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Post by woodman on Dec 26, 2015 22:54:22 GMT -5
Cut this piece of agate today, turned out better than I figured it would.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Agate
Dec 26, 2015 23:13:32 GMT -5
Post by Fossilman on Dec 26, 2015 23:13:32 GMT -5
Very nice,Iike it....................
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Agate
Dec 26, 2015 23:14:06 GMT -5
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 26, 2015 23:14:06 GMT -5
Very Cool! Looks like it could crumble, but it turned out great!
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Agate
Dec 26, 2015 23:22:06 GMT -5
Post by woodman on Dec 26, 2015 23:22:06 GMT -5
Very Cool! Looks like it could crumble, but it turned out great! I think I will stabilize the cracks and just polish it as is rather than making slabs.
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Agate
Dec 26, 2015 23:34:29 GMT -5
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 26, 2015 23:34:29 GMT -5
What will you use to stabilize those cracks, before polishing? I have heard about it and have opportunities for it, but have never done it.
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Post by woodman on Dec 27, 2015 10:08:23 GMT -5
What will you use to stabilize those cracks, before polishing? I have heard about it and have opportunities for it, but have never done it. I just use real thin super glue and let it wick into the cracks and let it set up. I get mine from: www.starbond.com/I applied the glue to this one last night and it is not yet ready for lapping. it takes a bit for it to harder out in the open air. I could use a bit of accelerator on it but I like to let it cure by itself. Gives it more time to penetrate the cracks.
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Agate
Dec 27, 2015 10:21:35 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 27, 2015 10:21:35 GMT -5
What will you use to stabilize those cracks, before polishing? I have heard about it and have opportunities for it, but have never done it. I just use real thin super glue and let it wick into the cracks and let it set up. I get mine from: www.starbond.com/I applied the glue to this one last night and it is not yet ready for lapping. it takes a bit for it to harder out in the open air. I could use a bit of accelerator on it but I like to let it cure by itself. Gives it more time to penetrate the cracks. Thank you for the response! Have you ever tried to tumble any after stabalizing? I am just starting out and only have tumblers, but I have a few cut pieces that need polishing. I guess I could try it with lots of filler and thicken the liquid with clay? Thanks again!
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Agate
Dec 27, 2015 10:50:55 GMT -5
Post by woodman on Dec 27, 2015 10:50:55 GMT -5
I just use real thin super glue and let it wick into the cracks and let it set up. I get mine from: www.starbond.com/I applied the glue to this one last night and it is not yet ready for lapping. it takes a bit for it to harder out in the open air. I could use a bit of accelerator on it but I like to let it cure by itself. Gives it more time to penetrate the cracks. Thank you for the response! Have you ever tried to tumble any after stabalizing? I am just starting out and only have tumblers, but I have a few cut pieces that need polishing. I guess I could try it with lots of filler and thicken the liquid with clay? Thanks again! No I have not tried that. I quit tumbling when I got into the bigger pieces of Pet. wood. It would be worth a try tho. Heat does break the bond of superglue tho. good luck.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Agate
Dec 27, 2015 12:33:30 GMT -5
Post by Sabre52 on Dec 27, 2015 12:33:30 GMT -5
Man, you have some big brass ones. Agates fractured like that are real blade destroyers. Good job getting through it....Mel
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Agate
Dec 27, 2015 12:37:52 GMT -5
Post by woodman on Dec 27, 2015 12:37:52 GMT -5
Man, you have some big brass ones. Agates fractured like that are real blade destroyers. Good job getting through it....Mel It is really not as bad as it looks. The top and bottom do not show any cracks at all. Maybe I lucky!
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Agate
Dec 27, 2015 13:59:05 GMT -5
Post by adam on Dec 27, 2015 13:59:05 GMT -5
Perfect angle to bring out the beauty. Fantastic.
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Agate
Dec 27, 2015 20:10:05 GMT -5
Post by stephan on Dec 27, 2015 20:10:05 GMT -5
Thank you for the response! Have you ever tried to tumble any after stabalizing? I am just starting out and only have tumblers, but I have a few cut pieces that need polishing. I guess I could try it with lots of filler and thicken the liquid with clay? Thanks again! No I have not tried that. I quit tumbling when I got into the bigger pieces of Pet. wood. It would be worth a try tho. Heat does break the bond of superglue tho. good luck. I would not use it in tumbling. Water does soften the polymerized cyanoacrylate. This does not tend to be a problem with flat-lapping and cabbing. However, the long immersion time required for tumbling, coupled with the impacts of the stones banging against each other would almost certainly break up the stabilized stone. For stabilizing, I generally use PaleoBond. It was developed for stabilizing dino skeletons for museums, and comes in multiple viscosities for different applications.
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Agate
Dec 27, 2015 22:24:38 GMT -5
Post by woodman on Dec 27, 2015 22:24:38 GMT -5
No I have not tried that. I quit tumbling when I got into the bigger pieces of Pet. wood. It would be worth a try tho. Heat does break the bond of superglue tho. good luck. I would not use it in tumbling. Water does soften the polymerized cyanoacrylate. This does not tend to be a problem with flat-lapping and cabbing. However, the long immersion time required for tumbling, coupled with the impacts of the stones banging against each other would almost certainly break up the stabilized stone. For stabilizing, I generally use PaleoBond. It was developed for stabilizing dino skeletons for museums, and comes in multiple viscosities for different applications. I see nothing on the paleobond site that that says what it is made of. another site says it is mostly cyanoacrylate. the starbond site says it is water proof when cured. I gues use whatever you have had good luck with. They both are about the same price.
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Agate
Dec 27, 2015 23:33:17 GMT -5
Post by stephan on Dec 27, 2015 23:33:17 GMT -5
Paleobond is definitely CA. I think most CAs claim they are waterproof, and it is technically true, but water does soften them. The more fully cured they are, the longer it would take to soften them. I think the two are pretty much equivalent, and that neither would be likely to stand up to tumbling. You a correct, I imagine, that it is a matter of preference/familiarity.
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Agate
Dec 28, 2015 8:30:44 GMT -5
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 28, 2015 8:30:44 GMT -5
Thank you, woodman & stephan for the detailed info. I guess I need to be in the market for a flat lap!
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Agate
Dec 28, 2015 18:14:11 GMT -5
Post by woodman on Dec 28, 2015 18:14:11 GMT -5
OK, let the glue set up overnight and this afternoon I lapped and polished it. Picture does not do the polish job justice, maybe I needed a reflection in it.
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