Roman polishing

[Latinitas]

Salvete pugnantes

When I was browsing through a huge database with pictures of military Roman equipment, I noticed that some high quality artefacts like silverware were carefully polished. Look for example at the artefacts in the links below and notice how shiny the silver surface is without becoming like a mirror or having little scratches on its surface. With scratches I mean the ones you get when you use sandpaper to polish something. Here the links:
A phalera (click on the picture to enlarge
Another phalera (click on the picture to enlarge)
A pugio frog with plate (click on the picture to enlarge)
Horse equipment (click on the picture to enlarge)

And again: all artefacts are not highly polished as a mirror, but they also don`t have scratches on the surface.

In order to give my silver the same finish as the Roman artefacts, I tried sandpaper, but this causes little scratches in the surface and therefore doesn`t resemble the finish of the original artefacts. When I polish my artefacts the modern way or burnish it, the finish is way too shiny compared with the original artefacts. So my big question is: how did the Romans polish their metal (in this case silver), or how can I give my silver a finish similar to the finish on the original artefacts? What is known about ancient polishing techniques?


Hope you understood my English; I`m never sure about my grammar... ad: :-? 8)

[M. Demetrius]

Try this. Get some wood ashes. Sift them through a screen to remove the cinders and large grit. Take a soft cloth, moisten it in water, dip it in the sifted ashes and rub gently. It will make a sort of paste on the surface. Rinse with clean water to remove the grit and dry with a soft cloth. A t-shirt is soft enough, or an old cloth diaper, if you have one.

You should get a satisfactory sheen. Wood ashes have been used to polish metal as long as there have been metal and wood ashes in the same place, I reckon. Works on steel, brass, bronze, copper, and I don't see any reason it won't work on silver.

Try it and let us know if that's the surface shine you're looking for.

[Latinitas]

I tried it and it works perfectly! So thank you .

As first I used fine pumice to remove most of the irregularities on the surface. This alone already gave a much nicer finish than sandpaper. Then I used the discribed method and it poduced a finish that is (almost) similar to the authentic artefacts .

[M. Demetrius]

One is happy to be of service, sir. mile: