Hi Jason – thank you for your incredible tools and craftsmanship. I keep a printed copy of your guide on my workbench – very helpful. For those rings that I create and polish (with Mother’s metal polish) to a mirror finish, I have trouble removing some of the black polish residue from in between the letters and numbers on the ring. While it seems trivial, photos of the rings show these black deposits and it appears that I simply ignored that spot. I have tried pickling (which ultimately leaves a whiter residue), ultrasonic jewelry cleaning, micro cotton swabs, and acetone. Do you have any guidance on how to remove the entirety of the black polishing residue? Thanks!

That is a great question. I prefer to finish my polishing using the white buffing side of my Sally’s Miracle buffing block. This leaves a mirror finish without any residue. I do use something else that may work for you though? It is a sonic cleaner and steam pressure cleaner. I think the sonic cleaning may help loosen the residue and then the high pressure steam could then remove it? Here is a link:

https://www.riogrande.com/product/gemoro-ultraspa-ultrasonic-and-steam-cleaner/334000

I use this machine to remove grime and grit in between stones and their settings at a microscopic level. I think this would work well. Be sure to read the instructions when refilling the distilled water tank. It is a little counter intuitive.
Hope this helps.

Thanks!
Jason