Polishing a finished ring. Video by Jim's Gems. Not narrated.

Once the stone is set in the ring assembly it is ready for polishing. I made a tool out of some oak wood I had to hold the ring so I can polish the inside of the ring shank as well as the back of the base where it meets the shank. I cut slots with the saw blade so the ring shank sits in place once the jaws are opened and squeezed tight around the shank, but without squeezing it too hard that it squashes and deforms it. At the top is a thin brass square screwed to the tops of both pieces of wood to act as a hinge point. I use a product called Fabu-Lustre to polish the silver. A small amount is applied to a 1" diameter nylon brush, pre-mounted on a 3/32" diameter mandrel. The polishing brush is inserted into my flex-shaft grinder. It spins and polishes when I press on a foot pedal. Once the inside of the ring is polished, I put the ring assembly on another tool I made on my wood lathe. It's a tapered piece of cherry wood I had, about 6" long, and the ring slides onto it and sets in place while I polish the outside of the shank and bezel. A bit of final polishing after I inspect it, and the ring is finished. The reason for holding the silver with the wooden tools is, when you polish, you're removing tiny bits of silver. That generates a lot of heat, and without the tools to hold the silver assembly, you wouldn't be able to hold onto it with your hands and fingers.