Question....Advice Needed

knapper42
starting to shine!

Member since March 2008
Posts: 36

Question....Advice Needed Dec 17, 2008 19:43:56 GMT -5

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Post by knapper42 on Dec 17, 2008 19:43:56 GMT -5

I working on some "African Queen"(S.Africa picture Jasper)that will be used for a knife handle and have polished it on expanded drums wheels to 600 grit.
I then hit with my carpet/w CO then a quick buff on a buffing wheel with zam.
This polish always seems to dull after a little time or handling so I'm thinking of throwing it in with some flint I'm tumbling right now to see if I can get that water wet look. The flint tumble has run for about 5 day in the "Fine" stage which should be finer than 600 grit now.
I'm hoping someone will have some experience with this stone and can suggest a way to get a very high shine on the stone.
The flint I'm currently tumbling is about 10 lbs and I added about a quart of plastic beads when I started the Fine stage.
Many thanks for suggestion or ideas.
Knapper
This is a picture of the stone

Bikerrandy can identify rocks - even green ones Say what?? Member since September 2005 Posts: 15,688	Question....Advice Needed Dec 17, 2008 20:39:53 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Bikerrandy on Dec 17, 2008 20:39:53 GMT -5 I'm guessing that it should be ok in the tumbler as long as you run it in the polish only. Anything else would cause it to shrink.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller

Me and my gal, Rosie

Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,496

Question....Advice Needed Dec 17, 2008 20:53:42 GMT -5

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Post by Sabre52 on Dec 17, 2008 20:53:42 GMT -5

Howdy, African Queen Picture jasper is one of my favorite stones to cab and I've had the opportunity to work up cabs from maybe a dozen different boulders of this material most of which came from the initial find long ago. First two things I noticed were 1. AQ varies in grain size from piece to piece and even within the same slab so, while it is easy to obtain a satin finish, my ability at least to achieve a glassy finish with the same polish technique definitely seems to vary from cab to cab. 2. AQ I've cut is definitely softer than the Mohs of 7 encountered in most agate and flint so they do not tumble well together. Glass finish on the agate/flint- but only a satin on the AQ. I've only achieved a glassy polish on a very few of the cabs of this material I've cut (mainly with Optical grade cerium or tin oxide) and those came from slabs that were really well patterned and seemed to be much finer grained than the currently available material. Your experience may be different due to this variation in graininess but I think in many cases a satin finish may just about be it for this material.....Mel

bobby1 has started giving rock gifts Member since November 2007 Posts: 3,007	Question....Advice Needed Dec 17, 2008 21:03:30 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by bobby1 on Dec 17, 2008 21:03:30 GMT -5 I've had similar luck with this material. Mostly a satin finish. It generally seems to have a grainy texture. Bob

knapper42
starting to shine!

Member since March 2008
Posts: 36

Question....Advice Needed Dec 18, 2008 0:08:48 GMT -5

Quote

Post by knapper42 on Dec 18, 2008 0:08:48 GMT -5

Thanks everyone for the comments.
I'm cooking the AQ tonight which may change the matrix a little and possibly help with a polish.
I plan to throw it in with the prepolish and then polish stages just to see what happens.
Again thanks for the help.
K

Post by knapper42 on Dec 17, 2008 19:43:56 GMT -5

Post by Bikerrandy on Dec 17, 2008 20:39:53 GMT -5

Post by Sabre52 on Dec 17, 2008 20:53:42 GMT -5

Post by bobby1 on Dec 17, 2008 21:03:30 GMT -5

Post by knapper42 on Dec 18, 2008 0:08:48 GMT -5

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