Brownies are brown, but Greenies and Supergreenies are actually an identical blue color; the latter is distinguished by a yellow stripe on the mandrel. Shofus aren’t cheap, so use them for special occasions rather than general cleanup. My go-to’s are mounted brownie points (bullets) and mounted 5⁄8-in. (16 mm) knife-edge wheels, and less often square-edge wheels.
The knife-edge is great for cleaning up the corner of a T-seam or even a decorative saw cut for a super-thin, polished groove (even though the rubber is hard and can hold an edge, knife-edge wheels, like any rubber wheel, will need to be dressed or sharpened as you go). Use a light pressure and a medium speed. You can go straight from a Brownie to rouge. The Greenies and Supergreenies are great for delivering a precise polish in places where you only want a detail to shine, like a tiny appliqué, or a gold inlay on a molar. Try doing that with a rouge wheel. Thanks, Morty!
Assorted types
Skinny polishing rods/pins/points/sticks
Many rubberized abrasives are available in skinny 1-in. (25.5 mm)-long rod-like points (no hole). They are held in a special mandrel that’s similar to a pin vise or a small drill adaptor. These points are wonderful for getting into tight places and can be sharpened into really fine points. Be sure you’ve set the rod securely; the longer the rod extends from the mandrel, the more likely it is to wobble loose or bend under pressure.
Pumice wheels
These accessories aren’t very aggressive — and that’s the point. Pumice is a relatively soft 6 on the Mohs scale, so it won’t hurt most stones. As a loose powder, it provides a nice low-luster finish. When bound in silcone or rubber wheels, it’s ideal for cleaning up bezels and prongs in which a stone is set.
Cratex, AdvantEdge, Dedeco, and Silipum all make pumice accessories. Cratex makes the classic pumice “Bright-boy” wheels in natural rubber, which can dry out and harden; blue is finer, and white is coarser. Silipum and AdvantEdge wheels use silicone as the binder for their pumice wheels; the silicone remains flexible and the wheels hold up well. I like these. The light gray is less aggressive, the green more.
Pumice accessories are available in 1⁄2–1-in. (13–25.5 mm) square, rounded, and knife-edge wheels. All can be shaped and dressed.