rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Jun 3, 2008 14:31:40 GMT -5
The idea of using sealants (super glue, casting resin, wax, etc.) to fill in pits or cracks when tumbling has come up many times. I've tried these in the past, and I wasn't really happy with the results. Sometimes they worked great. Often the softer sealant would take on a frosted appearance that was very obvious in the final polished stone. Worst of all (and this is what caused me to abandon sealants completely), sometimes if I examined the sealed area with a 10X loupe I could see grit that had embedded itself in the sealant -- that grit might get released in later stages, possibly messing up the entire batch.
So my experience with sealants has mostly been negative. Just wondering if other people have tried them, and whether you think they are a good thing or a bad thing.
-Don
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Post by deb193redux on Jun 3, 2008 14:38:43 GMT -5
For deep pits, superglue worked OK in a vibe. I put in in jsut before prepolish and used the fine grit to get rid of any on the surface around the pit.
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Post by krazydiamond on Jun 7, 2008 15:40:12 GMT -5
i've used both superglue and epoxy 330 to try and fill pits and cracks with some success in cabbing, but never in tumbling.......
i don't think it's cheating, if that is what you mean by "a bad thing", as quite often the offending pit or crack only reveals itself after you've already put in a lot of effort into the piece. and there are sometimes when even filler doesn't work/look quite right. but sometimes it saves the day.
before i try to fill a pit, i clean the rock with isopropyl and let it dry 24 hours before attempting to do anything else with it.
my 2 cents,
KD
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181lizard
Cave Dweller 
Still lurking :)
Member since December 2005
Posts: 2,171
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Post by 181lizard on Jun 7, 2008 16:34:47 GMT -5
Hey Don - some of the slabs I've purchased have been sealed & sanded (or sanded & sealed) and they are quite nice. Don't know what was used but they show a truer sense of color this way. quite a few slabs from Westcoast come this way & in my opinion, they are a top notch dealer.
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snivlem
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2008
Posts: 167
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Post by snivlem on Jun 7, 2008 18:02:27 GMT -5
I thinks pits and vugs are supposed to be there- so if a particular stone, slab, or cab really just can't live without using it, then okay, but why not try to have some acceptance for the imperfections that mother nature makes beautiful?
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yotmv
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2008
Posts: 5
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Post by yotmv on Jun 7, 2008 21:01:32 GMT -5
Have you ever tried using an instant glue with a spray accelerator? I use them for other things, but have not used them with a tumbler yet myself. Example (and where I buy mine): www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=346I generally buy the Medium (orange, Super T) glue and the aerosol accelerator. |
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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 Jun 9, 2008 18:13:40 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. I didn't mean that I thought sealing was cheating, it's just that sometimes when I've sealed something and then tumbled it, the silicon carbide grit embeds itself into the sealant, as seen through a magnifier. I worry that this grit can then get released at a later stage, possibly messing up the whole tumble.
-Don
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Terry664
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2005
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Terry664 on Jun 9, 2008 20:56:38 GMT -5
The only time I use a sealant is when I have a vug that I can't grind out without ruining piece, or a vug with features in it that I wanted to keep in. I seal before tumbling just to keep grit from going to different stages, and I check after each stage to make sure sealant is still solid if not I take it out. The one that worked best for me was a 2 part glue.
Terry
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