hsnopi
off to a rocking start
"So, I have a bag of rocks. Now what?"
Member since June 2010
Posts: 18
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Post by hsnopi on May 25, 2017 21:53:53 GMT -5
Hello All, I've been away a bit but am back. I found these three stones and they look pretty interesting (at least for Maryland) but I don't even know if they are polishable. One has a light color with silvery insets. Another is gray with a shiny black streak (coal?) and the last just has a nice kinda translucent corner. Any thoughts appreciated. Is hand polishing an option or is that just crazy? Fyi, I've never polished rocks. I have a few I've collected over the years for when I finally get a tumbler. Thanks! #1 Grey with Black #2 Silver Fleck #3 White Corner
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 25, 2017 22:22:48 GMT -5
Hello from Colorado! The first pic I think is schist maybe biotite,n the black pieces I'm not sure about but might be created by heat and pressure(maybe biotite)n the second pic is quartz and mica or muscovite. The third pic is quartz Ryan. No my bad the first I don't think polishes, quartz polishes well but can cracked easily and the mica in that piece will erode away if you tumble it and the third should polish well
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2017 22:28:58 GMT -5
First one looks like schorl tourmaline in a mica-type schist. Try flaking at the gray and black areas with a penny - if the gray is schist, you'll be able to flake off bits of it (and if the black is something softer like coal, you may be able to flake off some bits of that, too). The second could be marble or limestone with some mica (metal is possible, though) - if you put a drop of pool acid (muriatic acid) on the light colored part, if you see bubbles develop inside the bubble or if it fizzes, you'll know it is likely limestone or marble (if you can flake off a small piece of the silvery stuff and can see through it with a strong light in back, it is mica). The translucent portion in the last photo could be beryl or quartz, both are possible in MD, but I haven't seen specimens of either that are embedded in matrix such as your piece.
The ability to get a polish is going to depend on how different are the hardnesses of the stones, especially if you tumble-polish them. For example, if the first piece is indeed tourmaline in schist, the schist is going to either undercut severely or wear away entirely, leaving you with polished tourmaline shards (the schist is much softer than tourmaline). Grinding and polishing on wheels is possible, but requires a bit of experience/skill, IMHO.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718
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Post by Fossilman on May 26, 2017 8:35:14 GMT -5
Keep number one out of trying to polish it... Throw the others in a tumbler and get to rolling.....
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