woobly
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2019
Posts: 3
|
Post by woobly on May 1, 2019 15:02:41 GMT -5
Hi all,
What's the best way you've found to deal with voids, crevices, and vugs when they're features you want to keep in a stone? (I'm talking like druzy vugs, bubbles in Sieber 'agate'/copper slag, things like that.) I usually don't have a problem until I get to the polishing stage, and then it's hard to avoid getting stuff packed into the holes.
I've heard of using white glue or bar soap to temporarily fill the empty spots, but I'm afraid of contaminating the polish. (This is in the club's rock shop, so I share the equipment with a bunch of other people.) Also, I've heard of using an ultrasonic cleaner to clean out the holes after the fact, but don't want to shell out the cash if it's not going to solve the problem.
Any thoughts? Comments? Success stories?
Thanks!
|
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 1, 2019 15:31:16 GMT -5
What do you polish with? I had this problem polishing with tin and cerium oxide. I went all diamond for polishing.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 1, 2019 15:31:27 GMT -5
Hard soap should do. Rubber cement applied with a toothpick or tiny brush might work for you if you didn't want to use soap. Similar enough to the stuff used in abrasive blasting. You wouldn't need to completely fill any voids, just enough to block the polish from getting deep inside (and you'd want to rub off any that got onto the surface you want polished). Once done polishing, If any didn't lift out with a pin, you can dissolve using ordinary mineral spirits from the paint store.
|
|
agatemaggot
Cave Dweller 
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
|
Post by agatemaggot on May 1, 2019 15:51:18 GMT -5
Ultra Sonic is the premier cleaning method I have found, check E-Bay for used machines, they are dirt cheap. I bought one big enough to do the wife"s cat in for $18.00 including shipping, The lid came up missing the day after it arrived, think the wife took me serious when I made the cat remark . To save cleaning the unit each time, use straight water in unit and use cleaning solution in a butter tub sitting in the water. pulse goes thru walls of tub and makes for easy cleaning.
Butter tub--- the plastic container Margarine comes in from the store !
|
|
julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 721 
|
Post by julieooly on May 1, 2019 16:30:39 GMT -5
Ultra Sonic is the premier cleaning method I have found, check E-Bay for used machines, they are dirt cheap. I bought one big enough to do the wife"s cat in for $18.00 including shipping, The lid came up missing the day after it arrived, think the wife took me serious when I made the cat remark . To save cleaning the unit each time, use straight water in unit and use cleaning solution in a butter tube sitting in the water. pulse goes thru walls of tub and makes for easy cleaning. This sounds amazing. Except I have no idea what a butter tube is. |
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on May 1, 2019 19:00:24 GMT -5
Does anyone fill with CA glue and then soak in acetone?
|
|
|
|
Post by stephan on May 1, 2019 20:36:58 GMT -5
Does anyone fill with CA glue and then soak in acetone? That is my method |
|
|
|
Post by stephan on May 1, 2019 20:39:08 GMT -5
Ultra Sonic is the premier cleaning method I have found, check E-Bay for used machines, they are dirt cheap. I bought one big enough to do the wife"s cat in for $18.00 including shipping, The lid came up missing the day after it arrived, think the wife took me serious when I made the cat remark . To save cleaning the unit each time, use straight water in unit and use cleaning solution in a butter tube sitting in the water. pulse goes thru walls of tub and makes for easy cleaning. This sounds amazing. Except I have no idea what a butter tube is. Use care with ultrasonic. It can shatter many types of stone. I wouldn’t use it on anything brecciated, for instance. Opal should not go into US either. |
|
|
|
Post by greig on May 1, 2019 23:17:23 GMT -5
I don't have one, but have heard really good things about a Bab's Spot Cleaning Gun (fabric cleaner) for cleaning rock specimens. Apparently, you can get one online for about $50 USD.
|
|
|
|
Post by opalpyrexia on May 2, 2019 15:23:15 GMT -5
Use care with ultrasonic. It can shatter many types of stone. I wouldn’t use it on anything brecciated, for instance. Opal should not go into US either.
Every opal jewelry piece that I've made goes into my ultrasonic cleaner during and after polishing. I've never had one crack or craze from doing that. (I have had just a few opals that developed cracks or crazing on their own.) I've also never seen a first-person account of anyone cracking an opal in an ultrasonic, just lots of "don't do that" advice. I'm not saying that it can't happen, just that I believe the advice borders on being yet another opal myth (probably due to precious opal's value).
I think that if an opal were to crack in an ultrasonic, it would have cracked or crazed anyway or that there already was a tiny crack that a dose of ultrasonic cleaning helped to grow. Better to have that happen rather than in the hand of a customer/owner.
I do agree that opal/opal jewelry owners should be cautious and use other cleaning methods.
|
|
|
|
Post by hummingbirdstones on May 2, 2019 23:09:56 GMT -5
Before I got my ultrasonic, I would save my old toothbrush heads for my Sonicare and use them (on the Sonicare) to clean druzy vugs if I got an oxide in there during polishing. Used it with some Dawn and water. That worked quite well.
|
|
|
|
Post by stephan on May 3, 2019 0:39:53 GMT -5
Use care with ultrasonic. It can shatter many types of stone. I wouldn’t use it on anything brecciated, for instance. Opal should not go into US either.
Every opal jewelry piece that I've made goes into my ultrasonic cleaner during and after polishing. I've never had one crack or craze from doing that. (I have had just a few opals that developed cracks or crazing on their own.) I've also never seen a first-person account of anyone cracking an opal in an ultrasonic, just lots of "don't do that" advice. I'm not saying that it can't happen, just that I believe the advice borders on being yet another opal myth (probably due to precious opal's value).
I think that if an opal were to crack in an ultrasonic, it would have cracked or crazed anyway or that there already was a tiny crack that a dose of ultrasonic cleaning helped to grow. Better to have that happen rather than in the hand of a customer/owner.
I do agree that opal/opal jewelry owners should be cautious and use other cleaning methods.
I've seen it happen, and most jewelers won't put an opal in ultrasonic. I guess, at least partially, it depends on the power and frequency of the machine. |
|
agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
|
Post by agatemaggot on May 3, 2019 1:10:14 GMT -5
Can't understand how an ultrasonic can damage a rock, have my hands in mine all the time while using it and almost impossible to feel it running ? Crack a rock ?, would have to see it in person !
|
|
|
|
Post by hummingbirdstones on May 3, 2019 9:43:53 GMT -5
Can't understand how an ultrasonic can damage a rock, have my hands in mine all the time while using it and almost impossible to feel it running ? Crack a rock ?, would have to see it in person ! ACK! Please do not put your hands in the ultrasonic while it's running! You are going to wreck the cartilage in your joints. Please read this that I lifted from an old Orchid post on the subject:
OK boys and girls… Once more with feeling, YOU DO NOT PUT ANY
PART OF YOUR FINE BODY INTO AN ULTRASONIC CLEANER WHILE IT IS
RUNNING!!!AS you know ultrasonics clean by a process known as
cavitation. In order to do this effectivley the liquid must be
degassed. That is the removal of all disolved gasses in the liquid
be it a soapy water solution or the blood in your body parts. It
also attacks the fluid in the joints of your fingers or any other
joint you stick into the tank while it is running. Sorry about the
shouting but common sense should be the guide here.
Mike & Dale
Lone Star Technical Service, The ultrasonic repair guys
|
|
|
|
Post by opalpyrexia on May 3, 2019 9:53:06 GMT -5
Can't understand how an ultrasonic can damage a rock, have my hands in mine all the time while using it and almost impossible to feel it running ? Crack a rock ?, would have to see it in person !
That's why I believe that a stone being cracked in an ultrasonic is a very rare event, and that either it already had a tiny crack that the ultrasonic somehow caused to propagate, or the specific stone was somehow susceptible to a natural resonance induced the transducer frequency.
|
|
agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
|
Post by agatemaggot on May 3, 2019 11:43:16 GMT -5
I don't recommend putting your paws in an ultra sonic unit either, just saying I have on several occasions for VERY short periods of time. Using a Butter tub solved the problem and need. I noticed something strange while cleaning coins, after running a bunch of pennies I ran some Dimes and Quarters in the same solution. The silver came out with a very nice copper plate job in about 1 and 1/2 minutes, had to soak in toilet bowl cleaner to remove it as it was (REALLY) on there !
|
|
|
|
Post by bobby1 on May 3, 2019 13:56:29 GMT -5
The easiest way to get the polish residue out is definitely using an ultrasonic cleaner. I use a teaspoon of cheap dishwashing liquid for the cleaning agent. I routinely dip my opals in the ultrasonic unit but I don't leave them in the unit for extended periods of time. I've never cracked a stone by putting it in the ultrasonic unit. The upcoming issue of Rock and Gem magazine will have an article on using the ultrasonic unit. It will be on my monthly "Bench tips" page.
Bob
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 14:33:31 GMT -5
For agate and jasper with druzy, an ultrasonic is probably going to be safe enough, unless it has healed or unhealed cracks that could open up further. However, there definitely are stones out there that should not be cleaned that way. Some people get by without any incidents, but that doesn't mean that ultrasonic doesn't do damage (reminds me of some who "never" get corrosion from the acids leaching from plastic bags and foams - which eventually does invariably occur, as I can attest). Here's a good guide: GIA articleDepends on what you are cutting. And there are other methods to get the polish out (warm soapy water with a toothbrush, Waterpik flosser often works just fine). |
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on May 3, 2019 14:38:07 GMT -5
|
|
