Is there a way to safely polish stones such as turquoise or coral? I have some rings that have some wear on them and the stones are no longer shiny. My husband does have a dremel tool and could probably do it. Are there polishing compounds that could be used? Does the stone have to be removed? Is this job best left to a professional Lapidary? Or should I just leave my stones alone?
Turquoise stones can be polished using a Dremel.
You should use felt wheels and Zams polishing compound
I would avoid the “Diamond” pastes compounds sold on the internet which come in various grits which are identified with different colored pigments. These can leave traces in the porous surface of the turquoise, which can be impossible to remove later.
The stones can be rinsed in warm water to remove zams from the edges if they are set in silver.
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Hey Texas. The dremel would work with zam but here is another idea you could try. If you have emery boards for buffing nails these work great. Follow the same progression as if polishing fingernails. If the stones are not too bad then just give them the final buffing. Kyle
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I have also seen some old time lapidary folks recommend an old pair of jeans as a buffing material… good strong cotton cloth.
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My dad had a turquoise stone set in a belt buckle that he didn’t like the shape of the cut–it had kind of a corner to it that he wanted to get rid of. I advised him not to, but without removing the stone from its setting he ground it down with increasingly fine grades of sandpaper, ending with very fine sandpaper. I have to say, it came out looking pretty good.
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