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Author Topic: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?  (Read 14906 times)

mick

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #15 on: January 06, 2010, 05:58:22 PM »
found this article on orange peel in gems:

Undercutting Gemstone Cabs

Might have a clue or two for you?

Hopefully others can give more specific advice.

cheers
Leah


Nice tip re composition of a stone, that URL, I will keep that in mind from now on.

mehoose

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #16 on: January 06, 2010, 10:40:01 PM »
Leah, it could just be that the slice was originally cut right along a less compact area of the rock. It might even be a layer closer to the outside area that hasn't been as compressed as the inside. Another train of thought could be that by doming the rock, you're not following along the natural 'cleavage' if the rock has one.
BRB, just gonna post this and have another look at the photo.

Ok, should have twigged with the first photo. Dendrites. Looking at the second pics I'm guessing you are cutting something along the lines of moss opalite so would be softer than agate. Someone might recognise it straight away?
I know, you were doing pet wood too wazzles and it started happening. The thing with rocks is, nothing is set in stone....sorry...a rock doesn't always have the same hardness, the same strength etc the whole way through.
LOL, it could even be the 1200, facetors have a tendency to stear clear of this lap, has been known to be a peeling prob for a variety of stones.
To save going back to the pic again, just reading about the green parts, you mean the dendrites? The bits that look like ferny stuff? I'd say this is just soft and pulling out. Do you have some cerium?
I'm getting lost, sorry guys.
What's say if the rest of the back looks smooth, just try polishing with cerium on a perspex lap. Just see if it comes out further, or hangs tight as is.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2010, 11:00:30 PM by mehoose »
Keep em comin!!!

wazzles

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #17 on: January 07, 2010, 01:11:12 AM »
Hi Mehoose, you lost me on some of that, but I don't have any cerium here so I'll have to wait until I can get back to the Club. That will be in a couple of weeks. So for now I'll put it aside. I only half understand where you were talking about cutting. In the photo, the piece on the right is one that I hadn't shaped yet. I got 2 pieces and cut 3 stones of different shapes and sizes from each one. When I shaped them I got rid of the white outer layer and made the main shape so that the line of moss opalite? ran through the middle of the stone which was the effect I was looking for. I'm thinking in hindsight I should have stayed away from that and just used the pieces that had nothing running through them. (I'll eventually get to know all the names). I'm going to play with the boulder opal and other rocks that I have and see how I go. I still have some more pet wood, so I'll play with that as well.

mehoose

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #18 on: January 07, 2010, 01:31:22 AM »
LOL, you were getting lost, so woz I!!!
It isn't always possible, but try and keep the dendrites 'inside' the cab.
Okay, with the boulder opal, 320 is about the roughest grit you should start with. Go easy, check often and keep it cool.
Keep em comin!!!

wazzles

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #19 on: January 07, 2010, 09:11:07 AM »
Thanks, I heard with the boulder opal there is a different polishing technique but can't remember what it is (might have to start doing brain exercises, lol). All this hassle with these stones has removed the chip on my shoulder I had developed. I'd become very cocky with it as I took to Lapidary like a duck to water (like all the cliques) but this has brought me back to earth and reminded me I'm still on my L  plates. Thanks for the advice on the grit grade. I'm hoping the bottom won't be so difficult as it is already quite smooth. On that side I might even start with a 500 grit, or am I getting cocky again? Apart from my amethyst and smoky quartz all my rock is in slab form. I'm still waiting to go fossicking to collect my own so at the moment most of my material comes from the Club. We're planning our first fossicking trip in February, but I'm not holding my breath as we've cancelled the trip 3 times so far. There is a conspiracy happening. LOL!

mehoose

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #20 on: January 07, 2010, 09:29:59 PM »
Wazzle, just remember, no 2 rocks are ever the same, yup talking about the same type of stone and just because they came out of the same hole doesn't mean they'll behave the same. They'll have their own quirks, likes and dislikes as to how they're treated.
You have to try different ways to make those rocks happy.
Apart from the beach my fossicking has been from off the shelf too.
My dream is to get out there one day.......
Start with the 500, see how it goes, let us know.
Keep em comin!!!

wazzles

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #21 on: January 07, 2010, 11:33:47 PM »
Will do, thanks Mehoose

wazzles

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #22 on: January 15, 2010, 07:53:20 PM »
Hi, I decided to continue to perservere with these stones. I spent about 15 minutes on each one using a 500 grit on the lap and then about 20 - 25 minutes using the 1200. I wanted to assure myself that I was spending enough time on each stage. I then spent about 15 minutes using the cerium lap. They turned out nice but the orange peel is still there but not as bad as it was. But I'm now finding that I am going further into the rusty stuff inside and although it looks good you can see the faults opening up even further where before they we really tiny. So I have decided that this is as good as they get. I am leaving the boulder opal as i obviously have a more discerning eye now than I did when I originally bought and will start on the smokey quartz instead.

mehoose

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #23 on: January 15, 2010, 08:24:26 PM »
heya wazzles,
They still look lovely.  :D Don't be hard on yourself, it looks like you've gained a lovely polish apart from the hiccup.
Just love dendrites.
Keep em comin!!!

Lefty

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #24 on: July 29, 2014, 05:43:39 AM »
I've only done a few cabs and I have this issue on one now, a piece of sard.

The top of the cab and one half of the bottom polished up beautifully using tin oxide. The good half of the bottom is so highly polished that turning the stone in the sunlight gives a reflection with almost the intensity of a welding flash when it hits you directly in the eye. But the other half - although very shiny and reflective - has the orange peel effect. Spending more time polishing and attacking the cab from different directions has made no difference.

Examining the material closely through loupes, I can see it is actually composed of a bunch of small, cylindrical "rods" growing together as a single mass with some of the rods almost the diameter of a pen. I have a few pieces of the stuff where some of the rods have grown free of the surface and stick out individually like little columns - man they look weird! Great little specimen bits.

The division between the perfectly-polished half and the orange peel half is dead neat and follows exactly the line where one row of rods meets the next. I think it's probably fair to assume that some parts of this stone are softer than other parts?

Might it be worth trying a different polishing agent?

FlashGP

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #25 on: August 11, 2014, 11:03:41 PM »
I had an orange peel effect on the back of a cab of WA black jadeite/jade.  I found the harder I pressed on the wheels the worse it got.

 Try using very light pressures in the final sanding and polishing stages. 
Yours Sincerely
Flash (Gordon)

TS-logistics

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Re: How do I stop the orange peel effect on the bottom of my cabs?
« Reply #26 on: October 24, 2015, 01:57:47 AM »
I had an orange peel effect on the back of a cab of WA black jadeite/jade.  I found the harder I pressed on the wheels the worse it got.

 Try using very light pressures in the final sanding and polishing stages.

I know this post is old but might be usefully for some.

Orange peal is caused by adding lots of pressure and to much speed (Heat) I know this as I know couple of companies that do deal with this problem. Also depends what lubricant you use. Best I have found is Motor Oil and Pink Antifreeze. Trust me, This will effect the natural stones as well.

Let me give you a secret from Belgium Diamond re-cutting company.

On all natural stones for cutting they would use mixture 20% Pink Antifreeze and 80% water with Diamond Powder 15-30 and 12-22 to set the shape.
For final polish they would go with Motor Oil only and 0-0.50 Mesh Diamond Powder. And this is what I have its 50,000 thousand Grit.

This is not complete process and I dont think they would tell me the entire process :D
« Last Edit: October 24, 2015, 02:00:08 AM by TS-logistics »

 

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