Hi, I am repairing a clients moonstone bead necklace. The moonstones have "tarnish" from the beading wire in the drill holes. I have tried warm soapy water, which didn't work. Any suggestions? Thanks so much.
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
To begin with, Rachel, we have moved your post out of the section entitled "Forum Disclaimers" Please be more careful when choosing where to post.
To answer your question, I would try a Sunshine Cloth for the areas around the drill holes. One needs an abrasive with a hardness greater than the metal and softer than the feldspar. To remove tarnish within the drill holes, I suspect you would need to get inside every drill hole with an abrasive....a reamer of sorts.
Does anyone have any ideas about a "dip" which might work?
Thanks Barbara, I had very good success with a diamond bit reammer. it was not quite thin enough to reach the very centre of the beads but it was a huge improvement!
Probably a bit late now, but I have had great success with a bamboo slip (which will split down really fine) then charge it with toothpaste or other mild abrasive and use the flex drive to spin it inside the hole. A run through the ultrasonic then cleans everything out. When restringing the necklace, use the nylon coated wire. A little more expensive but doesn't mark the inside of beads.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum