pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
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Post by pebblesky on Dec 18, 2023 16:38:21 GMT -5
This was the first time I tried to clean the rock with acid, and the results are not bad. After cleaning with hard brush and ultrasound cleaner, before treating with the citrus acid (powder dissolved in water). After four hours staying in the citrus acid water: After one more day staying in the citrus acid water, and further cleaned up in water with a hard brush: I would like them to look cleaner, so maybe I will need to proceed with the same treatment for one more day, with higher temperature of water, or try a slightly higher dose of citrus acid. I was also thinking of tumbling them with very small agate fillers and pure water in my 3lb tumbler, so that the soft part could be tumbled away without changing the shape of the chalcedony part, but by looking at the shapes of them I feel some thin part of chalcedony might fall off during tumbling, which is not desired. What do you think?
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Post by vegasjames on Dec 18, 2023 19:57:17 GMT -5
Might wan to try Coca Cola instead, which has both citric and phosphoric acid and digestive enzymes to help dissolve algae and lichens on rocks.
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,592
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Post by dillonf on Dec 18, 2023 20:10:17 GMT -5
They look great!
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,592
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Post by dillonf on Dec 18, 2023 20:11:43 GMT -5
Might wan to try Coca Cola instead, which has both citric and phosphoric acid and digestive enzymes to help dissolve algae and lichens on rocks.
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Post by pauls on Dec 18, 2023 21:07:16 GMT -5
Oxalic Acid to remove any iron (rust) stains. Oxalic acid is sold as deck cleaner, Check the label. Also iron Out.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
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Post by pebblesky on Dec 19, 2023 12:03:15 GMT -5
Might wan to try Coca Cola instead, which has both citric and phosphoric acid and digestive enzymes to help dissolve algae and lichens on rocks. It actually worked to some extent, although I used Pepsi Coke instead. I put some chalcedony roses that have already been citrus-acid treated into a cup of coke, and they spit out a lot of dirty stuff after two hours, although almost all from the internal pockets, so the surfaces don't look much different. Next time for fun I will use some sugar-free coke and leave it outside overnight for side-by-side comparison with my citric-acid solution.
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Post by vegasjames on Dec 19, 2023 12:07:46 GMT -5
Might wan to try Coca Cola instead, which has both citric and phosphoric acid and digestive enzymes to help dissolve algae and lichens on rocks. It actually worked to some extent, although I used Pepsi Coke instead. I put some chalcedony roses that have already been citrus-acid treated into a cup of coke, and they spit out a lot of dirty stuff after two hours, although almost all from the internal pockets, so the surfaces don't look much different. Next time for fun I will use some sugar-free coke and leave it outside overnight for side-by-side comparison with my citric-acid solution. What it will remove really depends on what is on it. For example, I have collected a lot of chalcedony with a white silica crust. Have not found anything effective in removing that crust other than grinding it off.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
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Post by pebblesky on Dec 19, 2023 12:11:34 GMT -5
Oxalic Acid to remove any iron (rust) stains. Oxalic acid is sold as deck cleaner, Check the label. Also iron Out. Thanks! I also have Iron Out on my list to try out in addition to Oxalic Acid. Figured it would be more effective to work with acid on a sunny and warmer day outside, so that the water doesn't cool down too fast.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
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Post by pebblesky on Dec 19, 2023 12:26:19 GMT -5
It actually worked to some extent, although I used Pepsi Coke instead. I put some chalcedony roses that have already been citrus-acid treated into a cup of coke, and they spit out a lot of dirty stuff after two hours, although almost all from the internal pockets, so the surfaces don't look much different. Next time for fun I will use some sugar-free coke and leave it outside overnight for side-by-side comparison with my citric-acid solution. What it will remove really depends on what is on it. For example, I have collected a lot of chalcedony with a white silica crust. Have not found anything effective in removing that crust other than grinding it off. Yeah some of the crust is really hard, (from my scratch test) as hard as the more interesting clear chalcedony layer beneath it. Do you mean you grind these crust off by hand? Seems to be a lot of work. I once tried tumbling some chalcedony with my other rocks in a normal process, which inevitably removed some surface details of the chalcedony.
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Post by Peruano on Dec 19, 2023 13:22:02 GMT -5
I use hard wood tooth picks, dipped in vaseline and then in various grits and mounted on my Dremel. Thats for the grooves and corners. I've tried to improvise polishing pads using the green scratchos and swatches of leather, but they don't last long in the Dremel application. Some of the little abrasive bits sold by Kingsley North will work but they are a bit pricey unless you are really having fun.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
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Post by pebblesky on Dec 19, 2023 13:39:13 GMT -5
I use hard wood tooth picks, dipped in vaseline and then in various grits and mounted on my Dremel. Thats for the grooves and corners. I've tried to improvise polishing pads using the green scratchos and swatches of leather, but they don't last long in the Dremel application. Some of the little abrasive bits sold by Kingsley North will work but they are a bit pricey unless you are really having fun. I have checked with your thread: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/103073/trimming-roses-chalcedonyThese are beautiful specimen and you did a great job to clean them up! I simply can not see how they could still be improved... I have some really small pieces. They are slightly larger than a quarter coin, so I need to take macro-scale pictures to show the details. I want to clean the black lines, but I can hardly fit a needle into those small gaps. I haven't treated these with acid. Maybe still worth trying...
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Post by Peruano on Dec 19, 2023 17:55:46 GMT -5
90% of that discoloration is organic; thus I"m guessing that a detergent with something like oxyclean or other enzyme action is likely to be much more effective than just acid or bleach. These roses are amazingly rough and a bit of action in the vibe will smooth them out and enhance their appearance at the same time. I do use something small and hard as filler when in the vibe. I have some garnet gravel, but a good decomposed granite might work as well, just not so much that you turn it into inert sludge. You need action in the bowl.
I'd also consider an ultrasonic cleaner for these. I talked with a guy with a really elaborate stone necklace at a show and he told me that heating the 7-up before the soak was important to its efficacy. Give me a hot 7-up please.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
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Post by pebblesky on Dec 19, 2023 18:39:13 GMT -5
I will definitely try to throw some larger pieces into the vibe one day. I am afraid that some very thin pieces that I have might be too fragile to vibe. I have used ultrasonic cleaner on all my chalcedony roses already. Only removed loose dirts. I love that hot 7-up idea😂 The soda is so safe to handle and I can even entertain my kid with the process.
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Post by vegasjames on Dec 19, 2023 20:26:58 GMT -5
What it will remove really depends on what is on it. For example, I have collected a lot of chalcedony with a white silica crust. Have not found anything effective in removing that crust other than grinding it off. Yeah some of the crust is really hard, (from my scratch test) as hard as the more interesting clear chalcedony layer beneath it. Do you mean you grind these crust off by hand? Seems to be a lot of work. I once tried tumbling some chalcedony with my other rocks in a normal process, which inevitably removed some surface details of the chalcedony. The white crust that forms on the chalcedonies I am pretty certain is just a weathering crust that forms from the reaction of water and minerals forming hydroxides that can etch the surface of the chalcedony. If this is correct, then that white crust is still a chalcedony and cannot be easily removed. I just grind off as much as possible with the cabbing machine, or sometimes I will just try to carefully chip as much off as I can with a rock hammer.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
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Post by pebblesky on Dec 21, 2023 12:04:16 GMT -5
One thing I love about chalcedony rose is that many of them have natural glittering on the surface:
Correct me if I am wrong but I think tumbling will remove the glittering effect.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
|
Post by pebblesky on Dec 21, 2023 12:21:58 GMT -5
I am quite addicted to the soda bath solution and started another batch that hasn't been acid treated. This time I used the non-sugar cola so that I could leave it outside without worrying about the ants. Will check these out tonight. Before: one side Before: the other side
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Dec 23, 2023 18:07:23 GMT -5
here are some I ran in the vibe starting with 120/220
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