Rockwerks Lapidary Forum

Spacegold · by **Spacegold** on Fri May 30, 2008 5:26 pm

[font=Comic Sans MS]Last season I tumble polished a lot of local quartz that just did not make it to jewelry grade. Rather than send it off to flower pots, I sorted it for size and shape for worry stones. All told there were over 160 of them, enough to completely fill a quart ziplock bag. This week I took them to a couple of gift shops and asked if they thought they could sell them as mementos. The first place took 120 at two bits apiece. The second place took the rest.

Some notes on worry stone production. Stones need to be well polished. Should be .75 to 1.25 inch long and half to three quarters wide, and about half as thick as long. Need to rest comfortably in the crease between the tips of the first and second fingers to be rubbed by the thumb. A flat or slightly concave surface for the thumb is desirable. I mute the fractures by soaking the stones in mineral oil. The oil soaks into the fracture and restores the index of refraction that was interupted by the polish compound. The fracture is still apparent, but much less prominently. After soaking the stones are toweled off and evidence of the oil disappears.[/font]

bitterbrook · by **bitterbrook** on Fri May 30, 2008 5:46 pm

Never thought of mineral oil! I mute fractures in a stabilizing compound, but that doesn't work for ell rocks.

Spacegold · by **Spacegold** on Sat May 31, 2008 2:03 pm

[font=Comic Sans MS]If you towel off the stones well after soaking, all evidence of the oil will be gone. The stone will look and feel just like a polished stone, except the fracture will be less noticeable. Try it.

I discovered this by carrying a fractured stone for several months. The fracture just seemed to disappear by absorbing oil from my skin. After awhile it was barely discernable. The oil has no stabilizing effect. It simply restores the index of refraction of the stone, and probably displaces some of the polishing compound. Mineral oil from the drugstore is odorless, colorless and will not polymerize.[/font]

bitterbrook · by **bitterbrook** on Sun Jun 01, 2008 1:48 pm

Ken,
Does the effect wear off, or is it permanent?

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