8000 Polish

[RockyBeach]

I've gotten some 8000 polish from the Rock Shed. It's in the Vibe now. I used the standard 1/2TB and 2 TB Borax  that I have been using with pretty good results. I cannot imagine the rocks getting any shinier than they were when the 1200 finished with them. We shall see.

Question now is .... what to do with the 1200 ? Run an extra "pre-polish" session with it followed by a day or two with the Gold Standard 8000? 

[lapidary1234]

I typically go 60/90>220>500>1000>8000 (micro alumina). I would hold onto the 1200 for now, you can experiment with going from 500 straight to polish and it might work fine with some stuff, but I'm betting the 1200 stage will help with the overall finsh!finish!

Edit to add that its funny you say "maybe run the gold standard 8000 for a day or two". I've actually found that the final polish stage needs nowhere close to a week like the prior stages (assuming everything was prepped properly). I only ran final polish (8,000) in my rotary for 3 days and the stones came out popping!

[RockyBeach]

Nov 29, 2024 23:43:44 GMT -5 lapidary1234 said:

I typically go 60/90>220>500>1000>8000 (micro alumina). I would hold onto the 1200 for now, you can experiment with going from 500 straight to polish and it might work fine with some stuff, but I'm betting the 1200 stage will help with the overall finsh!finish!

Edit to add that its funny you say "maybe run the gold standard 8000 for a day or two". I've actually found that the final polish stage needs nowhere close to a week like the prior stages (assuming everything was prepped properly). I only ran final polish (8,000) in my rotary for 3 days and the stones came out popping!

I have a stockpile of somewhat larger stones that are too big for the vibe but they did fine in stage one in the  #3 Harbor Freight rotary. I am looking forward to giving a try to doing a rotary only run with a couple of the big guys and lots of smalls to keep them company. Good to know that the final polish may not add  another whole week to the project.

Am soooo spoiled timewise with the vibe.

[titaniumkid]

The 1200 should make a nice pre-polish. I recall watching a rotary tumbling video where the use of 1200 pre-polish produced more consistently shiny rocks that the person was previously only achieving by doubling or tripling the polish time.

[RockyBeach]

Nov 30, 2024 2:56:38 GMT -5 titaniumkid said:

The 1200 should make a nice pre-polish. I recall watching a rotary tumbling video where the use of 1200 pre-polish produced more consistently shiny rocks that the person was previously only achieving by doubling or tripling the polish time.

That's what I have been thinking. A couple of days with each grit in the vibe (with periodic checking to see how things are progressing and adjusting time accordingly.) 

Extra days in the rotary to catch up if needed would  provide new material for the next vibe run ... extra rotary time never seems to hurt !

[lapidary1234]

So I've done (and continue to do) experiments using different grit sequences. For example if I want a quick run ill just do 60/90>(move to vibe)220>500>1000 micro alumina. I've even experimented with skipping the 1000 stage completely.

Other times if I'm being real ocd ill do 60/90>(move to vibe)220>400>600>800>1000>micro alumina>submicron ao (rp#61).

My next test that I have high hopes for will be 60/90>220>400>800>micro alumina. The thing is, its still a 5 step process so won't be saving any time, just materials.

What I've found is that so long as everything is run long enough in each stage (whichever sequence is used) and properly cleaned in between, the results are equal. As in I wouldn't be able to tell you which sequence was used in a blind test.

I've honestly started just using whichever grit I have quantity of fir the application. I only have around 2 cups of 400 at the moment so I only use that in the vibe. If I'm running larger stones in a rotary I typically reach for the 500 (i have 10lbs of that).

The biggest "nothingburger" for me has been trying to use the submicron (rapid polish #61) as a final polish. The difference in final results between regular micro alumina (8,000-13,000 1-3 micron) and the rp61 (75,000 .25 micron) is truly discernable. And jumping from 1000 to rp61 often has trouble getting a glossy shine.

On the other hand, the rp61 works amazingly well on a flat lap for cabochons. It is also MUCH cheaper than the comparable lindeA.

The one thing that remains the same throughout everything is that if you rush or try and skip stages you won't get the results you're looking for!

Best of luck and happy tumbling

[titaniumkid]

Nov 30, 2024 14:27:38 GMT -5 lapidary1234 said:

So I've done (and continue to do) experiments using different grit sequences. For example if I want a quick run ill just do 60/90>(move to vibe)220>500>1000 micro alumina. I've even experimented with skipping the 1000 stage completely.

Other times if I'm being real ocd ill do 60/90>(move to vibe)220>400>600>800>1000>micro alumina>submicron ao (rp#61).

My next test that I have high hopes for will be 60/90>220>400>800>micro alumina. The thing is, its still a 5 step process so won't be saving any time, just materials.

What I've found is that so long as everything is run long enough in each stage (whichever sequence is used) and properly cleaned in between, the results are equal. As in I wouldn't be able to tell you which sequence was used in a blind test.

I've honestly started just using whichever grit I have quantity of fir the application. I only have around 2 cups of 400 at the moment so I only use that in the vibe. If I'm running larger stones in a rotary I typically reach for the 500 (i have 10lbs of that).

The biggest "nothingburger" for me has been trying to use the submicron (rapid polish #61) as a final polish. The difference in final results between regular micro alumina (8,000-13,000 1-3 micron) and the rp61 (75,000 .25 micron) is truly discernable. And jumping from 1000 to rp61 often has trouble getting a glossy shine.

On the other hand, the rp61 works amazingly well on a flat lap for cabochons. It is also MUCH cheaper than the comparable lindeA.

The one thing that remains the same throughout everything is that if you rush or try and skip stages you won't get the results you're looking for!

Best of luck and happy tumbling

This is really interesting. What type of rocks were you tumbling?

I was under the impression an extra pre-polish step can be helpful on some types of rocks that are a bit softer or more finicky.