Polishing is the step that separates a piece you're proud of from one you'd rather not photograph. The compounds aren't optional — they're the working medium. Each compound cuts at a different rate and a different level of fineness, and using them in the wrong order undoes the work. Here's the order, and what each one is for.
Last updated: 18 May 2026.
The three-stage system
Almost all bench polishing follows a three-stage cut → smooth → finish sequence:
- Cutting (coarse): Tripoli, Bobbing compound, Greystar — removes deep file scratches, fire scale, mill marks.
- Pre-polishing (medium): White diamond, Luxi blue — refines the cut surface to near-mirror, no visible scratches.
- Final polish (fine): Rouge (Jeweller's rouge, red rouge) — brings the mirror to a deep, soft, light-reflecting finish.
Skip a stage and the next one can't catch up. Polish over a coarse cut with rouge alone and you keep the swirls, just shinier.
Tripoli — the cutting stage
Brown or fawn-coloured cake. Made from finely-ground silica/limestone in a wax binder. Aggressive enough to remove tool marks and fire scale, gentle enough not to leave its own deep scratches. Used on:
- Silver and gold sheet fabrication after filing
- Brass and copper rough work
- Any solder seam after pickling
Run on a stitched cotton wheel at moderate speed (2,500–3,500 rpm). Keep the work moving — sustained pressure burns the compound and overheats the metal.
White diamond — the pre-polish
White cake, sometimes off-white or pale grey. Finer than tripoli but still has cutting power. Used for:
- Pre-polishing silver and gold before rouge
- Single-stage polishing on plated work (where rouge would burn through plating)
- Bringing nickel and chrome to a high finish without going to rouge
Run on a stitched or loose-leaf cotton wheel. Don't mix wheels — once you've used a wheel for tripoli, that wheel is forever a tripoli wheel.
Rouge — the mirror finish
Deep red cake. Made from iron oxide in a wax binder. Almost no cutting action — it's a finishing compound. The job of rouge is to bring out the depth in a surface that's already free of visible scratches.
Use only on a soft loose-leaf cotton or flannel wheel, and only after white diamond. Light pressure, slower wheel speed (~2,000 rpm). The result on silver is a deep mirror; on yellow gold a warm glow that's the point of the whole exercise.
Wheel discipline — the rule that saves you hours
One compound per wheel. Forever. Mark the wheels with a felt pen on the side: "TRIPOLI", "WHITE DIAMOND", "ROUGE". Cross-contamination means a finer-stage wheel suddenly cuts deeper than expected, and you find scratches where there shouldn't be any.
Same goes for the buffing motor itself — keep tripoli on one side of the bench, rouge on the other, ideally in separate motors if you can afford the second.
Polishing copper, brass, steel
Different rules:
- Brass and copper: tripoli, then white diamond. Skip rouge — these metals oxidise too fast for the rouge mirror to last.
- Steel: use Greystar (grey, more aggressive) for the cutting stage, then white diamond. Rouge works but is slow on steel; many bench engravers go straight from white diamond.
- Plated metals: ONLY white diamond. Tripoli and rouge will both cut through the plating layer.
Cleaning between stages
Before moving from tripoli to white diamond, ultrasonic clean the work or scrub it with washing-up liquid and a soft brush. Old compound carried over scratches the next stage. Same applies between white diamond and rouge.
Common mistakes
- Loading too much compound on the wheel. Apply briefly to a spinning wheel until you see colour transfer. Too much makes a mess and clogs the cotton.
- Pushing too hard. Let the wheel do the work. Pressure overheats the metal — you'll see colour change on silver and gold.
- Polishing flat panels with the edge of the wheel. Use the face of the wheel, traverse smoothly. Edge-only polishing leaves visible bands.
What we stock
Toolsmith holds tripoli, white diamond and rouge bars plus stitched and loose-leaf cotton polishing wheels in UK stock. Free UK delivery on every order, same-day dispatch before 2pm.
Question about which compound for which metal? Email info@toolsmithltd.co.uk — we answer bench-to-bench.
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