Stabilising / filling with sodium silicate

[FlashGP]

I have heard you can stabilise Aust turquoise with sodium silicate.  I was wondering if sodium silicate could be used to fill or harden soft patches in bolder opal to improve the shine on the polish of the matrix.

Has anyong had experience with sodium silicate

[Agate Head]

try star bond thin you can find it on the net

[FlashGP]

Thanks Agatehead,

I didnt realise the material superglue is made from would act as a filler and set in air.

[Agate Head]

i have used it on turquoise dino bone rainbow matrix from andamooka works ok

[Rusted]

I have tried a few times using Sodium Silicate without success, the recipe that you can find on the internet relies on some USA pill or tablet that is unknown in Australia to polymerise the sodium silicate, I have no idea what other options to polymerise the SS we have.
I have used super glue on boulder Opal, it does a reasonable job.

[Shifter55]

I did a test run of the sodium silicate reaction last year on a whim, you can use any of the sugarless mineral tablets to polymerise it. The tricky part is getting it to set clear, and you must use liquid sodium silicate, not powder or you won't have any infiltration of the rock. My end result was this prickly opal crust on the treated stones, and a little bit of filling on some agate.

Getting the conditions right for a perfect treatment takes a lot of experience, and epoxies and superglues are getting to the point where they don't yellow with age too noticeably now.

[MakkyBrown]

A vacuum pump would help a lot. I get concerned about superglue as water soaks into it. In the states they have been using a one part epoxy to treat wood, make diamond wood. I reckon this stuff would be pretty good but I don't think it is available in Australia. Perhaps a one part automotive clear coat may work. Using a one part mixture enables all the resin/glue etc to be reused stone after stone.Just googled, this is the stuff called cactus juice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcx_HS1cERQJust remembering you need a resin with a high solids concentration making automotive clear coat not suitable.
CheersMB

[MakkyBrown]

This mob looks to be in Australia, not cheap but then it should go a long way. Haven't compared the price to the US or looked for other suitable resins. Any one part resin that will heat cure should work.
http://www.timberbits.com/cactus-juice

[Rusted]

I did a test run of the sodium silicate reaction last year on a whim, you can use any of the sugarless mineral tablets to polymerise it.

What mineral tablets did you use Shifter?

[Shifter55]

What mineral tablets did you use Shifter?

Frequent Flyer Health Boost, these have no sugar, and only a mild colourant, I still recommend that you find a colour-free alternative.