christianswest
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2023
Posts: 54
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Post by christianswest on Sept 10, 2023 10:58:50 GMT -5
I love the look of Prairie agates and have a few that I have collected at Pawnee National Grassland. I stare at them and don’t know what I want to do with them. I need some feedback on to leave them as is and how to polish them through using a wet grinder and grit pads, just putting a light coat of mineral oil on them and leaving them as specimens, tumbling them using a rotary tumbler for stage 1 and a vibe after that or use a vibe through all 4 stages. Any thoughts?
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chris1956
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2022
Posts: 1,382
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Post by chris1956 on Sept 10, 2023 12:27:10 GMT -5
I received some Prairie agates from jasoninsd early this year. I took the smaller ones and put them in a rotoary tumbler. Some are still in the rotary tumbler on stage 1 months later. A few are finished, which if I can get Apple and Microsoft to be able to talk together, I will post some photos. Another small group is now in the vib on 500 grit and should be done shortly. They take a long time in the tumbler. Jason's recommendation was to cut out or grind the bad parts first. I think that would be wise. I don't know if it would work on Prairie agates like it does on Petoskey Stones (which are more porous and soft) but if you want to try to make the mineral oil look more permanent, try submerging the rocks in oil in a sausepan and bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees.
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christianswest
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2023
Posts: 54
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Post by christianswest on Sept 10, 2023 13:41:56 GMT -5
I received some Prairie agates from jasoninsd early this year. I took the smaller ones and put them in a rotoary tumbler. Some are still in the rotary tumbler on stage 1 months later. A few are finished, which if I can get Apple and Microsoft to be able to talk together, I will post some photos. Another small group is now in the vib on 500 grit and should be done shortly. They take a long time in the tumbler. Jason's recommendation was to cut out or grind the bad parts first. I think that would be wise. I don't know if it would work on Prairie agates like it does on Petoskey Stones (which are more porous and soft) but if you want to try to make the mineral oil look more permanent, try submerging the rocks in oil in a sausepan and bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees. Thank Chris1956. I’ve never heard of baking rocks to make mineral oil more permanent. So you submerge the rock in mineral oil- how long? Then you remove it from the oil- do you wipe off excess oil? And then bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees. I might not do it with the prairie agate because they don’t seem very porous (as you suggested and I had not thought of) but I have some peach colored selenite that I collected and the only way I can get a shine on it is with mineral oil since it is so brittle to work with. I think I’ll give that a try with baking and mineral oil that you suggested.
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chris1956
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2022
Posts: 1,382
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Post by chris1956 on Sept 10, 2023 13:58:25 GMT -5
I received some Prairie agates from jasoninsd early this year. I took the smaller ones and put them in a rotoary tumbler. Some are still in the rotary tumbler on stage 1 months later. A few are finished, which if I can get Apple and Microsoft to be able to talk together, I will post some photos. Another small group is now in the vib on 500 grit and should be done shortly. They take a long time in the tumbler. Jason's recommendation was to cut out or grind the bad parts first. I think that would be wise. I don't know if it would work on Prairie agates like it does on Petoskey Stones (which are more porous and soft) but if you want to try to make the mineral oil look more permanent, try submerging the rocks in oil in a sausepan and bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees. Thank Chris1956. I’ve never heard of baking rocks to make mineral oil more permanent. So you submerge the rock in mineral oil- how long? Then you remove it from the oil- do you wipe off excess oil? And then bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees. I might not do it with the prairie agate because they don’t seem very porous (as you suggested and I had not thought of) but I have some peach colored selenite that I collected and the only way I can get a shine on it is with mineral oil since it is so brittle to work with. I think I’ll give that a try with baking and mineral oil that you suggested. Submerge it in the oil in a sauce pan and put the sauce pan in the oven and bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees. No presoak if that is what you were asking. After baking and cool down, I drain off oil from the rock and usually wipe off with paper towels. And then set the rocks on paper towels for a few days and rub periodically. With something hard you might be able to just wipe it a few times and be good. I have also seen people on the forum saying they take slabs from the saw (with oil on them) and stick them in kitty litter to soak up the oil. That might work also.
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Post by jasoninsd on Sept 10, 2023 21:29:06 GMT -5
I've tumbled a bunch of Prairie Agates in the rotary for stage one...then the vibe for subsequent stages. They polish up like no one's business! I would totally recommend hacking off the bad spots with a trim saw if you have one...or grind them off if you can. It makes stage one go WAY quicker!
As far as the mineral oil bath...it can be done...
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wargrafix
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2023
Posts: 675
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Post by wargrafix on Sept 11, 2023 19:00:06 GMT -5
Been watching more videos about agates. especially prarie agates. Stunning stuff. I know, I know, I am driving my self crazy
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Post by velodromed on Sept 27, 2023 20:49:43 GMT -5
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