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[bilquest]

What is the secret to getting a high polish on chrysocolla? I've tried the traditional 600/cerium, and also ZAM but the surface gets 'orange peel' like with some areas polishing while other remains dull. I've also tried stabilizing with Opticon but it doesn't penetrate very well. The colors in this material are simply too cool to ignore.

[kent]

Last piece I worked I stopped after a 3000 diamond resin wheel and it looked acceptable. I follow a guy on Instagram that works koroit boulder opal and goes to 10,000. He don't use a buff or compound. Looks tremendous.He also doesn't have to deal with getting compound out of any drusies...

"flanagannick" is his handle on Instagram.

[Slabbercabber]

Chrysocolla by itself is too soft to polish.  The best material will be found mixed with a high percentage of calcedeny making it easy to work.  However it can be mixed in any amount and with many different materials.  Polishing will depend on the makeup of the individual piece.  Sorry, but you will just have to experiment to find what works best with what you have.

[ileney]

Do you have a picture of what you mean? I actually cut quite a bit. Mine (mostly 40 year old stock - not the new stuff from Peru) generally does take a good polish with Nova wheels but there is no question that because it has different components, some parts of the stone will undercut a bit, though still they are still polished. To be honest, I've always seen that as just a characteristic of the stone rather than a flaw and don't think it is unsightly. (I do usually polish to 3,000 on the Nova wheels, sometimes even much higher, depending upon how much chalcedony is in the individual piece.)