jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,179
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Post by jamesp on Sept 30, 2020 9:15:23 GMT -5
Veterinarian grade kaolin worked very quickly to get a polish using SiC 500 - AO 220 - AO 14,000 in the vibe. Fastest vibe slurry I ever tried. This is a cheaper product at $20/50 pounds. Silica particles the only concern. Will give it a try and report findings. As purchased dry partially hydrated(see chunks) and extremely slick thin layer and totally hydrated left to dry lightly crushed brand and supplier. May be available at most potter's supply houses
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Post by pauls on Sept 30, 2020 16:42:32 GMT -5
I played around with Kaolin a while back, James and I were discussing its use in an earlier thread so I tried a batch of rocks just out of 220 SiC with just Kaolin. The clay was as it came out of the clay pit, not graded or cleaned up in any way, it had obvious gritty Quartz fragments in it but after a week the rocks were taking on a good prepolish and went on to polish successfully. I wouldn't use the raw clay in polish as I think those gritty bits would cause trouble but in prepolish I think the Quartz gets rounded and polished along with everything else.
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gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Sept 30, 2020 20:20:35 GMT -5
How does this compare to clumping clay based kitty litter?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,179
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Post by jamesp on Oct 1, 2020 5:44:11 GMT -5
I played around with Kaolin a while back, James and I were discussing its use in an earlier thread so I tried a batch of rocks just out of 220 SiC with just Kaolin. The clay was as it came out of the clay pit, not graded or cleaned up in any way, it had obvious gritty Quartz fragments in it but after a week the rocks were taking on a good prepolish and went on to polish successfully. I wouldn't use the raw clay in polish as I think those gritty bits would cause trouble but in prepolish I think the Quartz gets rounded and polished along with everything else. The quartz particles are the problem pauls. I overcame the quartz issue when my wife bought some veterinarian grade kaolin for treating diarrhea. It was highly processed and free of sand and at $11/gallon a bit pricy especially after shipping. It performed great. fast Next step was to find some cheaper form of processed kaolin such as that used in bulk for paint thickener, ink additives or pottery apps. The standard for cheap processed bagged/bulk kaolin is to be run thru a 200 mesh for silica removal. I have a funny test for determining the difference between AO 220/AO 500/AO 1000. Mine are all white and I get them confused occasionally. By putting a dab in your mouth(yes)and lightly grinding your teeth together gently it is quite easy to tell them apart. 220 feels like sand. 500 feels like powdered toothpaste. 1000 feels like tube toothpaste. 14,000 has no gritty feel at all. So I ordered potter's kaolin mined in Florida that is known for low silica content. It seems to have 1000 or smaller grit particles according to test above. Likely to be diatomaceous silica which is softer than crystalline quartz and extremely porous and fragile. I will run a polish with it and see what happens.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,179
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Post by jamesp on Oct 1, 2020 6:31:28 GMT -5
How does this compare to clumping clay based kitty litter? At 1:05 he mentioned 'clumping cat litter' as being(clumping) clay gatorflash1. Kitty litter is mined from Florida to California so it is difficult to know what type of clay they might be. Bentonite/kaolin/gumbo are 3 common types used in litter. Kaolin is the one used heavily in the abrasive industry as a slurry. I am guessing this is what he is referring to as clumping:
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gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Oct 1, 2020 6:40:46 GMT -5
Thanks. I'm not a clay expert. Does Kitty Litter make a good slurry?
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Post by pauls on Oct 1, 2020 16:21:17 GMT -5
"Kitty litter is mined from Florida to California so it is difficult to know what type of clay they might be. Bentonite/kaolin/gumbo are 3 common types used in litter."
gatorflash if your kitty litter is Bentonite it will feel really slimey between your fingers when you wet a bit, for a slurry start with a tiny amount it swells and gets really sticky when it gets wet, too much will make a horrible clod of rocks and clay.
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