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Post by llana2go on Jan 14, 2009 20:55:12 GMT -5
I have been going through all my grits and polishes and found a sack of something I can't identify. It was ina small paper bag, that had totally disintragated, inside a heavy ziploc. I'm sure at one time the paper bag was marked, but it's long gone.
I think it is polish, but I can figure out what kind. I have compared it to all my polishes and pre-polishes. It is very close to the same color as Tripoli, but much finer.
I'm at a loss for what it might be. Anybody got any ideas?
thanks
llana
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Post by Bikerrandy on Jan 14, 2009 22:21:20 GMT -5
Cerium oxide?
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Post by LCARS on Jan 15, 2009 4:48:35 GMT -5
That would be my guess sight unseen...  If it is a reddish brick colored fine powder that does not feel "gritty" when rubbed between your fingers then cerium oxide polish is a likely culprit. It is used for shining glass and other med-soft non-porous stones. Lower grades are usually the darker red and higher grades are usually the lighter more tan or cream color. |
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fanatic
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2007
Posts: 233
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Post by fanatic on Jan 15, 2009 6:44:01 GMT -5
I have cerium oxide thats nearly as white as aluminum oxide. I got it from work. Its the same stuff my company uses to polish glass substrates for telescope mirrors. I'm not talking about the everyday off the shelf telescope mirror. We made Mt Palomar and others. We only make massive one-of-a-kind special order glass substrates for this application. I haven't used it yet, but I have some obsidian tumbling and I plan to use it in the polishing stage.
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Post by llana2go on Jan 15, 2009 8:58:29 GMT -5
Cerium oxide? No, I don't think so. At least it doesn't look like the cerium oxide I have clearly marked. I guess I will just have to pull some of my not so favorite rocks out of the tumble I'm doing now, use it and see what happens. Hopefully, it will be one of those WOW factor polishes!  llana
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Post by johnjsgems on Jan 15, 2009 10:28:37 GMT -5
There is a tannish diatomaceous earth polish. There are at least three grades of cerium (the almost white stuff is called Super Cerium or French Cerium). Covington ells a tan product called Old Miser. I'd give it a try on a buffing pad and see what happens.
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fanatic
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2007
Posts: 233
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Post by fanatic on Jan 15, 2009 12:18:09 GMT -5
Thanx for that information John. I was told that the cerium oxide we use was developed specifically for our companies use when we built the Mt Palomar substrate. We actually built two because the first one cracked. The cracked one is in CMOG - Corning Museum of Glass. If you're ever in Corning, NY its well worth the visit.
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Jan 16, 2009 2:08:49 GMT -5
There was an amazing show (on PBS or History Channel or something) about the whole Mt Palomar project a while back, quite a fascinating story.
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