Blanks & Finishes

Our blanks are either die cut or laser cut – all blanks are sold as unfinished (not out of the packet ready to go) and will require additional polishing/sanding or buffing – each listing will specify if the blanks come tumbled. Some laser cut blanks have already had some sanding work done before tumbling but this again can be polished out.

There is an option to pay for tumbling as a new stamper – my tumbling consists of 1 hour in a tumbling barrel to remove light burrs and production muck, this does not mean out of the packet perfect and as previously stated, sold as unfinished. Please make sure you blanks are finished and ready to sell on to the public.

Die cut blanks are cut using a die (like a hole punch) hammer or press. They are cut one at a time and orders normally take 1-2 days. Their finish is smooth to one edge and crisp on the other and will be supplied as specified in the item listing regarding plastic coatings. The plastic coating will be to at least one side - when produced there is a side A and side B - side B may have imperfections to the surface under the plastic and may require sanding.  Due to the cutting process they may need a slight burr removing with a file to the back of the blank or come slightly domed which can be flattened with a rawhide hammer – this is not a fault just part of the normal jewellery finishing process and can be achieved with a normal jewellery file. Top tip is to file in the same direction. 

Laser cut blanks are drawn from my specification and cut with a high powered laser which is currently outsourced.  Items listed are normally in stock and have been given a light tumbling to removed production muck. The beauty of laser cutting is more detail and the design can be repeated time and time again accurately.  The blanks come with a crisp edge to both sides and will require a small laser nobble to be filed off – this is not a fault just part of the normal jewellery finishing process and takes seconds with a jewellery file. Brass and copper blanks can have marks from the splatterguard used in production - it doesnt always come off with tumbling but is easily removed with mothers mag or brass and elbow grease and not a fault in the metal.

If your blanks have laser burn or scratches, try using a nail buffer to start and see if this improves the finish. If not, then try getting a good range of wet and dry sandpaper/geraflex blocks and work your way from roughest to smoothest.

HOLES - holes in laser cut items are done by the laser and leave the blank surface smooth - any holes added here at JSB are punched. This means that your flat blank may end up slightly rounded where the hole goes through - this is not a fault and is due to the pressure used to punched the hole out - if the metal is slightly raised you can use a nylon hammer to flatten around the hole area. Once holes have been added your item becomes non refundable or returnable. 

CUSTOM CUTS - see terms for info - these are given a tumble to remove laser/machine much from the cutting processing  - again this does not mean out of the packet ready to stamp and sell.  Some finishing work will always be required.

Different metals...

Polishing aluminium can be done by hand using a product such as mothers mag or autosol once any scratches have been removed.

Brass and copper often will have some marking to their surface after production - this can be easily removed with brasso - always worth having in :)

check out the videos posted by Just Simply Blanks on you tube :) there to help you finish your blanks