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Author Topic: Dopping a smooth stone  (Read 1012 times)

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Mossagatemac

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Dopping a smooth stone
« on: February 13, 2020, 08:46:29 PM »

Hi everyone, I've been grinding and polishing cabs for a few months now.  I ran in to two pieces I'm having a heck of a time getting to stick to the dop stick.  One is a slab of agate and they're both pretty smooth on the side I'm trying to dop.  I'm using a dop pot with green wax, and heating up both the stone and wax.  I tug on the rock after everything is cool and it feels solid but then I go to the coarse grind and it pops off super easy. 

I thought it might be because the rock is smooth, so I roughed it up on the 220 wheel a little but it didn't seem to help much.  I could try that some more but didn't want to ruin the smooth side if I didn't have to. 

Is there a different dopping technique I should be using? 
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Kaljaia

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Re: Dopping a smooth stone
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2020, 09:22:58 PM »

Are the stones super clean? I have some pop off and suspect it's residual cutting oil interfering with adhesion.
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- Erika

I rock hunt in the Antelope/Ashwood area of the John Day river basin in Oregon.

Felicia

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Re: Dopping a smooth stone
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2020, 09:46:35 PM »

Try cleaning the stones with denatured alcohol or even acetone. (Good ventilation). Another problem may be in reusing the wax. After a number of heatings it gets brittle or doesn't stick as well. Clean it off and apply new. It should stick okay even to a smooth stone, use only the smallest amount of pressure. I hope this is helpful.
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Slabbercabber

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Re: Dopping a smooth stone
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2020, 05:25:33 AM »

Time to change to fresh wax.
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Mossagatemac

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Re: Dopping a smooth stone
« Reply #4 on: February 14, 2020, 07:55:35 PM »

Washed the stone some more and found some fresh wax.  It worked!  Will try the other problem stone in a few days. 
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Dopping a smooth stone
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2020, 07:17:30 AM »

This is a faceting trick, but I use it for dopping my cabs as well:

Dissolve some shellac in a tiny bottle of denatured alcohol (color will be light yellow).  Use a small craft paintbrush to paint some of the solution on the back of the cab and let it dry (takes just a minute).  Dop as usual.  I have never had a cab come off a dop with this method.  Sometimes it takes a bit more freezing in the freezer for it to pop off the dop when your done because it really holds!
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Robin

Felicia

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Re: Dopping a smooth stone
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2020, 12:04:37 PM »

Sounds like a good tip. Have to try that one.
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