SweetheartSister Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 Just a little thought I had today...if I wanted Cone 6 fired porcelain to have a satin/low gloss finish without the use of an overglaze, do you think that I could achieve this using a rock polisher? I'm talking about very small items - pendants and beads. I would be interested to know if anyone on here has ever tried putting porcelain in a rock tumbler machine before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 13 minutes ago, SweetheartSister said: Just a little thought I had today...if I wanted Cone 6 fired porcelain to have a satin/low gloss finish without the use of an overglaze, do you think that I could achieve this using a rock polisher? I'm talking about very small items - pendants and beads. I would be interested to know if anyone on here has ever tried putting porcelain in a rock tumbler machine before? I think you would have success depend upon the desired look. While we have not used a polisher we have achieved various looks by sanding, polishing and burnishing even to a low gloss. By sanding I am talking 500 to 2000 grit. We found it pretty easy to polish to a mild gloss with some effort. All of our items are fully vitrified porcelain. It definitely is easier to use a glaze that provides the intended look though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 Sure why not, you can skip the first few steps of grit too. I'd be sure to put a healthy amount of filler beads in there too though to help cushion them from bashing each other apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetheartSister Posted September 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 Thanks Bill and Liam for the advice. I'm going to experiment with it and will let you know if it is successful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 The balls in the ball mill at school were all hand rolled out of porcelain, and had a very smooth, river rock-like feel. If your items are round and roughly the same size would they be self-polishing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 11 minutes ago, Callie Beller Diesel said: The balls in the ball mill at school were all hand rolled out of porcelain, and had a very smooth, river rock-like feel. If your items are round and roughly the same size would they be self-polishing? Yep, but it would take a lot longer than if you used prepolish and polish. With my rockhounding stuff I polish smooth rocks sometimes and just skip the rough and fine abrasives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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