metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Apr 6, 2017 1:38:36 GMT -5
melhill1659 was just asking on a sales thread about stabilising turquoise. I have a little I need to stabilise, so I was watching with quiet interest. The vendor politely refused saying his recipe was bad for one's health. I wonder if anyone has any stabilising recipes that they would share and recommend from their experience? I found the following links were relevant, but again, am asking for people's experience. Rock Tumbling Hobby of course! GanoksinmindatSciencing
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Post by melhill1659 on Apr 6, 2017 7:32:05 GMT -5
metalsmith I've read and printed the mindat one but I can't find those diet packets anywhere, I also tried another one from YouTube but had to stop watching it because then man doing the presentation talked so much about everything else also that it drove me crazy 😂😂 I've managed to stabilize a few but more came out wrong than right. The 2 part epoxy that you put in a jar of acetone was an epic fail 😂 I am currently trying a new method. If it works I'll share! Anyone else want to share their experiences I To Am Awaiting with note book and pen ready!
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Apr 7, 2017 0:22:27 GMT -5
metalsmith I've read and printed the mindat one but I can't find those diet packets anywhere, I also tried another one from YouTube but had to stop watching it because then man doing the presentation talked so much about everything else also that it drove me crazy 😂😂 I've managed to stabilize a few but more came out wrong than right. The 2 part epoxy that you put in a jar of acetone was an epic fail 😂 I am currently trying a new method. If it works I'll share! Anyone else want to share their experiences I To Am Awaiting with note book and pen ready! Did you vacuum the container? On one youtube video I saw, the chap was pumping away and said 'can you see the bubbles'. I thought 'heck no' too far away / poor image quality, but you could ... they were streaming out. And where air is streaming out then the stabiliser must be streaming in. Or did something else go wrong instead?
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Post by melhill1659 on Apr 7, 2017 6:47:21 GMT -5
metalsmith... vacuum the container??? How would one go about that exactly? I have a food saver vacuum thingy my son uses to put up deer meat. Would that work?
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brucew
starting to shine!
Member since February 2016
Posts: 33
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Post by brucew on Apr 7, 2017 8:47:17 GMT -5
Melhill, You can use some food saver machines if it has the external vacume line, be careful not to vacume any of the liquid into the machine, I used the one I have a couple times but they may shut down when it reaches full vacume, I bought a small vacume pump off eBay brand new for 52.00 so cheaper than destroying my wife's food saver. Lol There are plans on utube on how to build a chamber using a brake bleeder gun, A jar that will hold the liquid and the slab you are trying to stabilize and as long as it seal and you can put a vacume to it, I have used the epoxy acetone mix a few time with good success. If I get a chance I will get a pic of the setup I use, A picture is usually easier to understand with written instruction
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
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Post by Don on Apr 7, 2017 10:49:47 GMT -5
Many folk stabilize using a vacuum chamber and vacuum pump with wood stabilizing resin. Techniques vary but generally you want the rock to be be clean and dry. put the rocks in the chamber with the resin and draw a vacuum. keep the vacuum drawn until the rocks stop bubbling. once they stop bubbling, release the vacuum and allow the rocks to sit for an equal amount of time in the resin. Remove the rocks, cure in an oven if the resin is heat cured and you're good to go. Stabilizing does not heal fractures in my experience. It just makes porous material hard enough to cut and take a better polish. My vote is still to send your rocks to www.colbaugh.net/ for stabilizing. It's cheaper than a vacuum setup and you get professional results.
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Apr 7, 2017 13:56:35 GMT -5
a brake bleeder gun, A jar that will hold the liquid and the slab you are trying to stabilize and as long as it seals and you can put a vacuum to it exactly... paste this into ebay Hand Held Vacuum Tester and Pump Brake Bleeder Kit or similar
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Post by melhill1659 on Apr 7, 2017 22:32:37 GMT -5
Thank you guys!!! I've got some experiments to do and stuff to buy.
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brucew
starting to shine!
Member since February 2016
Posts: 33
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Post by brucew on Apr 8, 2017 10:09:57 GMT -5
I have also used some of the thin super glue, The stuff I used is called 2P10. It is a woodworking glue and a little slower setting, I have heated slabs and spread the glue on a fracture and put it under vacume till it sets (about 10 minutes). Has worked on about 80% of the fractures I have used it on.. The woodworking resin used to stabilize wood is called cactus juice and is cured by heating it after the wood has been submerged in the juice and put under vacume, There is a couple good utube videos on stabilizing wood for woodturning, They explain everything much better than I can
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vera
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2016
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Post by vera on Apr 8, 2017 14:30:26 GMT -5
This is really good info. I'll look forward to the results of your experiments Mel.
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Apr 8, 2017 17:21:17 GMT -5
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 8, 2017 17:26:45 GMT -5
I have been playing with sodium silicate stabilization. I really prefer it over epoxy, but still have not got the process down to 100% where I like it.
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Post by Rockoonz on Apr 8, 2017 17:47:24 GMT -5
In other discussions the cactus juice has come up. Something worth considering, and this site has some vacuum vessels as well, might want to price compare, I didn't. www.turntex.com/
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Apr 9, 2017 0:20:14 GMT -5
In other discussions the cactus juice has come up. Something worth considering, and this site has some vacuum vessels as well, might want to price compare, I didn't. www.turntex.com/Brake bleeder gun (ebay) and a (free-sourced) jar ~ $15 Turntex vacuum chamber ~ $150 No competition really.
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Post by melhill1659 on Apr 9, 2017 0:50:46 GMT -5
I have been playing with sodium silicate stabilization. I really prefer it over epoxy, but still have not got the process down to 100% where I like it. That's 1 of 3 different types of sealants I'm running experiments on. Drying out my specimens now... I'll post a new thread when all is finished. Fail or Success
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 9, 2017 2:42:13 GMT -5
I have been playing with sodium silicate stabilization. I really prefer it over epoxy, but still have not got the process down to 100% where I like it. That's 1 of 3 different types of sealants I'm running experiments on. Drying out my specimens now... I'll post a new thread when all is finished. Fail or Success The sodium silicate needs to be polymerized. If you simply dry it the sodium silicate will wash away when you go to grind the stone. I have not found anything I really like to polymerize it with yet. Most things turn it white when it dries. I would like to find a way to make it clear when dry.
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Post by toiv0 on Apr 9, 2017 4:36:00 GMT -5
In other discussions the cactus juice has come up. Something worth considering, and this site has some vacuum vessels as well, might want to price compare, I didn't. www.turntex.com/Interesting link, looked at the pictures and they really transfered some awesome wood to the next level. I see that the metalic particles they have are use just in casting as they wont penetrate the wood. I am thinking of the chalk stabilized mojave purples, greens and such that have the copper or bronze between the small dyed turquoise chalk. You think a person could back a doublet with the Alumilite resin to give a sparkle or opal effect? How about a stone with a larger void as opposed to a fine crack.
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 9, 2017 6:18:38 GMT -5
In other discussions the cactus juice has come up. Something worth considering, and this site has some vacuum vessels as well, might want to price compare, I didn't. www.turntex.com/Interesting link, looked at the pictures and they really transfered some awesome wood to the next level. I see that the metalic particles they have are use just in casting as they wont penetrate the wood. I am thinking of the chalk stabilized mojave purples, greens and such that have the copper or bronze between the small dyed turquoise chalk. You think a person could back a doublet with the Alumilite resin to give a sparkle or opal effect? How about a stone with a larger void as opposed to a fine crack. I have heard of people simply mixing ground up minerals, such as turquoise, or metals in the casting resin and working it in to the cracks of wood then cabbing or otherwise polishing the pieces.
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 9, 2017 8:45:41 GMT -5
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fredito
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2016
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Post by fredito on Apr 9, 2017 9:05:12 GMT -5
I also turn wood and have a turntex chamber and cactus juice. Works great on wood. The owner is a guy by the name of Curtis. If you give him a call he will tell you everything he know about your question. He is a heck of a nice guy!
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