wm7734
spending too much on rocks
wheres my rockhammer ?
Member since January 2007
Posts: 252
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Post by wm7734 on Apr 27, 2008 17:12:15 GMT -5
im having a real hard time getting turquoise to really SHINE,,,i wont go in to alot of particulars,,,but suffice to say,,,final phase is in the same barrel as all my final stages,,,new clean tin oxide,with a 50/50 mix of stones and plastic pellets,water to cover about 3/8",tumble time,7 to 10 days,,,,my tumbler has a set speed on rotation,,,i have abatch that has been through this cycle TWICE and has not gotten any shinier,,,some folks tell me to really get turq to shine you have to hand polish it,,,sounds like a pain in the kiester to me,,,,,,,any help would be appreciated,but i need difinitive solutions,,a week to ten days to "TRY"something is getting frustrating,thanx yall
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rockdewd
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2007
Posts: 605
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Post by rockdewd on Apr 27, 2008 23:46:35 GMT -5
Polishing turquoise can be tricky. It depends on how hard the stone is and if it has been stabilized. I have yet to get stabilized turquoise to shine in a tumbler. Turqouise will polish if it is hard enough. If it is chalk it won't polish no way no how. Normally I polish tuqouise with Zam on a musiln buff. I have had good luck with cerium oxide with natural turqouise.
HTH
Rick
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Apr 28, 2008 2:03:05 GMT -5
A bit of a mystery to me, but not something I have ever tried tumbling. Good turquoise can have a Moh's hardness up to 6, which is plenty hard enough to take a good shine. Inexpensive turquoise can be much softer, grading down to chalk softness as the previous post mentions. But if it was that soft, you would already know that because it would have worn away extremely fast in the coarser stages. So I'm afraid I'm stumped.
-Don
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 28, 2008 8:07:36 GMT -5
I had some stabilized nuggets I couldn't get a polish on. I tried 25000 Vibradry and they came out so shiney they look like plastic now. Cabs I cut from other places came out very nice as did some old Indian made rings I found in my dad's stuff that were badly tarnished. These were all in my vibe tumbler. Alumium oxide might work in your rotary. You might be using a little too much water. I always just cover the load with a few rocks sticking out of the water. You said you were filling over the load.
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DeanW
has rocks in the head
Member since December 2007
Posts: 721
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Post by DeanW on Apr 28, 2008 14:46:18 GMT -5
John,
Please oh please, tell me you didn't polish the silver on those Indian rings? I'm assuming you mean Zuni/Navajo type antique rings. I'm a collector of Native American items (basketry, pottery, jewelry) and removing the tarnish can actually hurt the value. Assuming of course you care about the value.
Dean
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 28, 2008 18:42:08 GMT -5
I don't know about antique or not. They were from the 70's when my dad had a rock shop. I not only cleaned them I also sold most of them. I had a couple of turquoise dealers help me price them. They were from $25-$45 dollars. Most of the sizes were pretty small. He had some lost pawn squash blossoms but gave those away as presents over the years.
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wm7734
spending too much on rocks
wheres my rockhammer ?
Member since January 2007
Posts: 252
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Post by wm7734 on Apr 28, 2008 22:14:19 GMT -5
thanks everybody who has responded,,,the hand finishing sounds like a good answer,,,,but i dont know what zam is,,,cerium oxide i do know of,,,i assume it can be bought in stick form,,i do have a very nice buffer
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WarrenA
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2003
Posts: 1,530
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Post by WarrenA on Apr 28, 2008 23:43:11 GMT -5
zam comes in a stick and is the answer
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 29, 2008 9:04:10 GMT -5
Zam is a name brand and one of the green rouge bars. If you can't find it locally you can buy it through Indian Jewelers Supply.
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wm7734
spending too much on rocks
wheres my rockhammer ?
Member since January 2007
Posts: 252
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Post by wm7734 on Apr 30, 2008 12:39:27 GMT -5
thanks again
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