Best tool for mirror finish polishing?

[DougVL]

(02-16-2016, 06:02 PM) Wrote: Hey everyone, new guy here!

I'm looking for a tool that would allow me to polish small metal pieces. All I find are tumblers and hand-held tools. What I would like to do is create small metal cubes about an inch on a side as smoothly polished and straight sided as possible. I'm thinking I need something like a small lathe that can hold both the workpiece and a grinding bit to each other that I can then jam together. Then a polishing bit for the finishing. Is a lathe overkill though? Can it even do this? Whatever is the appropriate tool if it can polish plastic and glass too so much the better.

What gear do I need for this?

Rasiel

Hello - even newer guy here!

Investigate the tools and techniques that gem cutters and polishers use.
No, you won't want to use a tumbler for polishing, but things like the faceting machines and lapping disks might get the  results you want.

There is a wide range of diamond-grit lapping disks available on Amazon.  I use one for sharpening/polishing/honing carving knife blade edges and it works wonderfully.

A faceting system might do a good job of making cubes.


DougVL

[Dr Stan]

(02-25-2016, 06:05 AM)big job Wrote: The out of the box thinking, I use a 4 inch sissle wheel on a angle grinder and
buff while the part is still in the vise.  Same goes while chucked in a lathe.  Way better than hand held buffing.
Things get hot.
sam

Sounds like the best idea so far.  One could buy square stock, saw it off  1/8" long then use a 1" collet in the lathe to face the sawn ends.  Depends on the size of the lathe as one would need a 14" swing or larger to hold the collet closer or collet chuck.

Leather, rubber or wooden jaws in a bench vice would be useful.  Cut as needed and temporally glue them in place.  A hot glue gun would be appropriate.