I know various people have discussed how to do it and if you should attempt it yourself but I wondered if anyone had done it (by themselves or had it done for them) and could share details please?

I have some squatties I am thinking about getting sorted, I just ordered some Mendoza combos too from Epiphany and might consider getting those done, although I am unsure of that at present as I have not got them in my grubby little hands yet.

One thing I do know is that I wont be doing either sets myself though...

Satin finish cups are generally only partially polished. The worst of the spin lines are basically kind of equalized by some preliminary work with fine grit emery cloth or polishing paper.

The next step is to use a jeweler's buff on a polishing motor, with Tripoli, which is a polishing compound. After you polish with Tripoli, you change buffs and use Jeweler's rouge. Sometimes, there may be other steps in between, but that's basically it.

It takes a LOT of work. Be prepared to pay about $35 to $50 per cup to get it done. If the cup flies out of the polisher's hand while this is being done, it may be severely damaged. This is especially problematic when it comes to the chop cup in the combo set.

I would advise you to simply accept them the way they are.

Bill,
Thanks for your detailed advice (once again). It certainly sounds like a lot more work than I might have imagined.

I never intended to try it myself but after reading your advice and having an image of Jes squatty embedded in my ceiling I believe I might best enjoy them as they are and there's also the advantage of no reflections to deal with.

I found that practicing with my sterling cups that they reflect everything because they have a mirrored finish. They make me work harder because of it!

Bri

The real question is if left as satin, how do they patina differently than polished over a long period of time and can you tell the difference once they are fully patinaed?

Once they patina, there is basically a smoother surface on the polished cups. The difference is not as noticeable, though.

I think you can get a pretty shiny copper cup by hand polishing.

If you do not need to take the cups into the bathroom to shave with, then using good metal polish and some elbow grease, two or three times, makes the cups very shiny and then a coat of carnauba wax gives them a very rich color.

Some guys have posted they take their cups into the bathroom to speed the patina, remember if you want the patina do not polish or wax them.

For silver or gold I would let the professional do a proper polishing job, but the copper and "church bronze" look great with a hand polish and wax.

Right now my Mendoza combo's are satin finish and I am working on the patina. One cup at a time I place them in the palm of my hands for about 10 minutes, and then start the next cup for 10 minutes. While they are in the palms during that 10 minute session I will turn them over in small incriments every few seconds. They are getting darker and darker, and appears to be getting smoother. I will sit in front of the TV watch a good movie with the cups in my hands, or while I am sitting in front of the computer the cups are in my hands.

I am living in NC and it has been below freezing outside this past week, therefore my hands are very dry which makes this patina process slower. My skin is naturally dry anyway, so it is going to be a while before my cups are the way I want them.

There will be photos of my patina work sometime within the next few weeks that will show the before and after patina process.

Have fun folks!

I wanted to respond to this since I do have experience in this. I have polished A LOT of metal. One of my other hobbies is building medieval armor. I did this as a business for a while so I was more than a hobbiest. I have taken hot rolled metal to a mirror finish on many occasions. Even my bare basic pieces have a polish to them, so every piece I build is polished.

Bill is right on the method of polishing the cups, however, I disagree that it is a lot of work to take brass or copper from a satin to a mirror finish. Of course, all things are relative. Brass and copper are soft and much easier to polish than steel. Usually tripoli is good enough to bring a bright shine and mirror finish. Using some white compound will really give you a very, very bright mirror finish.

You asked if anyone has polished cups. I personally have polished mutiple sets of cups and it takes about five to ten minutes per cup to take them from a satin to a mirror finish. I have never lost control of a cup and had it fly from my hand. Anyone who has any experience should not lose a cup in this manner. It is very easy to control a piece once you are familiar with using a buffing wheel. I can honestly say that I would have no fear of polishing any cup on a wheel. Then again, as I stated, I have done a LOT of metal polishing on buffing wheel. Once you have polished sharp knife blades you learn to have a lot of control and respect for the wheel.

Well said.

This is the whole thing in a nutshell -- the experience.



But it's not everything. Even people who have polished as many sets as Mike Brazill or Jake will still lose a cup on occasion. With brass and copper, it is very easy to overpolish, as well. If you use a very aggressive compound and a lot of pressure, you can actually deform the surface of a soft metal cup.

If you are going to gain experience polishing copper, it would be a good idea to get hold of something other than cups to learn on.

I don't want to sound too repetetive, but I wholly agree with Bill. After rereading my post, I wanted to clarify that I am not representing that one could NEVER lose a cup if they were experienced. I know this is what I said. That just isn't correct. This is simply a risk with polishing anything.

Also, Bill is dead on about overpolishing, especially with agressive compounds. Too much pressure alone can deform them. When I had people help with polishing pieces, I noticed that most people try to apply too much pressure. Most of the light buffing I do is on a cheap harbor freight bench grinder, so the engine will bog down before I could do much deforming! (This probably helps me keep control of pieces too. No top of the line, high power buffers for the light stuff.) Someone once told me to let the compound do the job, not pressure. I honestly believe it is a combination of the two in the right amount. There is a certain art of getting a good polish.

Buffing with compound is literally grinding away part of the suface, albeit in minute amounts (assuming you are using a finer grit compound). I have some compounds I use on steel on a sisal wheel that will literally throw sparks. With copper and brass, I use a light touch and start with tripoli on a spiral sewn cotton wheel if I need to go from a satin finish. I also acid etch decorative brass and copper armor elements. You cannot be over agressive or you will buff out the ethcing. I use the same approach for cups. If I am just touching up cups (which I do with mine from time to time, I like them shiny) then I use white compound and a loose flannel wheel. This will shine them back up, but is relatively gentle.

Finally, I most definitely agree the cups aren't where you need to start. I hope that I didn't come off as implying that you should start there, just that it can be done at home if you have the tools and experience.

You have given us a lot of very good information here.

Another thing I would really recommend is to get hold of some reading material about the subject.

Learn from the experiences of those who have done it before!!!! Just knowing how to set up your motor and buffs will be of great importance.

I can imagine you only need to make one mistake to learn from it!

Seriously everyone, thank you for so much help and in-depth information here. There's a lot of knowledge around the Café!