Polishing a crack

[travelerga]

Another question about polishing. I am polishing an Owyhee flower jasper,it has several very small,you cant see them cracks. that is until you polish it then the little cracks hold the polish. how do you get rid of the polish residue? do they make a clear polish?
mike

[seth]

Is there anyway you can post a picture. What type of final polish material did you use. If you see fine cracks before polish and use a buff or any not cooled by water polish heat will expand the cracks and welcome any polish into it. That is why I use diamond cutting and polishing products.

[Taogem]

Sometimes what I will do is let the stone sit in some hot water for a while. Then after I remove it will take my best squirt bottle and start blasting the crack with it.

I have also tried using a sonic cleaner. Never had any luck with it though...

There has been much discussion about crack and pit repairs. How and what to fill them with.

Opticon has it's place. Primarily for cracks. I can't recommend it. Just never had any luck at all with it. For any application....

Maybe someone else can recommend their favorite, but mine is the two part 330 epoxy.

Of course no matter what you decide on trying, the polish has to come out of the crack ! 

Just for fun, you can do a forum search using search words or phrases like, "how to pits", "how to cracks", "pits cracks", and any other combination of words you can think of. Lots of archived topics should pop up ! 

[travelerga]

camera is on its way so i can post pictures.I have thought about diamond belt polishing.
 The cracks are very fine not visable until you use polish, cerium oxide,
thanks for the reply .
m

[Taogem]

camera is on its way so i can post pictures.

Excellent !!

Early Christmas gift?

[travelerga]

LOL  yes, I found a site with the same camera that walmart and circit city has on "sale" 229.00 for 149.00 with free shipping. and  I need something to take pictures of m fish and crabs  loll   you know how us fishermen lye.
m

[samaeljaxon]

I've had this same issue. So you guys recommend epoxy to fill the cracks after cleaning them out? I had this issue with Labradorite, and the cracks only became visible after cerium oxide was used. I had used diamond grit from 80-14,000 to do the prepolishing and first polishing stage. I heard sonic jewelry cleaners could work out for this, but I've yet to try it.

[Yukon Jade]

Rub a bar of soap over any suspected cracks or vugs before using
           a paste polish,then put the cab in a sonic cleaner with a bit of liquid dish soap.
           I feel the cracks and vugs are a natural makeup of the stone and will not fill them
           unless they affect the stability of the cab.

                       Mike

[jakesrocks]

As Mike said, rub a bar of soap over the slab. This fills the cracks, After polishing your slab wash out the cracks with hot water. Any cerium that gets in the cracks will wash out with the soap.


Another way is to warm your slab. Mix a small amount of 2 part epoxy. Thin the epoxy with a couple drops of acetone. Coat any cracks with the epoxy. As the slab cools, the epoxy will be drawn into the cracks. Allow the epoxy to cure, then remove any excess with a razor blade.  The acetone in the epoxy serves 2 purposes. It thins the epoxy, allowing it to flow into the cracks. It slows the cure time of the epoxy, giving you extra time to work with it.

[light house jack]

HXTAL is what museums all over the world use. It never yellows and is the most archival epoxy on the market. HIS GLASS WORKS in Asheville, NC has a great video on it use in a vacuum pump. I made my pump with a brake line pump from Harbor Freight and a mason jar. You do not have to use a vacuum but it will fill all the cracks this way. It is expensive so I only use it to save high end cabs. Even if you paint it on with a small brush and finish the stone as you normally would, you cannot see the fill.

[55fossil]

    If you have cracks but also have vugs with crystals you cannot use any permanent filler. I cut a lot of plume agate with wonderful little vugs and they inhale polish if you let them. My two best options are Elmer's wood glue or a cheap epoxy. Just pour the glue on the cabochon and wipe off the excess. Let it dry overnight but not for a week or it becomes hard to remove the glue. I remove the extra glue with a quick run on a worn out 600 grit silicon carbide belt, no water. Finish polishing your cabochon.  *** You may have to touch up your finish on the cabochon if the SC 600 leaves a mark. But it is well worth it to save those sparkly vugs in a good plume agate.
    To remove the Elmer's glue just let it soak in warm water. I use my ultrasonic cleaner for this but warm water alone will soak out the glue. If you use an epoxy try acetone or a mild acid to remove it. Some stones do not like the acid but I have had good luck using it.