Post by yaygems on Apr 30, 2010 17:22:23 GMT -5
On April 25th I pulled the tumbles out of the barrel and rinsed them to determine if I'd be putting them forward to the polish stage or tumbling them for another week in #1000 grit.
One specimen in particular caught my attention. I thought I'd show it off here while we wait for the results of what is coming up next for them.
The surface of the rock is smooth, soft, and for example, if I ran a dry cotton ball across it, material wouldn't be getting caught in the nooks and crannies you see because they are not on the rock surface.
When I turn the rock to the light in a certain direction, there are lines of shimmers that are perfectly straight. Kind of like a UPC bar code. The camera didn't pick up the rainbow shimmers and I just wish it did!
I have not seen chatoyancy displayed in a specimen as lateral bars until this. I find it quite fascinating, and have since found other photos of Labradorite specimens on the internet showing this same attribute. I am calling it chatoyant with uncertainty. If it is not correct, does anyone know what the formal name of this optical effect is called?
Interestingly, as the light strikes this stone to show the shimmery lines, they go straight across without bending or warping, and hopefully that will give a better idea of how the look of the cracks on the rocks are not really on the surface, or perhaps it will mess you up even more to try and fathom how in the first photograph it looks like the surface has blemishes and I'm telling you they aren't "real". LOL.
On the flip side of this same rock, the flash is visible with bright blues and yellow green on the edges.
After inspecting the lot of the stones that day, they appeared to be on the edge of going to polish or deciding if they were going to go another week in the #1000 grit. I opted to put them through a 48 hour burnish and then started them in a polish of Aluminum Oxide knowing if it didn't work out, I'd just go a step back.
I checked on them yesterday after polishing for about 4 or 5 days and I have very good news *drum roll*
I am getting a glassy polish on them already. I pulled two random pieces from the barrel to rinse, dry and inspect, and I was bursting with joy to see them glossed up while dry.
It will be approximately May 6th that I will open the barrel again to check the polish and then run another burnish on them if they turn out.
So far for this batch, I skipped 60/90 grit and went straight to 220. They went every stage with plastic pellets and especially in the last couple of phases, extra-extra pellets to keep them well cushioned and to prevent cracking. I also did a 24 hour burnish between grit stages and a 48 hour burnish before switching from grit to polish.
I hope to have results photos up for you in about 1 week!
One specimen in particular caught my attention. I thought I'd show it off here while we wait for the results of what is coming up next for them.
The surface of the rock is smooth, soft, and for example, if I ran a dry cotton ball across it, material wouldn't be getting caught in the nooks and crannies you see because they are not on the rock surface.
When I turn the rock to the light in a certain direction, there are lines of shimmers that are perfectly straight. Kind of like a UPC bar code. The camera didn't pick up the rainbow shimmers and I just wish it did!
I have not seen chatoyancy displayed in a specimen as lateral bars until this. I find it quite fascinating, and have since found other photos of Labradorite specimens on the internet showing this same attribute. I am calling it chatoyant with uncertainty. If it is not correct, does anyone know what the formal name of this optical effect is called?
Interestingly, as the light strikes this stone to show the shimmery lines, they go straight across without bending or warping, and hopefully that will give a better idea of how the look of the cracks on the rocks are not really on the surface, or perhaps it will mess you up even more to try and fathom how in the first photograph it looks like the surface has blemishes and I'm telling you they aren't "real". LOL.
On the flip side of this same rock, the flash is visible with bright blues and yellow green on the edges.
After inspecting the lot of the stones that day, they appeared to be on the edge of going to polish or deciding if they were going to go another week in the #1000 grit. I opted to put them through a 48 hour burnish and then started them in a polish of Aluminum Oxide knowing if it didn't work out, I'd just go a step back.
I checked on them yesterday after polishing for about 4 or 5 days and I have very good news *drum roll*
I am getting a glassy polish on them already. I pulled two random pieces from the barrel to rinse, dry and inspect, and I was bursting with joy to see them glossed up while dry.
It will be approximately May 6th that I will open the barrel again to check the polish and then run another burnish on them if they turn out.
So far for this batch, I skipped 60/90 grit and went straight to 220. They went every stage with plastic pellets and especially in the last couple of phases, extra-extra pellets to keep them well cushioned and to prevent cracking. I also did a 24 hour burnish between grit stages and a 48 hour burnish before switching from grit to polish.
I hope to have results photos up for you in about 1 week!