micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Sept 14, 2015 17:32:45 GMT -5
These are cab #3 and 4 I made on the newly refurbished diamond resin wheels I bought, and I'm not happy with the fine bumpiness of the surface. I can't figure out where I need to spend more time polishing. Does anyone have tips on how to diagnose the problem and/or refine my technique? I spent about 45-60 min on each stone, and wiped off the water several times to check for scratches at each stage ~ 5 minutes to preform on 80 hard ~ 10-15 minutes to shape on 220 hard ~ 10 minutes fine shaping on 280 soft ~ 10 minutes buffing scratches on 600 soft ~ 5-10 minutes on 1200 soft ~ 5 minutes on 3000 soft Thanks!
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 14, 2015 21:23:42 GMT -5
I'm not sure what causes it, but I have seen this a lot on new wheels. Your overall polishes look great, though. It's almost like an uneven surface at 280 got polished over. Not saying that happened, that's just what it seems like.
I would swear the second is a jade. It looks like what a jade can look like at 50k. Is it a moss agate? Have you experienced "orange peel", yet? This is almost orange peel.
edit- I should add that some stones- like jade- can and sometimes will polish with orange peel. I think yours are both agates, however, and shouldn't polish with orange peel.
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Sept 15, 2015 0:11:47 GMT -5
I'm not sure what causes it, but I have seen this a lot on new wheels. Your overall polishes look great, though. It's almost like an uneven surface at 280 got polished over. Not saying that happened, that's just what it seems like. I would swear the second is a jade. It looks like what a jade can look like at 50k. Is it a moss agate? Have you experienced "orange peel", yet? This is almost orange peel. edit- I should add that some stones- like jade- can and sometimes will polish with orange peel. I think yours are both agates, however, and shouldn't polish with orange peel. Thanks for your advice! Yeah, I just went to the club shop tonight and their soft wheels have a lot more "give." I took a look at the wear pattern and it's pretty patchy on the 600+, so what you suggested seems spot on. I just might have to re-finish my stones on the club wheels until mine are fully broken in. The second is a moss agate. I did notice some pitting ( = "orange peel"?) where the tendrils hit the surface. It seems to happen in some plumy agate as well.
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 15, 2015 7:35:58 GMT -5
Thanks for your advice! Yeah, I just went to the club shop tonight and their soft wheels have a lot more "give." I took a look at the wear pattern and it's pretty patchy on the 600+, so what you suggested seems spot on. I just might have to re-finish my stones on the club wheels until mine are fully broken in. The second is a moss agate. I did notice some pitting ( = "orange peel"?) where the tendrils hit the surface. It seems to happen in some plumy agate as well. Orange peel is an all over effect that resembles... orange peel. What you are seeing is just the difference in the hardness of the material which is breaking the surface. If the "moss" were also agate like the host rock is, you likely wouldn't be able to see where it breaks the surface. You have to be careful because sometimes some material which is softer than the host will "undercut". It will "dig out" of the host faster than the host will cut. Then you are left with low, uneven, dull spots. Hope that made sense. If you get a rock where some of the material is much softer, don't use as much pressure on the wheels. That helps. Try easing up on your wheels a bit till they are broken in. Maybe that will help.
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Roger
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2013
Posts: 1,487
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Post by Roger on Sept 15, 2015 8:01:04 GMT -5
Like rockjunquie said, I found that I would get results like that from pushing the stones too hard into the wheels. The large grit wheels would make little gouges the smaller grit wheels couldn't get out. There is also the possibility the refurbished wheels you purchased have some cross contamination of diamond grit, or if you use a "bubbler" to up-spray your wheels, that you are accidently cross contaminating as you work the stones. You might try changing the water between stages to see if that will help. I have also noticed that refurbished wheels can take longer to break in than newly manufactured wheels. A lot of times they have some areas with clumps of diamond that make small high spots on the wheel. They can take a while to wear in correctly, which can be a real pain to find and work out. I think the cabs look good If you have a buffer wheel, cerium oxide might smooth out the stones the rest of the way and give you a mirror polish.
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Post by mohs on Sept 15, 2015 9:51:14 GMT -5
I see some waviness in that moss but it looks really good with such a shallow dome hope you diagnose the perceived problem & keep us informed
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Post by gingerkid on Sept 15, 2015 10:12:30 GMT -5
Can the wheels be broken in with a piece of agate rough (evenly across the surface of the wheels?)?
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Post by roy on Sept 15, 2015 11:03:03 GMT -5
you need to go back and regrind like to 100 grit get the surface smoothed out then re polish
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Sept 15, 2015 20:55:55 GMT -5
Thanks for everyone's advice. I think the problem came from a combination of pressing too hard on the hard wheels, not having fully-broken in soft wheels, and possibly using recycled water from the geyser. I took these two to the club shop last night, and re-worked them starting from 600 and through 14k. The moss still has faint unevenness, but the other agate polished up well. Until I have time to fix up my machine, I might just have to finish stones at the shop.
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Post by mohs on Sept 15, 2015 23:09:35 GMT -5
this like your 5th cab? your learning curve as come full circle smooth stone !
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Sept 16, 2015 0:10:36 GMT -5
Haha, no, this is like my 10th. Fifth cab on the new wheels.
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meviva
Cave Dweller
Member since July 2013
Posts: 1,474
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Post by meviva on Sept 16, 2015 1:03:14 GMT -5
Can the wheels be broken in with a piece of agate rough (evenly across the surface of the wheels?)? That is what my cabochon teacher told me to do with mine. He gave me a slab of Brazilian Agate and told me to spend a few minutes on each wheel going back and forth evenly making sure to go edge to edge. Andrea
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timloco
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2012
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Post by timloco on Sept 18, 2015 15:12:01 GMT -5
Huh that "orange peel" explains what I've been seeing on my moss agate. gotta love this board, I've learned so much. These cabs are great BTW!
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marinedad
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2010
Posts: 813
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Post by marinedad on Sept 21, 2015 7:44:05 GMT -5
I have the same graduation of wheels and found out I needed to take the cabs to a 400 grit wheel before the 600. I guess 280 then going to 600 is too much of a jump for me.
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