This oval shaped curved steel burnisher tool consists of a hard steel 'blade' in a wooden handle - it's an essential tool for a variety of jewellery making techniques. Comfortable to hold wooden handle Rub over softer metals (such as sterling silver, gold and copper) to smooth and shine the metal especially where polishing with rouge or tripoli could damage the stone Use to rub metal over a cabochon stone when setting in a bezel cup or using fine silver bezel strip Burnishing is also a useful technique for hardening metals Essential tool for metal clay artists - as the soft nature of the pure silver make it particularly receptive to burnishing. For smaller metal clay pieces, burnishing is often all that is needed for polishing and textures can be greatly enhanced when raised areas are burnished, creating a distinct and interesting contrast Errors made during engraving with a graver can be hidden by smoothing metal into unwanted scratches and similarly, other tool 'slips' can be rectified with the same technique
