and unprocessed form of amber. It is naturally formed in big pieces.

Before polishing your raw amber, first, cut it into smaller pieces.

Amber is cut using a circular saw – it gives an excellent cut, and you can further trim your pieces into smaller sizes.

You can give them your desired shape using a sanding wheel. The sanding wheel can as well be used to resize your pieces.

Afterward, use a cotton buffing wheel to smooth the surface of your amber pieces, which may still be rough.

Then, you can finish the process using mass finishing machines.

Your amber piece should now be highly appealing to the eye.

To know whether your amber pieces are authentic, you can check if they glow under UV rays.

Glowing shows that they are real amber pieces.

10. What Are the Best Practices When Handling Amber for the Best Results?

The first practice is to cut amber into smaller pieces by using a circular saw.

The circular saw is famous for giving clean and straight cuts.

Secondly, when grinding, it is advisable to use a sanding wheel to shape and resize your pieces.

Manual grinding is quite inconvenient as it consumes a great deal of time and energy.

Mass finishing machines will give you impeccable results when used. They are cheaper and save a lot of time.

Further, they do not consume a lot of electric power.

The recommended machines for handling amber pieces for the best results are the centrifugal disc finishing machines and the vibratory tumblers.

Bottom line:

By first cutting into smaller pieces, then shaping these pieces using a sanding wheel, and further polishing using mass finishing machines, you will have unparalleled results.