pacchardon
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2015
Posts: 22
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Post by pacchardon on Sept 2, 2015 14:44:30 GMT -5
I did a load of Apatite (Mohs 5) with a dry polish with corn cob. It turned out well with a fairly nice shine. Now I'm doing Sodalite (Mohs 5.5 to 6). Should I do a wet or dry polish?
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Post by gingerkid on Sept 2, 2015 14:58:10 GMT -5
Hi, pacchardon, imagine someone with experience and expertise will answer your question about dry or wet-polishing sodalite, but I wanted to ask if you'll please share pics and the tumbling process of your apatite tumbles? It is apatite from Madagascar that you tumbled?
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pacchardon
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2015
Posts: 22
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Post by pacchardon on Sept 2, 2015 17:24:21 GMT -5
It was from Madagascar
This was the plan 2 days Silicon Carbide 60-90 coarse grit 2 days Silicon Carbide 120-220 medium grit 2 days Aluminum Oxide 500 fine grit 1 day Silicon Carbide 1000 extra-fine grit 6 days Aluminum Oxide Polish with corn cob instead of ceramic media
I will post some pictures after I dig into how to it.
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pacchardon
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2015
Posts: 22
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Post by pacchardon on Sept 2, 2015 19:27:54 GMT -5
I posted the image on Photobucket but am not sure what URL to try inserting. Can anyone help?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Sept 2, 2015 21:04:29 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, Pacchardon, I'm going to try dry tumbling Petoskey stone this weekend. I've never done it before, so I can't answer your question. Which of the stages did you do in a rotary and which in a vibratory? I use Flickr for photo hosting. Lots of people here like Photobucket too. I prefer Flickr because it has almost unlimited storage for free. Here's how I post pictures:
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 3, 2015 12:06:18 GMT -5
I posted the image on Photobucket but am not sure what URL to try inserting. Can anyone help? On photobucket you want the IMG code. (1) Put your cursor over the pic. On top left three horizontal lines will appear. Move cursor over the lines and a drop down will appear. (2) Click "share links" from the drop down. A pop up will appear. (3) Click the IMG code on the pop up. Its the one on the bottom. It will automatically copy the code for you. (4) Back here on the board you just right click and hit paste. In your post you will see the code displayed. Once you hit the "create post" button it will be a picture in your thread. Hope you can follow that. Sodalite will do fine in a wet polish. Here is some I did last year in a 3# rotary, wet.
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stonemaster499
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2014
Posts: 97
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Post by stonemaster499 on Sept 3, 2015 16:03:49 GMT -5
Dry polish is required to get the best polish out of a soft or delicate stone <6 Mohs, or <6.7 with structural issues (cleavage). If you get a perfect polish wet, then there is no use for dry. Some med hard that are solid do not require it. Knowing the stone structure will tell you. Med-hard solid stones don't need it (ex . Rhyolites). Med-hard stones with cleavage do require it (ex. labradorite).
However many people use wet polish with mediocre results, and claim that is how the stone polishes. Switching that to the dry polish can solve the haze, and bring out "Wow". Use some mineral oil/ and or wax to turn the dry polish powder into a paste to remove the dust issues, and hide any other issues
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pacchardon
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2015
Posts: 22
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Post by pacchardon on Sept 3, 2015 16:06:51 GMT -5
Thanks for the help.
It's not a great polish but not to bad for a first try with Apatite.
And it was done entirely with a rotary
Paul
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stonemaster499
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2014
Posts: 97
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Post by stonemaster499 on Sept 3, 2015 16:19:40 GMT -5
Not bad at all. Here is a batch of Madagascar apatite (stabilized), shaped in the rotary, and finished in a dry polish vibe. When you see the gemmy parts its incredible. Also, apatite requires stabilization. Our raw material only recently ships stabilized (2015 forward), and unfortunately that makes a big difference. We only learned this last fall.
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