Forming/shaping and polishing rocks

[matanl]

Hello forum!

I am looking for information about forming/shaping/polishing rocks using the T8.

Do you know of any resources that explain how to do this? Best practices?

What hardness does the standard stone have? Diamond stone?

Lets say you have a pointy rock with some quartz in it. Would it be possible to roughly shape it using the coarse diamond stone and using the same technique recommended for steel?
Would it work to polish the rock using the extra fine diamond stone?

Or perhaps this is not the right tool for this type of job?

Thank you!

/M

[Ken S]

Welcome to the forum, Matani.

We are most fortunate to have the Tormek online classes available today. These youtube videos are readily available and free of cost. Here are links to two which are good starting points:

https://www.youtube.com/live/R2ifZQOJA7k?feature=share

https://www.youtube.com/live/wMATay8ITE8?feature=share

The wise advice of the Tormek instructors is to begin with the SG aluminum oxide grinding wheel. This is the basic and most versatile grinding wheel. This is the ideal learning wheel. I highly recommend starting with only the SG. Learn how to grind and sharpen with the the SG and stone grader, followed by polishing with the leather owning wheel and PA-70 honing paste.

Keep us posted.

Ken

[cbwx34]

Hello forum!

I am looking for information about forming/shaping/polishing rocks using the T8.

Do you know of any resources that explain how to do this? Best practices?

What hardness does the standard stone have? Diamond stone?

Lets say you have a pointy rock with some quartz in it. Would it be possible to roughly shape it using the coarse diamond stone and using the same technique recommended for steel?
Would it work to polish the rock using the extra fine diamond stone?

Or perhaps this is not the right tool for this type of job?

Thank you!

/M

I don't know if anyone has posted using the Tormek to polish rocks, (and am not sure that Ken caught that's what you were asking.)

You might be a pioneer. 

[LeU]

Is it this kind of thing you have in mind Rotary tumblers ?

[Ken S]

You're right, CB. I missed the question. (Never reply before morning coffee

Ken

[tgbto]

... still, polishing rocks on a SG might be a novel way to untrue, or even better, turn, the SG stone. So clearly only diamond stones have a shot at it. And as only little pressure is allowed, a choice will havbe to be made between spending an infinite amount of time polishing part of a rock, of a short amount of time ruining an expensive Tormek diamond stone.

More seriously though, the Tormek is good at *very precisely* removing a *tiny* amount of material from a relatively soft cutting edge. Any damn rock worth polishing will be much harder and the amount of material to be removed will be much higher.

Plus the jigs will be inadequate to precisely hold the surface to be polished against the stone. So... no, I wouldn't even think of it. The physics of the whole rock-polishing shebang on a Tormek is off.

[matanl]

I see your points.

I think it is probably best to stick to its intended use of sharpening knives and tools

Thank you all for all your thoughts and input!

[John Hancock Sr]

You should have no issues polishing rocks on the Tormek. Being a wet grinder it would probably be ideal. As for hardness the four wheel types are standard SG-250 which is Aluminium Oxide, black SB-250 which is Silicon Carbide, Diamond Dx-250 where the x is C-coarse, F-fine and E-extra fine, and lastly the SJ-250 Japanese which I *think* is Aluminium Oxode, a finer grade (more pure), hence the white colour, than the SG. The Hardnessess are Aluminium Oxide - depending on its purity and origin from 3-9, Silicon Carbide 9 and Diamond 10.

As I understand it most gem grinding is done using silicon carbide sine it tends to be harder than aluminium oxide and harder than most other rocks. Depending on the finish you need you may wish to get the diamond stones which an be more agressive but will take you up to 1200 grit. You probably don't want the Japanese stone since that will be too soft so after that you will either need to go to third party wheels or hand burnish.

[Sylwester]

Forming/shaping/polishing - depends on rock hardness of course. I saw stone, ruby probably, done on flat dimond sharpener(s) by hand so in that regard Tormek can be used.

Standard stone has grit ~220 and ~1000 after using added stone tool. Tormek dimonds are 360, 600 and 1200 so answer is: maybe, probably can be used. Just correct grit need to be used. And stones are all about removing material as less as possible

As for technique it will be a lot of work becouse steel tools are usually sharpened in some form of line, up to few mm wide and stones shaping need a kind of "plane", surface.

Stones need a lot of visual inspection and changing surfaces and angles so semi-automatic tools like jigs have limited application.

Are Tormek sharpeners right tool for this job ? Look like it is step up from hand shaping surfaces on plain diamond pad. IMO machines will help in artisanal/hobby stone work.