Pretty Agates...whats the best way to polish them?

[curious kat]

Pretty Agates...what's the best way to polish them?

Anyone have any ideas on polishing them?

 

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[gunsil]

Hi Kat, I sent you a PM. Good rock polishing equipment is fairly expensive and agates are very hard stone. I don't know where in NM you are but right now the largest meeting of rockhounds in the world is going on in Quartzite, AZ. Lasts all month, you oughta get down there for a weekend if you can. (Google it) You'd get a year's education in a couple of days. Lots of good used and new lapidary equipment for sale there too. If you're near any rock shops you can get polishing done at some of them. There are also lapidary forums where you can get much info, probably more about your nice agates than on here. I'm sure there are also videos of rick polishing on youtube, too. To just polish the outsides you can use a tumbler, but you will lose any crystalline structure. Tumblers can be relatively cheap, but you will need a bunch of different grits to get the job done. P.S., if you do go on a lapidary or rock forum, don't forget us here, we like seeing your agates and your posts.!

 

[golden sluice]

Hi kat, I would only use a rock polisher for the rocks in the one o clock position and the four o clock position. The rest I would just clean and use a little bit of mineral oil and a peice of cheese cloth to shine up the rest. They look great right now.

 

[curious kat]

Really good info. guys...thanks! Thank you for the PM gunsil...my hubby told me he's going to get a tumbler so guess we'll try that first, but might take you up on that offer one day if it doesn't work out, very nice of you to offer! And yes, have been to Q in AZ awhile back, was interesting for sure! Yes golden sluice, I do like the "natural" look for a lot of them also....and good idea on the mineral oil & cheese cloth

 

[gunsil]

If you're in the Albuquerque area there is a huge jewelry supply house called Rio Grande and they also sell some lapidary equipment. Local rock shops sometimes have good deals on them when they feel they need to move some merchandise quickly. The tumblers they have will be better quality than the Harbor Freight ones but more costly. Of course there are many good used units available on ebay and often on craigslist. Amazon will have a lot of different ones also. Good luck with it, it is really fun to take raw stones and polish them to see their full beauty!!

 

[mamabear]

I wouldn't polish those in a tumbler. They look like chalcedony, & the unique formations would be lost in tumbling. If you have a dremmel, they make bits for polishing. I would go that route. If you don't have the tools, I'm sure you could find someone in your area that could do it for you. I have 2 pieces that I have left as found, & I really like them. Good luck.

 

[gunsil]

I wouldn't polish those in a tumbler. They look like chalcedony, & the unique formations would be lost in tumbling. If you have a dremmel, they make bits for polishing. I would go that route. If you don't have the tools, I'm sure you could find someone in your area that could do it for you. I have 2 pieces that I have left as found, & I really like them. Good luck.

Agate is chalcedony. Chalcedony is agate. Dremels operate at very high RPM and therefore are not really suited for lapidary work. Stones need to be ground or polished in a water bath, and that is very hard to do with a Dremel. Breathing the dust from stone polishing is dangerous, water baths cut that danger down and keep the tools and stones from overheating and burning. Actually tumbling will not take away the botroidal features of Kat's agates if the right tumbling media is used along with the grits. It will damage any crystalline structure though.

 

[Eu_citzen]

I would keep them as is. Especially those with the botryoidal shapes like the middle row on the far right.
Finding a local lapidary club is also a way to go.

A dremel works perfectly, by the way. I've done some carving with mine.
By dipping the rock in a waterbath it can be cut, a lot of dipping. Just don't use much pressure on the rock. The dremel doesn't like that.

 

[travelerga]

these stones are fireagates , when you start grinding them start on the white side and go slow, as the colors develop you can cut through them very fast and ruin them. all of the above applies. always use water when cutting.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/685/148ltr.jpg

 

[MrLee]

these stones are fireagates , when you start grinding them start on the white side and go slow, as the colors develop you can cut through them very fast and ruin them. all of the above applies. always use water when cutting.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/685/148ltr.jpg

You beat me to it. These are indeed fire agates. Handle with care. I have a bunch in the tumbler now.