Diamond silicon polishing burrs

[tjbeau]

Good morning to all.

I have been cutting and polishing opal for a couple of years now, just starting off with basic equipment, I have just purchased some Diamond Silicon Polishing Burrs for polishing any carving required to get a nice finish on the stone's, I have noticed the wear rate of the burr is quite significant and I am wondering if others are using something similar and what are they doing to extend the life of the burr.

Any sensible suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Cheers
Tim   

[Faceting Frank]

Hi,
Have used diamond burrs for cutting, but this was on agate, which polished with cerium on lucite. What's the spindle made out of?

[Bucket]

Hi tjbeau and welcome to the forum. I can only guess that you're carving or using a Dremel on  opal. I haven't done this as yet, however I have used diamond burrs on other stones. The cheaper one (ebay) do wear very quickly and I'm not sure I'd be using them to polish. When you get the opal to a fine sand with a dull polish, I have heard of soft wooden toothpicks or short pieces of chops sticks being used as the carrier for cerium oxide or even solid cotton buds, ones with either plastic or wood 'sticks' can be used as well. I hope I've read this right, if not, let us know.

[RoughCreations]

I have just purchased some Diamond Silicon Polishing Burrs for polishing any carving required to get a nice finish on the stone's, I have noticed the wear rate of the burr is quite significant and I am wondering if others are using something similar and what are they doing to extend the life of the burr.

If you have a picture of one, upload it to the Forum Gallery. If I understand you correctly, you are using the ~2cm diameter diamond-impregnated rubber wheels with a rotary tool like a Foredom or a Dremel?
I have never used these on stones, but they are great on silver and gold jewellery etc. For jewellery, the pieces I do are generally small, so the wear-rate is not really an issue. There's probably better value wheels to try that are used by people for other hobby activities I bet.
RC

[tjbeau]

Hi Rough Creations.
I purchased some Diamond Impregnated silicon burrs on E/BAy to assist with primary polishing of carved opal prior to commencing final polishing 1200 grit through to 1 micron Cerium oxide.

So I was carving a piece of Opal on Friday, ( see the photo ) and during the process basically wore the burr down to nothing. ( Please see the photo re example of the burr ).

So I was hoping that someone may have had the same sort of issue and if they were able to extend the life of the burr by using a lubricant or something similar to reduce the wear of the burr.

Sorry no photo's as I was unable to work out how to attach, the Insert Image icon doesn't seem to do anything except put some in the message and nothing else.

Anyway hopefully someone may have an idea to suggest, other than that I might have a look at some Nova Burrs and see how they go.

Cheers
Tim

[RoughCreations]

Hi, images can be first uploaded to the Forum Gallery, then once there you can copy and paste the generated code to have the image appear in your message:
https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=3316 for instructions,
RC

[tjbeau]

thankyou

[tjbeau]

https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/gallery/10/medium_183117-270524160857-101262395.jpeg

[tjbeau]

https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/gallery/10/thumb_183117-270524160856-101101387.jpeg

[RoughCreations]

Thanks for posting the images - good to see you managed Ok with the Gallery. For yourself and other new Forum members, there is some perhaps even better info in the following post:
https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=4671

By copying and pasting the Image Linking Codes, you can 'embed' your images above into a post easily as thumbnails:

Code: [Select]

[url=https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=10127][img]https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/gallery/10/thumb_183117-270524160857-101262395.jpeg[/img][/url]


Code: [Select]

[url=https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=10126][img]https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/gallery/10/thumb_183117-270524160856-101101387.jpeg[/img][/url]



Or as medium-sized images:

Code: [Select]

[url=https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=10127][img]https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/gallery/10/medium_183117-270524160857-101262395.jpeg[/img][/url]


Code: [Select]

[url=https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=10126][img]https://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/gallery/10/medium_183117-270524160856-101101387.jpeg[/img][/url]


[RoughCreations]

I have never tried, but I wonder if using a little water dripping continuously on the silicone burr would help with longevity. It would lubricate and cool the rubber, letting the diamond do its work. I reckon the problem could be the heat building up, causing the rubber to soften, and thereby hastening its wear. If it was a rubber-based diamond lap instead, I bet the instructions would say always use with water, never dry.

[Aussie Sapphire]

I have never tried, but I wonder if using a little water dripping continuously on the silicone burr would help with longevity.

That was my first thought as well.  Were the burs used dry?  If so, then I am sure they would work better and last longer with a coolant.

Cheers Leah

[tjbeau]

Hi Rough and leah.
Laughed with the comment " I bet the instructions said ", yeeeeah Ebay purchase "instructions not included". I have since watched a couple of you tube videos of carving opal ( Blackopal direct ) with Silicon diamond burrs and they have a constant dribble of water on the burr while carving. I guess to reduce "all" of which "Rough" mentioned  to extend burr life.

I have while ordering bits and pieces from Lapidary suppliers , I have seen Nova burrs I think when I order my next lot of soft burrs I will splash out and order , hopefully they will be a higher quality, sintered and with a bit of care on my behalf last quite a bit longer.

Thankyou to everyone who took the time to read and reply.

Cheers
TIm
   

[Alaskan]

Makes you wonder how those artists from 5000 - 8000 years ago in the Indus Valley Civilization controlled a bow-drill to carve 'seals' for wax or clay into Carneiian.