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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2012 22:35:25 GMT -5
OK the title was meant to gain attention not be provacative. Soon I will be polishing my first Blue G spheres. It is clear to me that this material, if not nephrite, is quite close in the continuum of materials from asbestos-actinolite-serpentine-XXXXXX-nephrite. That brings to mind mention of the many folks who came before me having trouble polishing jade as the crystal structure can give an orange peal surface rather than smooth and polished. And now for the question. What are you folks using to polish Blue G? Diamond, Cerium Oxide, Tin Oxide, Alox?  I appreciate any knowledge you share. ss |
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Post by paulshiroma on Jun 18, 2012 23:44:42 GMT -5
Well, to be honest, I can't offer you ANY help whatsoever (I know - I'm a LOSER, LOL!). I am truly interested to see how your spheres turn out though!  Paul |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2012 9:08:23 GMT -5
When I made my rings out of blue G I polished with velcro diamond pads up to 3000 and the polish is superb with no orange peel. If I go beyond 3000 with a pad and aluminum oxide I get the orange peel and the polish dulls down. The diamond impregnated plastic pad is smooth so there is no way it can cause the orange peel but I do not know if there is any way to use them in your application. The grits I use are 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 3000. I get the same results on 4 or 5 different nephrites from the western states and Alaska. Here is the blue G ring.     Jim |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2012 10:08:36 GMT -5
Paul, I promise images if I get good finished product!
Thanks Jim! That is interesting.
Going finer than 3000 gets orange peel? Or use of Alox does the orange peel? I suspect diamond won't orange peel anyways. It just cuts thru the grain.
Anybody else?
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Jun 19, 2012 10:37:24 GMT -5
ditto on the polishing up to 3000 with diamond
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 19, 2012 11:13:32 GMT -5
Shotgunner, while the glaucophane that I have is not the trademarked stuff, a friend of mine went on a field trip to Panoche Hills, and gave me one of the pieces that he brought back:  When I cut it, it appeared really soft and porous. Well, it is porous, don't use oil to cut (especially dirty oil  )  However, I am impressed with how well it took a polish. I use an Ameritool flat lap, and after shaping, I use the polishing lap, with 50K diamond paste to the outside of the lap, and 100K paste to the inner half. But probably 50K paste would have sufficed. Jean |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2012 12:01:12 GMT -5
Thanks Frog and rockpick. Rockpick, that is very pretty material.
The Blue G material is not in the least bit porous and simply must be cut on oil. It is far too tough for a water saw.
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juzwuz
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Post by juzwuz on Jun 19, 2012 14:24:35 GMT -5
I can't wait to see the Blue G sphere! I just started working on my Blue G boulder by first knocking down the high points with my 100grit diamond wheel.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2012 15:46:07 GMT -5
juzwuz, you may beat me to it! I have class tonight. Hope to start the rough grind (x2) on the sphere machine tonight
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2012 16:02:52 GMT -5
A sphere out of the blue G has to be awesome. Looking forward to seeing that.
Jim
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juzwuz
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Post by juzwuz on Jun 19, 2012 23:33:32 GMT -5
I just got some 3" diamond core bits for the sphere machine but this Blue G boulder still might be too large. I'll give it a try tonight. juzwuz, you may beat me to it! I have class tonight. Hope to start the rough grind (x2) on the sphere machine tonight |
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hand2mouthmining
spending too much on rocks
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Post by hand2mouthmining on Jun 21, 2012 0:50:12 GMT -5
Shotgunner, while the glaucophane that I have is not the trademarked stuff, a friend of mine went on a field trip to Panoche Hills, and gave me one of the pieces that he brought back: When I cut it, it appeared really soft and porous. Well, it is porous, don't use oil to cut (especially dirty oil ) However, I am impressed with how well it took a polish. I use an Ameritool flat lap, and after shaping, I use the polishing lap, with 50K diamond paste to the outside of the lap, and 100K paste to the inner half. But probably 50K paste would have sufficed. Jean Hi Jean! What you've got is a lovely serpentine. How do I know? Well, we're the guys who introduced Blue G! From the Panoche Hills of Central California, Blue G is definitely related to jadeite, at least in genesis. We're still waiting for busy academics to do thin section studies. If we don't get something back by July 1st, we'll be paying to have it done by the GIA. One visual examination of the material by a prominent subduction geologist suggested pumpellyite as a colorant, as in chromite. We cut and polish Blue G as high as 100,000 on diamond, and follow with optical cerium oxide on grey felt. However, since it starts taking a polish at 400 on silicon carbide and 600 on diamond, we often under-polish to get a 'south western" look. ------ Jim, we're floored by your ring! WOWEE! Can we use your photos on our website? We had seen some of your work, and knew you'd do something spectacular! THANK YOU! ;D ------ For you sphere guys, feel free to ask us any questions you like. Blue G is so new that we're still experimenting with a variety of polishes. We'll be trying lab grade alumina before the end of the month. As you may have noted, the Blue G that Jim worked is of a different grade than the "blue granite" pattern you're working. it's more expensive and more likely to have metal oxide lines. It's also rarely found in sphere sized boulders. The work that you're currently doing is literally "groundbreaking!" Blue G is heavy with metallic oxides, so that mirror polish may rely on different polish for different boulders. Such is the nature of Blue G! Our thanks go out to you for your brave help in introducing Blue G to the hobby. We'll follow and contribute to this thread as often as possible.  BTW, the Blue G slab we posted recently had a counter top polish, achieved with three steps on Diamond Pacific Nova flats - 60, 220 & 600! Less than 12 minutes total from rough to polish, and the sweetest baby-blue, too! We're experimenting with using stone seal, and it looks great so far. Thanks, friends! Kris Hand-2-Mouth Mining Admin, Rockhound Field Trip Fanatics! |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 21, 2012 9:08:34 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, Kris. I was told that the stone in question was glaucophane, but had wondered if it really was. It seemed too soft to me. Jean
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2012 18:42:27 GMT -5
kris;
OT a bit:
we're putting the blue G into the spectrophotometer next tuesday. We'll determine the metals content and report back.
I got an SG of 3.01. Anybody else check SG?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2012 21:11:43 GMT -5
I got an SG of 3.01 also. Guess my test method is accurate but I did not think it was that accurate.
Jim
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hand2mouthmining
spending too much on rocks
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Post by hand2mouthmining on Jun 22, 2012 15:05:16 GMT -5
kris; OT a bit: we're putting the blue G into the spectrophotometer next tuesday. We'll determine the metals content and report back. I got an SG of 3.01. Anybody else check SG? DUDE!!! You guys ROCK! We truly appreciate your help in identifying Blue G, it'll allow us to keep the prices lower! We do anticipate getting the GIA cert sooner or later, but we'd prefer to wait until it doesn't eat our mining budget! We're really excited to hear your progress, and look forward to posting photos and details of your efforts on our website. Thanks again! Kris & Al Hand-2-Mouth Mining |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2012 16:43:16 GMT -5
It's OK.
I am going to wanna buy another large piece or two. Maybe 30-40 pounds if you have it. If you wanna PM me with availability we can close a deal.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2012 23:35:53 GMT -5
adjusting the topic slightly. I will be polishing two spheres of BLUE G on tuesday night. Recent research indicates that AlOx works on Jadelike objects. I bought a small box from AO Polish from rockshed (the most highly recommended AO polish).
I will polish the first one with Tin Oxide as old school jade guys swear buy it. It that does not impress then I am prepared to go to AlOx.
Kris, I'll report back next week. I'll publish images, promised.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2012 12:29:32 GMT -5
well, went for polish last night. Sadly I forgot to bring the AO from The Rockshed. Tin Oxide is what the school uses. Well..... Tin Oxide polishes the jade well, but the black spots remain matte. A very unpleasant look. I'll take the AlO next week for sure. cr@p!
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Aug 8, 2012 12:47:34 GMT -5
can't wait to see them!
do you use water to make your polish compound or oil?
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