Polishing and buffing

I am trying to get ready for my first sale on Friday (my mum sold some bits for me at a charity coffee morning a few weeks back but I wasn't there and she did all the display etc). I don't have as much stock as I would like (where does the time go?) but I am working on it!

I have been polishing many of my beads in a rock tumbler recently. I half fill the tumbler with small smooth pebbles, bung in a handful or two of beads add some water and a drop of dish soap and leave them to it for about 24 hours. Thanks to Desiree for the information and friends on  PCC forum for their advice.  It's great, they buff up beautifully with little effort on my part! The tumbler won't smooth out scratches or bumps so some pieces I hand sand with coarse wet and dry first but it still saves me working through all the other grades of paper!

I am buffing with my home made muslin buffing wheel on the dremel and I can get a beautiful glass like shine on a well sanded piece. I was buffing round beads with a few strung on a wire which seems to work well. Tonight I decided to make a bracelet and then buff it (not sure why). Unfortunately I found out the hard way that it isn't a smart idea to buff beads on elastic! It all started off going well but just as I was getting round to the last few beads the elastic snagged on the wheel  and ping - beads everywhere!!! The elastic got wrapped round and round the spindle - probably could of saved it if I had turned the dremel off quick. Won't do that again!! I also really must set up a bead guard as I lost several down the back of my bench the other day whilst buffing.

I have been working on some labels and display stuff, will try and take some pictures and share them soon