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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 5, 2013 16:21:54 GMT -5
These aren't tumbled, but I though I'd put them here anyhow. I did all of these on a flat lap. Three little guys: Favosite, Petoskey, and horn coral. This next one is one of the biggest rocks I've polished. It is cladopora coral. It took forever and now that I took a picture, I see a little bit of marker still on it. I marked some bad spots with a Sharpie because it's really hard to keep track of where all the scratches are.
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Oct 5, 2013 17:25:04 GMT -5
Those are really nice Rob. I think the cladopora came out quite nice!
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Oct 5, 2013 17:28:13 GMT -5
Fantastic job on those. Cladopora is awesome.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2013 18:43:30 GMT -5
WAY COOL. Nice job. Jim
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bwinslow
starting to shine!
Member since August 2013
Posts: 36
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Post by bwinslow on Oct 5, 2013 19:30:22 GMT -5
Cool fossils, love the top one in the first pic.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Oct 5, 2013 19:56:54 GMT -5
WOWWWZERS! That is one big rock to hand polish like that. I think it should be on a shelf in your living room or den!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,208
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Post by jamesp on Oct 5, 2013 20:11:58 GMT -5
Showstopper. Those are great and tell a lot about coral structure.
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Post by Pat on Oct 5, 2013 20:18:12 GMT -5
Good looking! Easy to see structure.
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Post by tntmom on Oct 5, 2013 20:24:17 GMT -5
WHOA!!! That Cladopora is huge!!! Did you do that on the wheels and how long did it take? That is SO IMPRESSIVE!
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 5, 2013 20:50:34 GMT -5
Thanks for the compliments, everyone. Grizman, I'm sure my son will take it and stash it in his room somewhere. Krystee, I worked on this in August I think, but set it aside until today. I can't remember exactly how long it took, but I'd guess around three hours.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Oct 5, 2013 21:54:37 GMT -5
I have never heard of the cladopora coral. That is a long time to work on one rock but you got great results.
Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 5, 2013 22:34:51 GMT -5
It's fairy common here and across the state in Lake Michigan. Rockport Quarry has a lot of it, but I'm not sure if it polished up nice. I think I got this one in Lake Michigan this spring. I have a couple more, but not as nice as this. I think I'll pick it up from now on.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,688
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 5, 2013 23:23:56 GMT -5
Now those are totally awesome!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Oct 6, 2013 11:17:01 GMT -5
Wow, those are cool, Rob. Love that cladopora, nice and big - easy to see the structures! They are all winners.
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Post by pghram on Oct 6, 2013 14:48:53 GMT -5
That cladopora is really neat.
Rich
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mibeachrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2013
Posts: 198
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Post by mibeachrocks on Oct 7, 2013 9:10:26 GMT -5
Great job on all of them. I assume that you used a flat lap on them. What did you use for the final stage to get a nice polish. I've read your posts before about polishing Petoskey stones. I'm currently experimenting with a few different approaches especially for the smaller stones. I have a few dozen fossils the size of the one in your hand. You cannot tumble them and I do not have time for the wet/dry sandpaper by hand method. A quick spray of lacquer or poly has worked in the past but i really like the smooth polished look that you got.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 7, 2013 15:14:07 GMT -5
I did them all on an ancient flat lap. I upgraded my first tow stages to diamond, I think I have 60 and then 100, then I go to silicon carbide 220, 600, then either a really old worn out silicon carbide disc or a 1200 diamond soft disc. The first two laps are hard (aluminum) and the rest have a soft backing. After the 1200 diamond or worn out silicon carbide I use a Dremel with a felt disc and Zam. Zam is a hard polish that comes in a stick, sort of like a big glue stick. I run the dremel felt disc on it and pick up some polish and then quickly rub it all over the rock. It works really well on soft rocks like Kona dolomite or Petoskey stone. It really brings out the shine.
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mibeachrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2013
Posts: 198
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Post by mibeachrocks on Oct 8, 2013 13:05:55 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply. I've had good luck hand polishing petoskey stones with wet/dry sandpaper up 1200 and then using the dremel with light blue polish on a loose wheel. The problem is the process can take a long time and you can really go through the sandpaper.
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bsky4463
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2013
Posts: 1,696
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Post by bsky4463 on Oct 8, 2013 22:56:20 GMT -5
Thanks for the polish details. They look great.
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