Enigman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 163
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Post by Enigman on Oct 25, 2016 19:54:11 GMT -5
Have you ever ended up with aluminum oxide polish dried into cracks or holes or druzy vugs in stones and seemingly nothing would get it out? Well here is a method that just worked for me.
First a little background. I use rotary tumblers for all but the final polishing. The polishing stage is done in three Diamond Pacific MT4 vibratory machines. One downside of the squared off hopper of an MT4 (stones rotate in a cylindrical group) is that if the stones align just right they can jam in the top of the hopper and stop rotating. If that happens firmly enough and long enough then the top of the stone group dries out and then there is no hope of the group restarting the rotation on their own. By the time it is discovered, polish can permanently dry in the cracks and holes. There are other scenarios where polish can dry in cracks, but I won't go into that further.
So here's a fix.
Find a suitable glass or plastic container that will hold all the stones, preferrably with a closing lid. Fill the container to just over the top of the stones with full strength CLR cleaner for Calcium, Lime and Rust. Let it sit undisturbed for a few days. The aluminum oxide will not dissolve or be directly attacked by the liquid like CLR does with calcium and lime deposits. BUT after a few days you can take out the stones and rinse them off and then a toothbrush and a small amount of brushing takes the aluminum oxide right out of the stone cracks. It even comes right out of deep druzy vugs. And it has no etching effect on the polish of the stone.
It works great.
Questions? Fire away.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 27, 2016 20:37:30 GMT -5
Interesting..I've had issues with the dried AO in cracks..I'll keep your method in mind.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2016 20:38:03 GMT -5
Ultrasonic cleaner works too
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,175
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Post by jamesp on Oct 27, 2016 20:44:30 GMT -5
Cool beans. That and Borax is a chore to remove. Like @shotgunner says, ultrasonic or pressure washer works OK.
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