# How the hell did people polish rock and metal by hand? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263 "2017-03-29T01:57:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/21 "2017-03-29T20:28:12Z")
I always wondered how Paul Revere and the silversmiths of his day got shiny, incredibly smooth flat items like plates, trays, silverware items since they are typically portrayed as dinging away with their tiny hammers… Did they actually polish them flat from a dimpled finish, thereby wearing off a significant amount of valuable silver? ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/22 "2017-03-29T21:42:30Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I always wondered how Paul Revere and the silversmiths of his day got shiny, incredibly smooth flat items like plates, trays, silverware items since they are typically portrayed as dinging away with their tiny hammers… > > Did they actually polish them flat from a dimpled finish, thereby wearing off a significant amount of valuable silver? Often by using dapping blocks or swage block and then lapping for the polishing portion Here is one shaped to make spoons and small pans. They are and were in use by black and white smiths. They were commercially produced as a tool just like buying a router or a tablesaw. [![](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LHUAAOSwPgxVMwaB/s-l298.jpg) ](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LHUAAOSwPgxVMwaB/s-l298.jpg) Dapping is really just using a material softer than the abrasive as a carrier here you can see them being used to polish a very tiny screw. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5sAw4Q1PM8Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Clockmaking - How To Make A Clock - Part 11 - Making Polishing And Bluing Bezel Screws") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sAw4Q1PM8Y&t=415) Really a modern diamond saw or a drill is just lapped with diamond powder but it works under a similar premise. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/23 "2017-03-29T22:07:38Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > Not 5000 years ago, when people were making polished stone axeheads. > > [Langdale axe industry - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langdale_axe_industry#/media/File:MaloneHoard.JPG) One of the images in the article you’re linking to [shows sucha polishing tool](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langdale_axe_industry#/media/File:Horsne_dibjars_i.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/24 "2017-03-30T10:47:31Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I always wondered how Paul Revere and the silversmiths of his day got shiny, incredibly smooth flat items like plates, trays, silverware items since they are typically portrayed as dinging away with their tiny hammers… Some of the tiny hammers are specifically _for_ getting them smooth - a process called [planishing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planishing). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/25 "2017-03-30T11:03:34Z")
Like this: [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sskkwy3-OgM) ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/26 "2017-03-30T13:45:31Z")
Think of all the grand stone carvings from Mesoamerica … them folks didn’t even have metal tools, just harder stones … ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/27 "2017-03-30T15:12:31Z")
I need new glasses. I first read this as a thread about a Polish rock metal band. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/28 "2017-03-30T16:13:06Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I need new glasses. I first read this as a thread about a Polish rock metal band. See post #12 ---
**Author:** ![PlumBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@PlumBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlumBob)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/29 "2017-03-30T16:24:00Z")
My father was stationed in the pacific during WW2. He made a few bucks removing scratches from fellow soldiers watch crystals with grit or polish, spit and his thumb & side of his index finger. He’d spend a some off duty hours polishing and doing whatever other chores needed doing. His dad sent him the abrasives, they both were surprised that this skill was uncommon. Had to have some dandy callouses after a while. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/30 "2017-03-30T18:55:58Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > One of the images in the article you’re linking to [shows sucha polishing tool](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langdale_axe_industry#/media/File:Horsne_dibjars_i.jpg) But it doesn’t go round, does it? (My post was in response to [t-bonham@scc.net](mailto:t-bonham@scc.net)’s post about a revolving polishing stone - ignore this if I’ve misunderstood your meaning). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/31 "2017-03-30T21:01:17Z")
When I think of Polish Metal Rock, the bands that first to come to my mind are: Behemoth Vader Acid Drinkers ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263/32 "2017-03-30T21:45:37Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > But it doesn’t go round, does it? (My post was in response to [t-bonham@scc.net](mailto:t-bonham@scc.net)’s post about a revolving polishing stone - ignore this if I’ve misunderstood your meaning). When he wrote : > [@](#): > > - I imagine there were similar horizontal ones for polishing stones\* I assumed that by “horizontal” he meant flat, not revolving, polishing stones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-did-people-polish-rock-and-metal-by-hand/783263.md?page=1)