ON BVRNISHIN«. IQo 



ON BURNISHING. 



To burnish an article, is to polish it, by removing the small emi- 

 lences or roughnesses, upon its surface ; and the instrument by 

 which it is performed, is denominated a Burnisher, This mode of 

 polishing is the most expeditious, and gives the greatest lustre to a 

 polished body. It is made use of by gold and silversmiths, cutlers, 

 locksmiths, and most of the workmen in gold, silver, copper, iron, 

 or steel. It removes the marks left by the emery, putty of tin, or 

 other polishing materials ; and gives to the burnished articles, a 

 black lustre, resembling that of looking-glass. The burnisher is an 

 instrument, the form and construction of which is extremely varia- 

 ble, according to the respective trades ; and, it must be even 

 adapted to the various kinds of work, in the same art. We shall 

 point out the principal ones. In general, as this tool is only in- 

 tended to efface inequalities, whatever the burnisher is made of, is 

 of little consequence to the article burnished, provided only, that 

 it be of a harder substance than that article. 



We shall first describe the art of burnishing silver articles, and 

 afterwards point out the variety of modes in which the burnisher is 

 used, in other arts. 



When silver articles have received their last fashion from the 

 silversmith's hands, that is to say, when they have been worked, 

 soldered, repaired, or adjusted, they are sent to the burnisher, who 

 has the care of finishing them. He must begin by cleaning off any 

 kind of dirt which their surfaces had contracted whilst makinpr, as 

 that would entirely spoil me perfection of the burnishing. For 

 this purpose, the workman takes pumice-stone powder, and, with 

 a brush, made very wet in strong soap-suds, he rubs, rather hard, 

 the various parts of his work, even those parts which are to remain 

 dull 5 and which, nevertheless, receive a beautiful white appear- 

 ance. He then wipes it with an old linen cloth, and proceeds to 

 the burniihing. 



The burnishers used for this purpose, are of two kinds ; some of 

 steel, others of hard stone. Steel burnishers are either curved or 

 straight ; rounded or pointed ; and made so as to suit the project- 

 ing parts or the hollows of the piece. 



Stone burnishers are made of blood-stone {hcematitc) cut, and 

 either rounded with tiie grindstone, or rubbed, so that they present 

 at the bottom, a very blunt edge, or sometimes a rounded surface. 

 These are polished with emery, like steel burnishers, and aie finish- 

 ed by being rubbed upon a leather, covered with crocus martis. 

 The stone is mounted in a wooden handle, and firmly fixed by 

 means of a copper ferrule, which encircles both the stone and the 

 wood. The best blood-stones are those which contain the most 

 iron, and which, when polished, present a steel color. 



The operation of burnishing is very simple : it is only requisite 

 to take hold of the tool very near to the ferrule or the stone, and 

 lean very hard with it on those parts which are to be burnished^ 

 causing it to glide by a backward and forward movement, without 

 faking it off the piece. When it is requisite that the hand should 



