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Post by Pat on Oct 14, 2012 19:15:58 GMT -5
I heard yesterday that mookaite was easy to heat treat at home. Just aim a butane torch at it and wait. Sounded good to me. Aimed mini-butane at a chunk the size of an oreo cookie for about one minute, and the mustand color turned to catsup. Voila! Needs more experimenting. Overall color change is due to lighting, not heat. The true color is somewhere inbetween. The color did not go all the way through. You can see a small chip that flew off during the heating. Before heating:  After heating  ADMIN EDIT - repaired broken images, original code below --------------------
[IMG]http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p489/pat253/PA080002heated-mookaite2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p489/pat253/PA080008heated-mookaite1.jpg[/IMG]
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Post by deb193redux on Oct 14, 2012 19:39:39 GMT -5
butane burns pretty hot. seems like it would fracture the stone if you went much longer than a minute.
what about a 400deg oven for an hour or two?
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The Dad_Ohs
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Oct 14, 2012 19:42:48 GMT -5
butane burns pretty hot. seems like it would fracture the stone if you went much longer than a minute. what about a 400deg oven for an hour or two? You can get an old toaster oven for dirt at most 2nd hand stores... usually in the 2-5 dollar range and your wife won't want to hang you for the smell or the 'you put rocks in my oven!!!  " Looking at the after pictures, I got plenty of rock already that color of red... to me it's a waste of good stone, but that's just my opinion.... I like the yellows and oranges, even blues... I got too much red stuff now... just found a 5gal bucket of fractured rock with red/green/white in it......definitely need more blues, yellows, purples...... |
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Post by gingerkid on Oct 14, 2012 19:52:54 GMT -5
Wow, Pat, sure looks a lot different.
You could put it in the microwave. Just kidding. Rick placed a welo opal in the microwave "just to see what would happen." It cracked, lol.
Isn't some tiger eye heat-treated to turn it red? Wonder if the chatoyant areas in Marra Mamba would turn red also?
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Post by Pat on Oct 14, 2012 20:12:40 GMT -5
Daniel, I was warned to be patient, so I was surprised that it took such little time. My patience is normally longer than a minute!
Mario, I am the wife!
Jan, don't know about the Marra Mamba and I only have one piece of that. Don't want to experiment with that as it looks like a tree on a hill.
Does anybody know what other rocks can be heat treated at home? I do have a toaster over, butane and propane torches.
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The Dad_Ohs
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Oct 14, 2012 20:52:42 GMT -5
Mario, I am the wife! Does anybody know what other rocks can be heat treated at home? I do have a toaster over, butane and propane torches. Whoops !!!! ... shame on you for ruining the oven ... bet you blame your other half if it breaks anyways!!!  I would suggest throwing a hand full of rocks (single layer if you please) into the toaster oven ( OUTDOORS!!! ) and let it bake for 10 minutes and see what happens... outdoors in case any of the pop and send shard flying.... best way to experiment is to be divisive with what you have,, so put a piece of each in there and let them go... then post pics for the rest of us!! |
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Post by deb193redux on Oct 14, 2012 21:09:24 GMT -5
most agate or jasper is good to upto 400 deg. higher heat may make it brittle. just ask a knapper.
also most agate an jasper cannot stand the heat of a torch. that is why bezels are soldered before the stone is put in.
some yellow crystal turn purple, but mostly reds/browns get deepened. it is because iron impurities undergo rapid oxidation with heat.
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Post by Pat on Oct 14, 2012 21:32:46 GMT -5
Daniel, is it safe health-wise to heat rocks in an oven used for food?
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Post by mohs on Oct 16, 2012 23:43:55 GMT -5
I think it might be cause i cook my steak on a slab of pet wood hickory, of course gives it a nice ancient smoked flavor  might try a slab of mookite mookite steak with a side of baked chryschola potatoes :drool: |
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Post by Pat on Oct 17, 2012 10:01:05 GMT -5
OK, Ed, you've convinced me  |
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Post by mohs on Oct 17, 2012 10:34:19 GMT -5
I think we could start a whole new tradition Cooking on Stone With Chef EdMo and the firebrand assistant Pat! that when you click your butane on keep on cook'n  |
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Post by deb193redux on Oct 17, 2012 11:03:10 GMT -5
Daniel, is it safe health-wise to heat rocks in an oven used for food? I think generally yes. But some slabs when heated will vaporize residual cutting oil from the pore space of the stone - even ones that do not smell petroleum like. This odor does not stay in the oven long if at all, and does not strike me as much different form grills fueled with propane. But, I can see how other folks smelling the hydrocarbons might raise eyebrows if they see you mixing rock hobby and cooking. So, how much do you care about those eyebrows? I think you can further minimize any heat-shock to the slab by putting it in a pan of sand and heating the whole thing. Temps rise and fall more steady. This is also good if you have an electric roaster - fill it with sand and stick the slabs down into the sand. -Daniel |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2012 11:22:41 GMT -5
You really need to be careful when heating stone with a torch. The heat of the entire stone needs to go up at the same time. Hot and cold areas can send missiles flying. That is why the oven is best because the whole stone is heating at the same time if the stone is not too big. Like Daniel said, putting it in sand is best because the temp goes up slower, therefor heating the inside of the stone at the same rate as the outside. It takes a lot longer though.
Jim
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 17, 2012 12:00:15 GMT -5
The roasting pans work great too.Put sand in the bottom and roast away with the rocks...Can buy used ones cheap at secondhand stores too!
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Post by mohs on Oct 17, 2012 12:29:19 GMT -5
I was only half joking about cooking on stone
but I recall a fondue restaurant in Denver
They came out with big polish slab of hot stone
that was used for heating various food types
it was long time ago
so not sure what type of stone it was
probably granite
hate cook on schist Ha Ha
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Post by mohs on Oct 17, 2012 12:33:22 GMT -5
the sand would help with the cooling process also
I would think that would be important
and might facilitate depth of colorization
when we heat treated certain metals
we'd place the glowing metal into sand
so it would cool slowly & evenly
Ed
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2012 14:08:45 GMT -5
I was only half joking about cooking on stone but I recall a fondue restaurant in Denver They came out with big polish slab of hot stone that was used for heating various food types it was long time ago so not sure what type of stone it was probably granite hate cook on schist Ha Ha I have a hunk of granite countertop that I put in my propane barbecue grill. I run it at the highest temp and cook homemade pizzas in about 4 minutes. Makes great fun for build your own pizza night without heating up the house! |
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Post by Pat on Oct 17, 2012 14:39:30 GMT -5
OK. I have a toaster oven we won't use for food. I have a pan, and can get some sand. Do I need sterile or any other special type of sand?
Anything else I know before I start cooking? Temperature? Start low?
Thanks!
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Post by beefjello on Oct 17, 2012 20:42:00 GMT -5
Cool project Pat! I have some coral slabs I'd like to try that with. Not with a torch but the oven method. It's on my lapidary bucket list  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2012 21:15:47 GMT -5
There is a tut around somewhere but I do not remember where. Plus, I was sent a piece of stone that turns from yellow to red when cooked and I can not remember who sent it. I'll bet you are just happy as hell that you got that information huh. Hey, I can not help it if I got old. I will try to figure it out though. ;D
Jim
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