queensland
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2011
Posts: 1
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Post by queensland on Oct 23, 2011 19:58:11 GMT -5
Hi everyone. My family and I have begun collecting petrified wood and we want to cut and polish some of it. what do we need to do to clean and polish it? can i use a lap machine to polish the flats or do i need to do this by hand? any and all advice is appreciated as we really are beginners at this. :help: :help: :help: :help: thanking you all in advance. tony. queensland australia.
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Post by ColtChainmailJewelryDesigns on Oct 23, 2011 20:20:57 GMT -5
Hey Tony, I don't know from personal expirience, but I believe a flat lab is for this type of thing! My 2cent!
~Colt
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,341
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Post by quartz on Oct 23, 2011 22:42:39 GMT -5
Tony, Welcome to the forum. Based on our experience, a rotary flat lap would probably be the most satisfactory for your needs. The majority of what we hunt and work is pet. wood, comes out very nicely. we have run both rotary and vibrating laps, and find the rotary is faster, granted they need closer attention, and produce better finishes. If you are handy w/metal work, they aren't hard to build.
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Oct 26, 2011 9:54:23 GMT -5
I used to use a flat lap also. It was kind of messy and, for now, I don't have room for it, so I'm still aways away from setting it up again. Also, it was a vibe, so I was not happy with how it removed the saw marks. It got a nice polish but I was polishing saw marks, if you know what I mean. I need to try a rotary set-up, at least for the rough grind...
Also, I have some really large pieces, that I am thinking about there must be a way to adapt those countertop stone polishers to sanding and polishing the pieces. I've found a few hints on this site, where people have hinted at or else quite obviously somehow done this -- some guy polished a 1,000 jade piece, for example, in situ, so he sure didn't do THAT on a flat lap. If anyone wants to share more than hints, I'm all ears. Or if this is a trade secret, I wouldn't mind a PM. We're hoping to work up a project like this sometime this winter and, when we do, I'll probably post a report.
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