Different Media You Can Use for Finishing Jewelry

Finishing jewelry is a meticulous process, so you have to make sure you use the correct type of finishing medium for the job.

We’ve created this list of the different media you can use for finishing jewelry so that you can get your jewelry pieces just the way you want them.

Stainless Steel Pins and Mixed Shot

If you make jewelry, the finishing media you’re most likely to use will be either stainless steel pins or mixed shot. Both options focus on burnishing the metal in order to shape it for later processes.

Jewelry-makers typically use stainless steel pins right after casting to give the piece a bit of shine before it moves on in the process. Later on, the craftsperson will use stainless steel shot to make the metal pieces brighter and cleaner, giving the jewelry a mirror-like finish.

Ceramic Polyhedrons

If you’re moving a lot of products at once, you’ll want a medium that’s fast working, and that’s exactly what ceramic is for. This medium is heavy and oddly shaped so that it can quickly cover all sides of the jewelry and efficiently rub them before the piece moves on to the next stage of the process.

That’s also what makes this medium great for deburring and removing sharp edges.

Plastic Pyramids

If you want to focus more on smoothing out the jewelry than shining it, then a plastic pyramid medium is the way to go.

Its shape allows it to reach all the crevices carved into the metal. Since plastic isn’t as hard as the previous entries in this list, it’s an excellent choice for soft metals that harsher methods would typically damage.

Porcelain Balls

For fine-tuning, your media of choice should be porcelain balls. Due to their shape, they make a small amount of contact with the metal pieces, which makes them ideal for thin, delicate parts.

They’re well-known for fine-edge blanking and precious metal–burnishing, but they’re best known for how good they are at giving a clean, polished finish.

Treated Walnut Shells

If you really want a different media you can use for finishing jewelry, try out treated walnut shells. If you mix them with a polishing liquid or paste, you’ll get stellar results that will make your jewelry as shiny as humanly possible.

However, if you keep them dry and mix them with broken-up corncobs or wooden materials, you can use them to remove any leftover liquid or residue that might get stuck inside more intricate pieces. There are other ways to dry your parts after finishing, but this method is great for getting them as dry as you can before you put them up for sale.

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