Burnishing Platinum

If you discover porosity on a piece, remove it through burnishing or hammering (in some cases it might need to be filled).  To burnish the edges and surfaces, use a highly polished tungsten carbide burnisher and light oil as a wetting agent.  Platinum burnishes well, but be careful; the burnisher will immediately begin dragging any debris left on the surface, resulting in scratches.

You can reduce scratches even further with a gray polishing compound, followed by a white compound and then by orange, green, or carrot rouge to get the highly reflective luster for which platinum is known.

-Jurgen

Making Platinum Jewelry,Setting Gemstones,Bench Jewelers