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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 21, 2015 0:12:48 GMT -5
For de-oiling I use kitty litter then auto parts degreaser like Castrol Royal Purple.
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Post by captbob on Feb 21, 2015 0:53:22 GMT -5
The white is probably from the lime on the coral. Notice the pile of white snot by the blade. Where are you located jcinpc? Never mind, just saw Plant City on your Profile. Howdy neighbor! That's some kick-butt coral by the way!
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Post by phil on Feb 21, 2015 13:04:04 GMT -5
Thanks again for the pointers folks I guess I wasn't cleaning good after the slab cut I increased the dawn to water mix and washed a bit longer that took care of it . Now I have a mess I made of a parcel of opals I got just over a year and a half ago from Africa welo a good friend told me to put them in oil so I did they sat in the oil for just about a month I was talking to another Friend and mentioned that I had them in oil he just about flipped telling me that's a bad thing so now I have been rinsing them in dawn to extract the oil Will this be good eanuph ? Have I just lost the value of the stones ? Is there a better way of removing the oil ? I know I some times should double check my info before acting on it . Same way. First put them in some oil-dri (from walmart auto section) or kitty litter for awhile, then soak them in dawn water.
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Jasper-hound
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2010
Posts: 208
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Post by Jasper-hound on Mar 5, 2015 23:37:31 GMT -5
Kitty litter (just don't breathe the dust). Then wipe with rubbing alcohol prior to marking with sharpie for cabs.
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Post by jakesrocks on Mar 5, 2015 23:45:28 GMT -5
I bought a 40 lb bag of oil dry at Tractor Supply, on sale. When I cut, I cut for a week straight before thinking about cabbing. A week in oil dry followed by a scrubbing in Dawn gets them clean.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2015 6:45:48 GMT -5
I scrub mine wirh a brush after a good soaking in some dawn.then slip them into he dishwasher after the wifey goes to bed.just make sure to run an empty load when done.wife has never been none the wiser.and the slabs come out exceptionally clean
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The Dad_Ohs
fully equipped rock polisher
Take me to your Labradorite!!
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,860
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Mar 6, 2015 9:15:06 GMT -5
I used to use a biodegradable (citrus based) degreaser, and after wiping off the excess oil (mineral oil from tractor supply) put them in a bucket of degreaser & water to soak for the day... or 2 depending on how much cutting I was doing.
When the time came to rinse I would pull them out 1 at a time and use a scrub brush and garden hose to remove any oil residue left on them, The degreaser in the bucket is still good for cleaning with the brush, and set them out in the sun to dry.
I was given 20 pounds of kitty litter by a friend so I use that exclusively now and let them sit until the box is full of slabs then pull them out and dust them off. Then into baggies they go, dollar store ziplock style bags that I can write on so I know what each bag of slabs is.
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hope
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2008
Posts: 477
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Post by hope on Mar 6, 2015 21:10:28 GMT -5
I have always used an oil absorbent like you get from an auto parts store. Mechanics use it to soak up oil they get on their garage floors. This is probably similar to kitty litter but probably is less expensive. I have only purchased two 40 pound bags in several years. Then I just rinse the slabs off under the garden faucet with plan water. Works for me.
Hope
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Post by stephan on Mar 12, 2015 11:22:47 GMT -5
Kitty litter, then water and dish detergent. If needed, I'll use rubbing alcohol. I'm hesitant to bake my slabs. They temps cited don't seem high enough to crack the rocks, but I've seen the residual oil darken the stone as it sets (mineral oil is not particularly volatile).
All I'm after, at this point is to get them degreased enough to mark the cab shape. When the cab is completely polished, I soak in acetone. This also gets rid of any Sharpie that has gone deep into a porous stone, and any acrylate glue used to hold the stone on the nail. Note: I don't do this step if I have had to seal or stabilize the stone in any way.
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