rewdownunder
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 357
|
Post by rewdownunder on Aug 26, 2021 12:42:07 GMT -5
That is great material!! Some of the best lapidary quality I have ever seen and I have over 100 samples of iron formation from all over the world. People get upset when I tell them that the primary use of that material is to smelt it for iron & steel to make cars out of. These day most of this material ends up in the blast furnaces of China. I have contacted an Australian Mineral Dealer and geologist who lives in South Africa to see if he can track down a location. Given the quality and thickness of the seams He does not think it will be hard to find. When I get the info I will give it to the member who posted this but not make it public. That will be up to him. When I can get photos to post I will post some of the other material I have.
|
|
|
|
Post by holajonathan on Aug 26, 2021 13:06:28 GMT -5
Definitely drool worthy 🤩🤩 Took about 15 minutes from preform to finished cab, 5 minutes of which was giving it a pretty intense final polish on the flat lap with AO polish on an almost dry rawhide pad. I set the speed high, applied moderate pressure, and got the stone pretty hot. The final polish sort of melted onto the surface. Same process I've used for other softer materials at the recommendation of RTH members. It's one of the easiest material to cab that takes a high shine. This stuff is fairly soft, maybe mohs 5-5.5 or so. Might not tumble well mixed with agates, but cabbing it is a dream. I did most the shaping with the 220 wheel, as the 80 grit seemed to be tearing into the fiber structure too much. If I use the 80 grit at all in the future it will be to grind only with the grain. |
|
|
|
Post by stephan on Aug 27, 2021 13:41:12 GMT -5
This is one material where you'd definitely want to wear respiratory protection: dry-polishing crocidolite (asbestos)
|
|
rewdownunder
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 357
|
Post by rewdownunder on Aug 27, 2021 14:28:16 GMT -5
You just need to read the story of Wittenoom in Western Australia another location where Blue Tigereye was mined. Now closed by the state because of asbestos contamination. If your working with this material invest in a respirator. Not a problem if your not cutting or grinding on it.
|
|
