Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Mar 3, 2009 0:50:50 GMT -5
Yesterday I was cabbing up a couple of agates and I got looking at the sludge in the bottom of my flat lap. Then I got looking at an old small disk with leather on it hanging on the wall. Well the hamster wheel in my head started spinning and I thought I wonder if I could use that as polish? I was just finishing on my 1200 grit disk, so I swapped it out and tried it. It actually worked pretty well. Mind you agates polish pretty easy. I have not tried it with anything softer.
Has anyone else ever tried this? Or did I just luck out with what the sudge is made of this week?
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Post by Woodyrock on Mar 3, 2009 1:11:44 GMT -5
Me thinks you have better luck than most! Best yo go buy a lotto ticket! Now, me and Murphy, who keeps close tabs on me would have made certain a couple of big grains of something hard would have been in that sludge for sure to wreak havic apon whatever I tried to ploish with it. Woody
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Mar 3, 2009 1:43:22 GMT -5
That makes a lot of sense, but would a little chunk of agate scratch another agate? Same hardness and all. I can see now that you mention it that something softer would almost for sure get scratched up. Maybe I just got lucky with the agate too I'll try it tommorrow night if I get a chance and see I I should have been buying tickets.
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49er
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2008
Posts: 753
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Post by 49er on Mar 3, 2009 1:45:00 GMT -5
Have never tried it before...mine is so ugly I would be afraid to use it.
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mossyrockhound
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2011
Posts: 1,278
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Post by mossyrockhound on Mar 4, 2009 14:08:18 GMT -5
I've tried to re-use this polishing sludge and got scratches also. I looked into it and here's what I found: Agate will scratch agate. Diamond will scratch diamond, etc. We get the nice polishes from our polishing agents because it is "graded" to all be the same or consistent (very small) size, or mesh. Polishing is matter of getting finer and finer "scratches" on our stones, until finally the scratches aren't visible to the human eye. The cerium or tin oxide would also make visible "scratches" on your stones if it had larger chunks mixed in with the finely graded powders we buy for polishing. If you could somehow screen out the polishing sludge (powder) to be a consistently fine mesh like it was when you bought it, I don't see why you couldn't re-use it. Garry
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Post by parfive on Mar 4, 2009 17:21:30 GMT -5
Those two pics prove you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear!
A pound of AO polish is $4.75 at The Rock Shed. Five grams of 50K diamond paste is $12 at Kingsley.
Either one will last a cabber about a lifetime.
Rich
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Post by NatureNut on Mar 4, 2009 17:51:34 GMT -5
Yep, I think a finely tuned filtration system is in order. Jo
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Mar 4, 2009 19:20:45 GMT -5
Mossyrockhound the sludge I am talking about isn't polish sludge. Its the left over grindings from the diamond laps.
Parfive its not the cost, I have five pounds of AO and two pounds of CO already.
I just like experimenting. I have a plan, if it works I will post it in homemade equipt.
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Mar 4, 2009 19:43:28 GMT -5
You might be able to scoop it out and mix it with a small amount of water, then, pour it thru something fine like a gas filter ?
Kinda-maybe ?
Harley
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Mar 5, 2009 0:00:26 GMT -5
I was thinking mix it with water, stir it up, let it settle a little bit. Then pour the liquid in another container, then let it finish settling out.
Kinda-maybe ?
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Post by NatureNut on Mar 5, 2009 0:16:36 GMT -5
I'm thinking push it through a fine mesh screening.
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Post by parfive on Mar 5, 2009 0:20:03 GMT -5
Sask - Try running it through a coffee filter. I know used AO polish will pass through no problem, but 1200 diamond grit might too.
Rich
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mossyrockhound
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2011
Posts: 1,278
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Post by mossyrockhound on Mar 5, 2009 13:11:47 GMT -5
You might try filtering it through a nylon stocking first, then the coffee filter, then test it. I read once where the ancient Chinese used to polish their jade carvings by using the jade "sludge' that accumulated under their wheels, so I know it can be done. If you told us your plan maybe we would stop guessing the solution (or was the decanting idea your plan?) . ;D
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Mar 5, 2009 19:25:45 GMT -5
That was my plan. I figured the smaller stuff would settle slower.
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