buckwheat69
noticing nice landscape pebbles
How do we get out of here ??
Member since July 2008
Posts: 96
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Post by buckwheat69 on Mar 22, 2009 23:54:20 GMT -5
Hello Everyone, I was wondering if any one has had any experience with dyeing rocks LOL that sound crazy(Quick give it mouth to rock) , no really like blue or pink or red, any color. I have a few that I have purchased around but no idea how they got all those pretty colors in their. questions are: what kind of dye do you slab them first or just soak them. and for how long I have some geodes and I wanted to try coloring them. thank you for your thoughts Steve
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Post by mohs on Mar 23, 2009 0:26:36 GMT -5
That's wild idea I like it! tye dye rock be a big hit at a dead concert
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 23, 2009 9:21:42 GMT -5
Rock & Gem Magazine had an article on color treating agates with heat/mineral salts. You can check their archives. Soft rock like Howlite is commonly dyed with Tidy Bowl for fake turquoise but you won't dye agates without chemically treating like the wild colored Brazilian fake colors.
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Post by Woodyrock on Mar 23, 2009 15:21:10 GMT -5
The dyes used to colour gemstones are for the most part very fugitive, i.e. they are colourfast, and will soon fade. However the colouring of gemstones such as agate can be, and is accomplished by chemical means. Ths process is not instantand, and the chemicals used are both hazardous, and expensive. The only intensive work published on these processes was done by George W Fischer PhD. about twenty years ago. His book, now long out of print, "Gemstones & Chemical How to Create Color and Inclusions" is the only work that will take you through the entire process step by step. You should be able to find this through your library's interloan service. Woody
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