electrocutus
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2020
Posts: 331
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Post by electrocutus on Sept 12, 2022 10:56:32 GMT -5
Ok, stupid question coming... This photo shows 2 very different-looking scoops of 500 grit Silicon Carbide. Is this normal or is one of them "wrong"? I was just finishing one container, so I opened the new one to top up my barrel and realized that the new one (left side of the photo) is a dark grey colour while the last spoonful from my last container is almost grey/beige. I can't remember what older containers of 500-grit looked like since it takes me a long time to go through :-) From photos I have seen elsewhere I am now realizing that the new one (dark grey) is the right colour and my previous tub is not. Is it nornal for Silicon Carbide to have that much variation in colouring? If not, what did I have in my older container? They both "feel" the same when I rub a pinch with my fingers, and I think the batches I did with the beige-looking one came out OK... although I got some disappointing shines that I attributed to the polish stage and my lack of experience. Maybe there was something wrong with the 500-grit. Thanks!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2022 11:06:31 GMT -5
I dont know enough but can tell you all my SC is grey. My 500 AO is lighter grey and my AO polish is white. jamesp might be of help or HankRocks or Bob or others as well.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Sept 12, 2022 11:15:25 GMT -5
Ok, stupid question coming... This photo shows 2 very different-looking scoops of 500 grit Silicon Carbide. Is this normal or is one of them "wrong"? I was just finishing one container, so I opened the new one to top up my barrel and realized that the new one (left side of the photo) is a dark grey colour while the last spoonful from my last container is almost grey/beige. I can't remember what older containers of 500-grit looked like since it takes me a long time to go through :-) From photos I have seen elsewhere I am now realizing that the new one (dark grey) is the right colour and my previous tub is not. Is it nornal for Silicon Carbide to have that much variation in colouring? If not, what did I have in my older container? They both "feel" the same when I rub a pinch with my fingers, and I think the batches I did with the beige-looking one came out OK... although I got some disappointing shines that I attributed to the polish stage and my lack of experience. Maybe there was something wrong with the 500-grit. Thanks! Powder on the right Looks Like AO and the Left Looks Like SiC to me. Im no expert just a beginner myself, but all the SiC I have seen so far looks just like the Left Shimmery and black/gray and all the AO I have seen looks like the Right, Off white cream and matte.
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nursetumbler
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Member since February 2022
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Post by nursetumbler on Sept 12, 2022 11:15:30 GMT -5
electrocutusMy Aluminum Oxide polish is almost light grey almost to a white color. If I am not mistaken cerium (sp) oxide is a beige yellow color (I think). I think Tommy or gosh the member slips my mind right now but he was the one doing the experiment of running diffent of batches of polish and compairing the outcomes. brybry perkins17 Son Of Beach ashley catmandewe Toad mohs can anyone of you help electrocutus?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2022 11:33:20 GMT -5
electrocutusMy Aluminum Oxide polish is almost light grey almost to a white color. If I am not mistaken cerium (sp) oxide is a beige yellow color (I think). I think Tommy or gosh the member slips my mind right now but he was the one doing the experiment of running diffent of batches of polish and compairing the outcomes. brybry perkins17 Son Of Beach ashley catmandewe Toad mohs can anyone of you help electrocutus? Your thinking of Bob.
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brybry
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Post by brybry on Sept 12, 2022 13:33:17 GMT -5
Never seen brown or beige SiC. Probably a pre-polish or polish of some sort. Most likely your first container was mislabeled and is the likely reason your finished polish wasn't up to snuff.
I'd avoid whoever you got your first container from if they can't guarantee you are getting what you order.
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electrocutus
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2020
Posts: 331
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Post by electrocutus on Sept 12, 2022 14:13:32 GMT -5
electrocutus My Aluminum Oxide polish is almost light grey almost to a white color. If I am not mistaken cerium (sp) oxide is a beige yellow color (I think). I think Tommy or gosh the member slips my mind right now but he was the one doing the experiment of running diffent of batches of polish and compairing the outcomes. brybry perkins17 Son Of Beach ashley catmandewe Toad mohs can anyone of you help electrocutus ? Thanks, my AO polish is almost pure white, so I'm pretty sure that's not it. I guess it could be cerium oxide, thanks for the pointer.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2022 14:44:36 GMT -5
electrocutusDoing a google search of cerium oxide I would bet thats what it is.
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electrocutus
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2020
Posts: 331
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Post by electrocutus on Sept 12, 2022 15:23:16 GMT -5
electrocutus Doing a google search of cerium oxide I would bet thats what it is. Thanks, it looks like it might be cerium oxide. Funny thing though is that the shop I bought it from only sells Silicon Carbide and AO polish. I am not going to name them here because I really do not think it is their fault even if there was indeed a product mix-up. Oh well, I should have noticed back when I opened that previous container :-)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2022 15:39:14 GMT -5
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Post by catmandewe on Sept 12, 2022 16:20:53 GMT -5
Looks like 500 grit SIC vs 500 grit AO, both will work, AO just takes longer to break down, but it does break down into polish.
I ended up with a couple 50 lb bags of 80 grit AO, I am going to try using it in a very large tumbler and see if it will work its way down to polish.
Tony
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Post by Starguy on Sept 12, 2022 17:11:39 GMT -5
electrocutusThe stuff on the right could be Tripoli too. Is it light weight? Any SiC I’ve ever seen was gray to black in color.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Sept 13, 2022 6:49:02 GMT -5
Alum Ox can be pink, lily white, brown/beige, black, grey, lite blue. Probably other colors. SiC can is usually black when coarse and grey when 500 or finer. There is an olive green version. AO 500 or SiC 500 can be used in a rotary for step 3 as long as you did an SiC 220 step after coarse. Of course keeping up with which abrasive is which by using long lasting containers with permanent marking is the way to go. Metal containers with the abrasive label cut or dremeled into the metal is best for longevity. Or mason jars... 500-1000-polish can be differentiated by putting a bit in your mouth and gently grinding it between your teeth.(AO used to and may still be used in toothpaste...) Polish will not feel gritty. AO 1000 feels slightly gritty. AO 500 feels like sand. AO 80, AO 220 and AO 14,000 in steel containers with the size ground into the steel containers in case the paint rusts away.
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electrocutus
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2020
Posts: 331
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Post by electrocutus on Sept 13, 2022 9:50:04 GMT -5
Thanks to everyone for your comments and insights. I guess I'll never know for sure what I had since it took me until the very bottom of the container to realize it was a different colour than what it normally would be :-) I don't have any of it left.
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dshanpnw
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2020
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Post by dshanpnw on Sept 14, 2022 17:13:43 GMT -5
I had to do research as to why I had two different colored grits too. I wanted to know what it was before I used it. It took a lot of searching but I found the answers to be exactly what jamesp and catmandewe stated. So now they have confirmed my studies are correct. Now I use either or, SiC and AO 220 grits.
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