hnhstngs
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2018
Posts: 93
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Post by hnhstngs on Jun 7, 2019 19:13:37 GMT -5
Hey All,
I've been using Rock Shed's AO polish in a small UV3 vibratory tumbler. Results are good when I let the polish run for two days and better when I let it go for three on agates/jaspers (1/2 tsp polish and 2 Tbs borax - makes a good slurry). I've had a small load of Mohs 6ish stones with ceramic & quartz filler in the polish stage for the past 5 days. The polish "seems" to be getting better but I wonder if the polish has broken down to the point where it just isn't all that efficient anymore. When I examine the surface of a stone with a 10X loupe I can see smooth areas but I can also still see tiny micropits. They do seem to be slowly disappearing from day to day but I don't have a sense of whether they are polishing out at a steady rate or if the process is slowing down. Has anyone ever recharged with polish without cleaning? Is it worth it or should I just let the current slurry run and keep checking until I like what I see?
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Post by aDave on Jun 7, 2019 19:41:48 GMT -5
You probably have a few options, and this might afford you a chance to play a bit. I haven't worked with stuff that soft, so I'm just taking wild guesses. 1) You can add more polish if you like. Can't hurt a thing. You'd be somewhat starting over, but all you have to lose is time. 2) You can just let your polish run and see what happens. If you don't like what's going on, you can always go back to option 1. What I'd be more interested in knowing is if you could have done more with your pre-polish stages to eliminate the micro-pitting. 500 AO would certainly be far more efficient in helping to eliminate them - maybe you even go back to that step to see what you can get out of it. Maybe let this stage go for a few days to see if you get better results. Oh, and just for reference, AO polish from the Rock Shed is reportedly 1.5 micron (13,000) as I learned in a call with Shawn.
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Post by Rockindad on Jun 7, 2019 20:02:37 GMT -5
I think Dave has got you covered, I'll just add one observation. We have let our vibe (UV-10) run polish for 10 days on two different occasions using AO polish from the Rock Shed and #61 Rapid Polish. To my eye I stopped seeing a noticeable difference after the third or fourth day.
Al
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hnhstngs
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2018
Posts: 93
|
Post by hnhstngs on Jun 7, 2019 20:22:58 GMT -5
This batch went three days in 500 AO then 4 days in 1000 AO before moving to the polish. If I remember correctly AO breaks down every 24 hrs(?). If so, then 5 days in 500 would get me to 16,000 and I'd be at the polish already. Do you think multiple runs of 500 grit doing cleanouts every 2-3 days might be more effective? It would keep the load at a "coarser" grit for a longer time than having the AO just breakdown in a single long stage.
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