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Post by Alice on Aug 15, 2005 9:21:40 GMT -5
I been working on this one since the end of February. Nearly 7 months in coarse and it's finally taken a decent shape. there's still a few chips to be smoothed out (needs more coarse), but man do I have high hopes for this one! I don't care that it's FULL of fractures, I still think it's a beauty. Pictures DO NOT do this piece justice. I wish I could capture the true color of it. You can't see it in the picture, but it is fairly translucent... but you can see a "shadow" of my finger through the rock.   |
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 15, 2005 9:35:13 GMT -5
Nice! Ithink I would move it on- those fractures are only gonna get worse- Maybe you want to stabilize it (soak it in crazy glue) before finishing it?
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Post by Alice on Aug 15, 2005 9:38:02 GMT -5
I'll probably move it on when the rocks it's tumbling with right now are ready.
then another 7 months of 120/220?
Guess I'll have to eye it.
really? you think I should use crazy glue?
Won't crazy glue turn white after a while?
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 15, 2005 9:48:35 GMT -5
It will fill the fractures and should stay clear- I think Doc gave that tip at one time- The surface stuff (glue) will just tumble away- How are you gonna polish that- Ruby is harder than most polishes (same hardness as AO)
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Post by Alice on Aug 15, 2005 10:58:41 GMT -5
I was going to polish it like any other rock. With Titanium Dioxide.
I know the rock is hard, and will take longer for it to go through all the stages.
Coarse was 7 months... 120/220- a couple months? ... 600 a couple months?... 1000 a couple more months?, etc... I just might give it a shot of 1200 after 1000.
Not sure if I'll use tripoli. I'll have to eye it.
Puppie, how did you polish you rubies and sapphires?
Did you soak them in crazy glue?
Doc, you out there? Should I soak it in crazy glue? when should I soak it? before 120/220, or just before polish?
All the rubies that have been in coarse for so long are pretty much translucent like the one in the picture. Sure wish my sapphires were translucent like the rubies.
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Post by Cher on Aug 15, 2005 11:03:51 GMT -5
Sure is pretty, patience has paid off in this case. Good luck with it.
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Post by xenaswolf on Aug 15, 2005 11:19:40 GMT -5
Its gonna be a beauty when its done, cuz it sure is pretty now! *gulp* make note to self, get LOTS of grit in all the different coarsenesses.....
How often did you recharge your barrels?
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Post by Alice on Aug 15, 2005 11:26:18 GMT -5
I recharge at least once a week... sometimes more often (depends on the rocks).
I don't have a barrel that's full of rubies, I just throw in a few in each barrel.
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Aug 15, 2005 14:14:07 GMT -5
Could you use Opticon to stabilize it? ( Just adding my little bit of knowledge..or lack thereof)
I don't think I could have enough patience to tumble anything like this...7 months! It looks very nice though. Kudos to you!
Steve
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Post by rockyraccoon on Aug 15, 2005 16:17:20 GMT -5
nice stone alice. if you put the crazy glue or opticon on it i'm interested in seeing what happens.
kim
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Aug 15, 2005 17:00:39 GMT -5
Seven months and counting!? That's nuts, but your extreme patience has been nicely rewarded. That's a gorgeous ruby.
I recall Doc mentioning the crazy glue treatment to stabilize stones, but I thought maybe he was using that for gems he facets? Has anyone ever tried it on something they put in a barrel and tumble for months?
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 15, 2005 17:42:10 GMT -5
i "painted" a soft rock that wouldn't shine with 330 epoxy and it looked real fake, so i threw it back into the tumbler and the epoxy tumbled off. the rock didn't have any cracks or fractures, so i couldn't tell you if it would work on that....
KD
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Post by Alice on Aug 15, 2005 17:46:29 GMT -5
I PM'd Doc earlier asking what I should do.
He said to use Epoxy, and gave me instructions on how to stabilize it.
Rolling stone, Yes this and a few other rubies and sapphires have been rolling for 7 months.
I don't have a barrel of JUST rubies and sapphires, they just get thrown in to other batches of rock.
The one pictured above right now is rolling with some Iraqi rocks (A mix of nobody-knows-ites), and I have 3 or 4 rolling with some Mex Lace, and 1 or 2 rolling with Ocean Jasper.
I don't think I'd have the patience to do an entire barrel of them.
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Post by Tweetiepy on Aug 15, 2005 17:54:16 GMT -5
Alice, I'm bringing your iraqi rocks to my club president in the hopes that she can help ID them, if not she can just look at them. BTW as for pet wood in Montreal - she said, someone probably dropped it there, she doesn,t think it's local
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Post by Alice on Aug 15, 2005 18:21:14 GMT -5
Thanks Tweetie I appreciate it.
If she is able to ID them, could you post a picture with the names? I honestly don't remember what I sent you.
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Post by cookie3rocks on Aug 15, 2005 20:01:09 GMT -5
Alice, for rocks that hard you need Linde A or another "Diamond" polish. It has to be harder than the stone or it won't do anything. I have a batch of rubies, sapphires and general corundom that I got all the way to polish, but didn't have the right polish. I'm going to back them up in Big Red (the 15# tumbler, I originally ran them in the vibe for three months in coarse) and have another go at them. Some have nice potential, but none so clear and red as yours!
cookie
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Post by Alice on Aug 15, 2005 20:16:49 GMT -5
I just PM'ed puppie asking what sort of polish she used on her rubies and sapphires.
I remember she managed to to get a few to take a polish.
Linde A?
I've heard that name before but.... what exactly is in Linde A?
Stefan was just saying that rubies are as hard as AO... Isn't titanium Dioxide harder then AO?
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Aug 15, 2005 21:21:10 GMT -5
I did some searching....Linde A is super-pure, super-fine aluminum oxide. It's particle size is listed as 0.3 micron. I'm not certain what regular aluminum oxide is, but I think it is 0.5-1 micron. As for polish hardness, titanium dioxide actually appears to be rather soft. Your best choice for polish looks like aluminum oxide, unless you are rich and can afford diamond polish. Since aluminum oxide is the same hardness as ruby, it will polish the ruby, it's just going to take awhile. But after 7 months, you already know that  Anyway, here's a link to the Moh's hardness of various polishes: www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/mohs_hardness_abrasive_grit.html |
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Post by Alice on Aug 15, 2005 21:30:00 GMT -5
Thanks Rollingstone
I have some AO polish that I'm keeping for loads that won't take the titaium (which hasn't happened yet). Maybe I'll try it when the rubies and sapphires are ready for polish, instead of the Titanium. If it doesn't work, then I'll try to get some linde A.
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Post by puppie96 on Aug 17, 2005 1:29:52 GMT -5
Alice, I don't have any secrets to tell you. I've had some of these stones decide to shine up and if they did so, it happened in the grinds not in the polish particularly. They just don't polish unless they decide to. I tried a 4 month diamond grind advised by a vendor at a rock show. She had a fridge container of polished little Montana sapphires. They were pastel colors and small. She gave me her recipe. I tried it on my stuff and it didn't work. Now I have been to Montana and got some sapphires and also won some on ebay. They look a lot like hers and are different from the stuff you and I have had up to now, being smaller, pastel, transparent/translucent or at least not muddy looking. Even though they are raw they are already pretty shiny.
When doing online searches I've found a couple vendors selling polished rubies that look like ours. When shined they often go sort of iridescent and have a hint of star to them. At least one site said they were hand polished -- in some place like India or Pakistan where they produce such labor intensive stuff.
Sorry I can't be more helpful.
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Anyway, here's a link to the Moh's hardness of various polishes:
