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[WickedNice]

Hi Everyone!! I'm new here and very new (but obsessed) with lapidary. I have searched this site until I can't see, but still haven't found what I'm looking for (in my best Bono singing voice).

I acquired some raw tiger's eye and have cut and sanded it to the point that I'm ready to polish as I will be wire wrapping it  for a gift.
Just for background, I'm using a Dremel that is now mounted stationary to free up my hands so it's acting as a mini lap. I have sandpaper ranging from 60 grit - 5000 grit. I also have diamond paste ranging from 1500 grit - 40,000 grit. I purchased some cerium oxide to make a paste. I read somewhere that was the best thing for tiger's eye.

Now for my issue. As I'm sanding, there are a couple of spots that seem to be unable to smooth out. Not sure it that is the best way to describe it. I have some spots that are super shiny. As soon as I started to use the CO, it seems that a lot of problem areas showed up and more are created.

Is the problem me not sanding enough with the prior grit sand paper? I feel like there is one spot that the more I sand, the worse it gets. I will try to post some good pics to better describe what I'm seeing.

Any advice and help will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

[lithicbeads]

Many years ago there was a lot of bad tigers eye around. It improved over the years but low silica areas in tigers eye is always possible and there is no solution . 1200 grit nova wheels dry then 3000 dry can be tried but since tigers eye is asbestos like fibers replaced by quartz you are  probably dealing with asbestos in the bad spot not something that you want to be cutting especially dry.

[WickedNice]

Thanks for the insight. Because I'm going to wire wrap it, maybe I can just cover it.

[irockhound]

Also it is best to work in short burst during polish and try not to overheat the stone.  Fibrous stones tend to have negative reactions to high heat during polish and could be causing the fibers to let go.  In that line I would also recommend using a smooth leather vs rough leather for polish because it keeps friction and heat down.  As mentioned before there is tigereye on the market that does not hold together well.  If it is the same area over and over again you can try and apply some ultra thin super glue to the area and then go thru 500 grit and up to see if it seals any weakness in the fibers (if it is the fibers and not a heating issue during polish)

[WickedNice]

HEAT! I never thought of that. I do tend to try and do things faster than is good for the stone. I will try a dab of thin super glue and try to lessen the heat with polishing.
Thanks for the info!!