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Post by holajonathan on Jul 30, 2021 22:05:14 GMT -5
This stuff is sort of pretty, but best I can tell it contains neither strawberries nor onyx. (Almost nothing sold as "onyx" is onyx, a mohs 7 rock that takes a splendid polish.) Worse yet, I cannot get it past a matte shine in a tumbler or using wheels. I figured the cabbers are experts on whether a rock will take a good shine and how to do so. Anyone have any advice on how to coax a shine out of this fruity rock? Got photos to prove it?   I tried to polish this test piece using wheels (up through 14,000 on the Genie) and then on rawhide with 0.3 micron AO polish. It did not shine. I put it in the Lot-O tumbler with a bunch of ceramics, a few other rocks, and 0.3 micron AO polish. After two days, the surface has sort of a shiny crystalline appearance, kind of like some feldspar. But it is about as shiny as an agate after the 1200 grit wheel on the Genie. Is that as tasty as it gets for this desert berry? What is this stuff anyways, dolomite? |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 30, 2021 22:27:26 GMT -5
We all know I'm not an expert...but this came from Paul ( fencejumper) when I asked him about Noreena. He said to go dry on the 1200 and 5000 grits. He said it works on Cherry Creek and Rhyolite... |
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fencejumper
Cave Dweller 
Member since May 2021
Posts: 441
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Post by fencejumper on Jul 31, 2021 9:48:28 GMT -5
We all know I'm not an expert...but this came from Paul ( fencejumper) when I asked him about Noreena. He said to go dry on the 1200 and 5000 grits. He said it works on Cherry Creek and Rhyolite... I would try shellac |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,497
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 31, 2021 12:27:55 GMT -5
Yeah, that's actually a travertine which is calcite hardness. It should polish well on tacky leather with optical grade cerium. Just enough pressure to drag against the pad but be careful of holding it too long as too much heat from friction will often fracture travertine.
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AzRockGeek
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2016
Posts: 703
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Post by AzRockGeek on Jul 31, 2021 15:19:54 GMT -5
I always polish my 'Onyx' with a dry buffing wheel and some Zamm, works great for softer rocks. Just use in a well ventilated area, I hear it can be bad for your lungs.
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Post by rmf on Jul 31, 2021 20:45:08 GMT -5
"onyx" as in not real onyx but the trade name onyx as in Mexican Onyx, Petoskey stone, Travertine, Onyx from Pakistan, and dolomites all have CaCo3 or CaMg(CO3)2 as the main component. Other impurities will affect the polish. for hand polishing cerium or tin oxides with a bit of Oxalic acid helps polish.
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Post by stephan on Aug 1, 2021 17:45:09 GMT -5
The whole “onyx” thing is a pet peeve of mine. I get pretty decent results using worn wheel, letting it get hot, but not as hot as obsidian or jade, using either super cerium or 100k diamond. I haven’t worked with strawberry varsity, but it works well enough on silver lace and rainbow varieties. Also, been successful with the “cousins” already mentioned as well as rhodochrosite, marble and abalone shell. I haven’t tried the oxalic acid trick.
Typos edited. I hate typing on touch screens. The screen and I often have vastly different opinions of where my finger landed.
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 2, 2021 2:59:11 GMT -5
Yeah, that's actually a travertine which is calcite hardness. It should polish well on tacky leather with optical grade cerium. Just enough pressure to drag against the pad but be careful of holding it too long as too much heat from friction will often fracture travertine. I always polish my 'Onyx' with a dry buffing wheel and some Zamm, works great for softer rocks. Just use in a well ventilated area, I hear it can be bad for your lungs. "onyx" as in not real onyx but the trade name onyx as in Mexican Onyx, Petoskey stone, Travertine, Onyx from Pakistan, and dolomites all have CaCo3 or CaMg(CO3)2 as the main component. Other impurities will affect the polish. for hand polishing cerium or tin oxides with a bit of Oxalic acid helps polish. The whole “onyx” thing is a pet peeve of mine. I get pretty decent results using worn wheel, letting it get hot, but not as hot as obsidian or jade, using either super cerium or 100k diamond. I haven’t worked witsrawbberry varsity, but it works well enough on silver lace and rainbow varieties. Also, been successful with the “cousins” already mentioned as well as rhodochrosite, marble and abalone shell. I haven’t tried the oxalic acid trick. Thanks for your help. I will try these recommendations and if I get a good shine, I will follow up here. I certainly would be happy if the terms onyx, jasper, and agate had some minimum definition that involved having enough silica to take a good shine. In other words, it is a hard rock that will polish, or not? To most rock sellers onyx is anything with a certain type of parallel bands, jasper is any rock they want to sell you that is not "agate", and agate means... who knows what. I don't expect a chemical analysis of every rock I buy, but I have been fooled more than once buying "jasper" that turned out to be mohs 4 hardened mud, "jasper" that was rhyolite, "agate" that was ... something that isn't agate. |
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Post by stephan on Aug 2, 2021 10:35:50 GMT -5
The whole “onyx” thing is a pet peeve of mine. I get pretty decent results using worn wheel, letting it get hot, but not as hot as obsidian or jade, using either super cerium or 100k diamond. I haven’t worked with strawberry variety, but it works well enough on silver lace and rainbow varieties. Also, been successful with the “cousins” already mentioned as well as rhodochrosite, marble and abalone shell. I haven’t tried the oxalic acid trick. Thanks for your help. I will try these recommendations and if I get a good shine, I will follow up here. I certainly would be happy if the terms onyx, jasper, and agate had some minimum definition that involved having enough silica to take a good shine. In other words, it is a hard rock that will polish, or not? To most rock sellers onyx is anything with a certain type of parallel bands, jasper is any rock they want to sell you that is not "agate", and agate means... who knows what. I don't expect a chemical analysis of every rock I buy, but I have been fooled more than once buying "jasper" that turned out to be mohs 4 hardened mud, "jasper" that was rhyolite, "agate" that was ... something that isn't agate. Or if any silica, for that matter for it to be "onyx." "Jasper" naming is a real cluster.... And, let's not even get started on "jade." ETA: Some original posts removed to keep the message brief. Weird that I can remove the poster's name, along with the message on my iPad, but not my PC. |
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 2, 2021 15:43:44 GMT -5
Thanks for your help. I will try these recommendations and if I get a good shine, I will follow up here. I certainly would be happy if the terms onyx, jasper, and agate had some minimum definition that involved having enough silica to take a good shine. In other words, it is a hard rock that will polish, or not? To most rock sellers onyx is anything with a certain type of parallel bands, jasper is any rock they want to sell you that is not "agate", and agate means... who knows what. I don't expect a chemical analysis of every rock I buy, but I have been fooled more than once buying "jasper" that turned out to be mohs 4 hardened mud, "jasper" that was rhyolite, "agate" that was ... something that isn't agate. Or if any silica, for that matter for it to be "onyx." "Jasper" naming is a real cluster.... And, let's not even get started on "jade." ETA: Some original posts removed to keep the message brief. Weird that I can remove the poster's name, along with the message on my iPad, but not my PC. Are you saying that jadeite slag glass isn't real jade? |
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Post by stephan on Aug 2, 2021 16:03:25 GMT -5
Or if any silica, for that matter for it to be "onyx." "Jasper" naming is a real cluster.... And, let's not even get started on "jade." ETA: Some original posts removed to keep the message brief. Weird that I can remove the poster's name, along with the message on my iPad, but not my PC. Are you saying that jadeite slag glass isn't real jade?     |
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