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Post by pauls on Jul 11, 2016 17:26:22 GMT -5
I have used those sprayer bottles for years, they work a treat, the only problems are if you put in largish rocks they are difficult to remove, shake rattle and roll over a bucket usually works. Also sometimes you get a buildup of stones jammed in the neck so they aren't tumbling, open occasionaly and push them in. A bit of heat from a gas burner will melt the plastic enough to seal up the hose and pressure relief valve holes, remove the whole pump assembly and replace it with a thick rubber washer inside the screw top.
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Post by pauls on Jul 11, 2016 17:01:41 GMT -5
Interesting setup. Those disks are (also)the bees knees for sharpening chisels, plane blades, knives, Tungsten tipped lathe tools, TIG electrodes, etc. If you know any facetors persuade them to throw a worn 600 and something coarser your way rather than in the bin. Too worn for facetors still has plenty of cutting power left for sharpening tools.
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Post by pauls on Apr 28, 2016 2:32:39 GMT -5
I make up a thick slurry in a container and paint it on to the buff, not too much though and the polishing seems to happen best if its getting a bit dry, don't let it dry out completely though as you could heat and crack your stone. After you have charged your buff you can let it go for quite a while before recharging it, just a light spray with water will do. I cover my felt pads with a plastic bag that I leave open at the bottom so that they dry between uses, this stops the felt going rotten and smelling like a wet dog.
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Post by pauls on Apr 24, 2016 16:30:43 GMT -5
Don't use that mini sonic for course grit, replacement barrels are really expensive. I have a couple of them that I use for fine grit and polishing, they do a great job, I use minimum water and a tiny amount of polish and the polish is great. Plastic media seem to slow the whole thing down, it seems to cushion the vibration too much, so unless I have to I don't use it.
Paul
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Post by pauls on Apr 19, 2016 16:18:21 GMT -5
Tom Herbst's books "Amateur Gemstone Faceting" are really excellent books, Two huge volumes filled with very easily readable information. Available on Amazon for peanuts. Tom is selling them way too cheap, they are fantastic.
Really good job for a first stone, you will get quicker as you gain more experience. The plated laps are reasonably cheap but you will need a couple of more expensive laps for polishing. Rough doesn't need to be expensive either, if you are looking at Saphires and Tourmaline yes but you can get Topaz and Zircon reasonably priced and the synthetics, CZ etc are really cheap.
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Post by pauls on Mar 27, 2016 0:50:10 GMT -5
I think the only way to know for sure is to use some, whatever it is its unlikely to ruin your rocks and if it doesn't do what you want just go back to your normal polish. I have a couple of bottles of white powder labelled "polish" from deceased estates, one works a treat and I am fairly sure its Al Oxide, the other doesn't and I have no idea what it is.
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Post by pauls on Mar 26, 2016 15:50:50 GMT -5
Cerium oxide does come in different grades, the lighter the color the finer the grade and the higher the price. I really like Tin Oxide on a felt buff myself, its not always successful so I have all sorts of polishes (Al Oxide, Chrome Oxide and Diamond) and buffs (felt, leather, wood ) and just try them all until I get something that works.
For the jaspers that undercut and are difficult to polish I find Chrome oxide sometimes works. I have seen it mentioned on here people using a rag buff and Zam with success (Zam is Chrome Oxide.
Paul
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Post by pauls on Mar 26, 2016 15:37:14 GMT -5
I have tumbled Ozzie sunstone with just about anything else, agates Pet wood etc. its quite resilient. Watch out for the cleavage though, it has quite a tendency to fracture along cleavage planes, big lumps of anything hammering it could break it up. If you want to stick with similar hardness, opalised wood, other feldspars (eg moonstone)would be a good starting point.
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Post by pauls on Mar 19, 2016 17:34:14 GMT -5
Enhydro is not just local terminology, widely used to describe crystals etc with bubbles of water in them.
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Post by pauls on Mar 18, 2016 23:44:13 GMT -5
That ones $31.55 a Kg with free postage, Thats the reasonably cheap one, there is one selling the exact same thing, even the same photo, for near $80 a pound. Phew. I'm like you, make my own or collect small bits of agate and pet wood just for smalls.
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Post by pauls on Mar 14, 2016 2:06:31 GMT -5
Who cares what you call them, facetchons cabochets, just nice. FWIW I would have no problem with calling them cabochons. Nice polish by the way, I know how hard it is to get a polish on that stuff.
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Post by pauls on Mar 12, 2016 5:51:44 GMT -5
Yep, go straight to 120/220. grit breaks down and the longer you leave it the finer your original grit becomes.
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Post by pauls on Mar 1, 2016 15:33:17 GMT -5
If you haven't got a grinder or lap then stick with rolling them, all they really need is more time, grinding just shortens the time. If you haven't got a bucket to tip the slurry into just hook them out by hand, inspect then continue. Thats what I do just sample a handful to get an idea of how gritty the grit is, how the rocks are going. It sounds like you are travelling light so all the best.
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Post by pauls on Feb 29, 2016 16:10:48 GMT -5
Its the opposite here, well I am on the opposite side of the world. I am sick of hot hot days and hot nights, the country side is parched, grass has turned from nice yellow to that dirty crisp cooked look, a couple of coolish hours in the morning and then its too hot. Curse you El Nino.
Hey rockjunquie, I have a steel pole (an old tent pole) that I bolt to my grinder. It has a bolt through the top making a sort of hook. For water I have a plastic tupperware jug with a lawnmower petrol tap screwed into a hole near the bottom, just take it inside fill it with warm water slide the water pipe onto the tap and away you go. Tent pole is good because it is extendable to however high you want and can be folded up for storage.
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Post by pauls on Feb 29, 2016 15:56:36 GMT -5
I recently did a repair job on a cast ring that had a central faceted Topaz and either side a nice wavy bit of black (the jeweller called it Onyx but it wasn't)anyway one of the wavy black bits was missing. I had to cut a piece of black stone (jasper)to fit, it was under a milimetre thick, curved to go around the ring and ground to a stretched out S shape about 2mm wide 7mm long and as I said under a mm thick. I was sweating when I was rolling the edge of the setting. It was a love job too, my stepsons mother in law.
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Post by pauls on Feb 29, 2016 15:44:19 GMT -5
That first Orange and blue one is going to be a real gem. I would be grinding those deep pits out so that you dont lose as much of the good stuff. Two weeks in course grind is nowhere near long enough for tough old Agates, two months you will probably be getting somewhere, have a look weekly, tip them into a seive over a bucket to save your slurry, wash, pull out any stones that all the pits and cracks have ground out of, throw any that look like they are always going to be unsuitable in the garden, a little bit of grinding to remove deep pits before the stone all grinds away is a good idea, then put them back with the slurry and some fresh grit and roll em. You shouldn't need plastic pellets in the coarse grind, if you need to fill up space fill it with rocks. Patience grasshopper, you will get there.
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Post by pauls on Feb 23, 2016 15:32:40 GMT -5
This style tumbler works exceptionally well, my dad built me one of these in the early 1960s with four barrels, I used gallon paint cans, cut the rolled lip of with a tin opener then slipped a plastic milk shake syrup gallon bottle inside to cushion the noise, just cut the screw on lid from the bottle with a knife and the thing would work open to the elements, the only one I had to buy screw top barrels for was the polish. No problems with burping, grit settling or anything, and easy to inspect, just look in.
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Post by pauls on Feb 10, 2016 1:59:54 GMT -5
"is MOhs scale logarithmic?"
No. Its not anything, each number is harder than the one before it, thats all. Its an airy fairy handy wavey sort of scale that is pretty rough.
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Post by pauls on Jan 30, 2016 19:23:04 GMT -5
Hi symber
I would stop and open it up and have a look, it can't hurt and you might be surprised how well it's going. Just grab a few rocks out and wash and dry them, keep everything away from any grit that might be contaminating benches or whatever though. If its going to happen you will see progress very quickly in the polish stage.
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Post by pauls on Jan 30, 2016 16:48:03 GMT -5
If they are Obsidian or Quartz etc. that has badly bruised and frosted then back 220 to remove the damage, if its just a lack of polish, just back to prepolish, or you could just try a different type of polish, try Cerium Oxide or Tin Oxide, Al Oxide. Try a different media or no media until you hit on a combination that works. Also remove any damaged rocks from the mix before doing any of this, it could be that one chipped rock is damaging the polish on slightly softer stones.
Paul
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