BadgirlTee64
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2003
Posts: 7
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Post by BadgirlTee64 on Jul 5, 2003 14:21:01 GMT -5
This is probably a really dumb question... but are all rocks polishable,,, Thanks for any help or info
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Pdwight
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 619
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Post by Pdwight on Jul 5, 2003 20:25:46 GMT -5
I am new to this hobby as well, I have done a lot of reasearch on the web and books..so here is what I have learned. Rock with a hardness of 5 moh and above will polish, this hardness can be tested by scratching the stone with a knife blade...it it scratches it is too soft to polish...and I take this to mean a scratch not just surface blemish. Most Quartz , Amethytz , Citrine (all quartz) will polish...included in thsi catagory is Agate and Jasper. I have my first load of rocks on the second phase right now..it is a mix of all of the above and a few unknowns. 2 of the rocks were shiney metalic gray or silver with a little quartz mixed in..they disolved down just to the quartx...they were soft like sandstone....I shouldve known better. If I can help any more post or email me.
Thanks Dwight P
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BadgirlTee64
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2003
Posts: 7
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Post by BadgirlTee64 on Jul 5, 2003 20:31:23 GMT -5
Hi Pdwight,,, And thanks,, and i will e-mail ya if i have any questions and Thanks,, your sweet...
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donwrob
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 509
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Post by donwrob on Jul 6, 2003 8:54:28 GMT -5
Hi guys, I'm new to tumbling too. I like the scratch test Dwight, makes good sense. The rocks I'm tumbling are all flintknapping related. I do know this, flints/cherts are basically impure forms of quartz, with a high silica content. The high silica content makes them desirable for knapping (making stone tools/arrowheads) as this gives them a concoidal fracturing quality. This means they fracture much the same way glass does when struck. The hertizian cone thing. If you ever shot a window with a BB gun, you've seen a hertizian cone. This also makes them great for polishing as they end up with a high gloss finish. I hope this is a little helpful Tee, or it might just be worthless information you really didn't need ;D Sorry, best I can do, have fun, Don
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