James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Mar 26, 2004 12:42:53 GMT -5
"Tigers-eye is a variety of rich golden yellow to brownish quartz that displays a characteristic band of pearly luminescence resulting from reflection of light from parallel inclusions, called chatoyancy. The quartz originally contained fibers of crocidolite, a bluish asbestos; their alteration to iron oxides produced color banding. Silica subsequently replaced the iron oxides. In the similar blue-colored gem "hawk's-eye," the crocidolite fibers were replaced by silica before alteration." (Taken From The Mineral Gallery) These babies are Tigers-eye, (Gold) and Hawks-Eye (Blue). They went for 3 weeks in 60/90, (recharged every 7 days) 1 week in 120/220, 1 week in 500 and 1 week in Titanium oxide. But then a problem... They didn't shine. So I decided to put them in Cerium oxide for 4 days. Still no difference... They were only about 40% as shiny as they are in the pics. It turn out that the 500 grit wasn't fine enough for the prepolish. So I decided to run them for 4 days in 1000 grit. I should have waited a week but I got impatient. Anyhow, It did the trick. After 2 days of Cerium they looked way better then 11 days of polish prior to the 1000 grit. I eventually let them go in Cerium for 8 days total. If you want good results with Tigers-eye, make sure to add an extra week of aluma oxide 1000 grit prior to polish. Here is the whole batch. These were done in my Tumblers Model B:  Here's all the golden tigers-eye together:  ...and a close-up:  Here's all the Hawks-eye togerher:  ...and again at a slanted view:  Thanks for looking!  |
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thewiz
has rocks in the head
"What good is money if you don't spend it"
Member since January 2004
Posts: 735
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Post by thewiz on Mar 26, 2004 12:49:42 GMT -5
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thewiz
has rocks in the head
"What good is money if you don't spend it"
Member since January 2004
Posts: 735
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Post by thewiz on Mar 26, 2004 12:57:47 GMT -5
hey james i don't have 1000 just 500 and 600 could i let them go two or more weeks in 600 thinking that in that time the 600 would break down and be finer and finer
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Mar 26, 2004 13:06:53 GMT -5
I wouldn't count on 600 grit breaking down Wiz. However, I may work. If you have a "jewlers loupe," inspect the suface of the stones for crevices and pits. If the surfaces (when dry) appear smooth and flawless they will polish. Any excess pits and crevices simply wont come out in polish. That was the problem I had... I even debated using 1000 grit before I polished them the first time. If I had listened to my intuition, I would have posted these pics a week and a half ago...
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Banjocreek
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2003
Posts: 1,115
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Post by Banjocreek on Mar 26, 2004 17:28:35 GMT -5
Thanks James-
Those are beautiful stones, and I am really glad you got all the info in your log, on how you got there.
I have the 1000 on order, and am finding that, that step seems to be more and more necessary to get a good quality shine. I find I am expecting too much of my polish. An explanation is really helpful.
The results are outstanding!!
That is some great looking rock!!
Do you follow the rule of 'A pound of grit for 8-10 pounds of rock', and half that on the polish?
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donwrob
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 509
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Post by donwrob on Mar 26, 2004 18:08:15 GMT -5
Fantastic job James! Really nice batch of gems, super pics too buddy. Cheers, Don
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Mar 26, 2004 18:13:01 GMT -5
Thanks guy's! Banjo, Yeah, the 1000 grit really makes a big difference. As I stated before, I'm really not happy at all with 500 SC. It isn't fine enough. The best results I've had are with SISA fine silica prepolish. It does the job every time. Right now in fact, I am having yet more problems with 500 SC! I have Two 3 lb barrels and one 15 lb barrel in polish. And agian, they aren't how I want them. From now on if I use 500 SC I'm only gonna run it for 5 days and swith to 1000 aluma for 5 more. That should do the trick. At leat untill I get my 5 lbs of SISA. In which case I might just discard the 500 SC altogether. As far as 60/90 goes, I use 1 lb in my 15 lb barrel and 4 tbs in each of my 3 lb barrels. For prepolish and polish I use 1/2 for my 15 lb tumbler and 5 tbs in each of my 3 lb barrels. |
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Post by sandsman1 on Mar 26, 2004 18:19:10 GMT -5
hi all ---hey james i havent bought any of that yet but i gotta say after seein yours i think its gonna be one of my next buys they came out great way cool lookin (cutdatout) after i seen your spiderman jasper i was hooked hahahaha had to go find some to buy now this ok seeya john
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blueangele
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since December 2003
Posts: 86
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Post by blueangele on Mar 26, 2004 20:08:14 GMT -5
those stones are really nice, but the picture look like something out of a sci-fi flick, way way cool, how did ya do it?
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Allagash
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2004
Posts: 22
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Post by Allagash on Mar 26, 2004 21:00:49 GMT -5
James, those are incredible! Excellent job and thanks for the detail about the grit.
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Mar 26, 2004 21:37:24 GMT -5
Thanks for the comments.
John- If you're gonna buy tigers'eye, get it from the rock shed. The pics you see of golden tigers-eye are from the rock shed and the gem shop. All the Hawks-eye is from the rock shed. The rock shed stuf has better banding.
Blueangel- All I did to the pics was remove the origional white background with Adobe Phote Shop 7.0 and replaced it with a custom backgound, with a gradient. I wanted to try something new.... It's fun to try different stuff. I hope it looks good. I don't want the stone to look artificial, ya know? A word of caution though. It is a very hard program to use. My younger brother had to help me with it. It took him 8 years of practice to get the program down perfect.
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Mar 26, 2004 21:59:49 GMT -5
James, those are some real beauties! I really like the Hawk's- eye.
llana
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Post by rockyraccoon on Mar 26, 2004 22:25:53 GMT -5
james you are the polish king! between you and john i'm easing up to a serious rough rock buying binge  . kim |
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blueangele
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since December 2003
Posts: 86
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Post by blueangele on Mar 26, 2004 22:42:10 GMT -5
I think I have that on this computer, but I also have paint shop pro 8 and I am used to it, I may have to play a bit, assuming I can get this !@#$% computer to work right
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Post by sandsman1 on Mar 26, 2004 23:55:51 GMT -5
hi all ---hey james when you say 1000 grit is that aluminum oxide 1000 grit or is the sisa stuff you just said better i was just lookin at the rockshed page fig if i get some tiger eye id get some 1000 grit or should i buy that sisa stuff - and when you use the sisa or the aluminum oxide do you cut out the 500 grit run
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thewiz
has rocks in the head
"What good is money if you don't spend it"
Member since January 2004
Posts: 735
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Post by thewiz on Mar 27, 2004 0:15:50 GMT -5
i'm with john is 1000 grit and sisa the same thing?  ?? |
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Mar 27, 2004 0:38:02 GMT -5
Hey guy's, The 1000 grit aluma and the SISA are very different. At lease in tems of elements. The 1000 grit aluma is actually aluminum oxide. Not to be confused with aluminum oxide polish. The SISA is an Extra fine silica pre polish. I haven't tried going from 120/220 straight to 1000 aluma. I do a 500 SC step first. I suppose going straight to 1000 might work. Anyone wanna try? With the SISA, I go straight from 120/220 to SISA. As far as SISA goes, I've always gotten better results. I don't however, know the actual grit size... All I know is that is works. EVERY time! If you want to spend some extra time (for some extra shine) go with the 1000 grit. I love it and it works wonders on the final polish. But like I said. Do you really have enough patience to wait an extra 5 days or so? If you do you could proably cut the 500 SC down to 5 days as well. ...and then extra cost come into play...  |
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thewiz
has rocks in the head
"What good is money if you don't spend it"
Member since January 2004
Posts: 735
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Post by thewiz on Mar 27, 2004 1:00:38 GMT -5
hey james got any info on where to get the sisa
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Mar 27, 2004 1:26:40 GMT -5
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Post by sandsman1 on Mar 27, 2004 2:13:27 GMT -5
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. 
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