What kind of abrasive paper will grind, smooth, polish, garnet
Silicon carbide waterproof (wet or dry) papers in grit sizes from 100
down to 600 or so will handle the smoothing. Use wet for best
results. For polishing garnet one of the best is tin oxide powder;
aluminum oxide powder (micron size) will work, as will chrome oxide
(messy). Polish on leather, canvas, or even denim. You can do all of
it without needing machinery. You should cement your rough to a
dowel (“dop stick”) with dop wax or stick shellac. Or use 5 minute
epoxy available at any hardware store. Then you can manipulate the
stone to achieve smoothly rounded contours. Just don’t expect a good
polish unless your rough crystal is free of fractures or crumbly
areas; it should be glassy in appearance but need not be transparent.
Good luck.- Dick Davies
What kind of abrasive paper will grind, smooth, polish, garnet
Either silicon carbide or aluminum oxide paper will grind or smooth
garnet, but the finest I’ve seen is 4000 grit, which is a long way
from a polish. What are you trying to do?
Al Balmer
3M makes some Imperial brand ‘wet or dry’ paper/tyvek like fiber
material in ultra-fine grit, they are graded and designated by
colour, and reusable if you don’t tear through it - Contenti, SF
Jeweler’s Supply, Rosenthal’s, Cookson Gold (uk), Karl Fisher
(Germany), and most other vendors carry it - but in different
packaging options,(I like the 8 1/2 x 11" sheets that you cut to size
and shape, but the mot common i an aortment of 4x6"or so, sheets.
They also make a film in similar grits and PSA discs that fit on a
backing wheel but it’s a different creature and nowhere near as
flexible in small pieces because it’s a film yet has a long life and
i a "must have for me in the studio)
Once you have used appropriate grits to remove rough edges, etc. on
the piece, flat side, etc. (if one sided and presuming you are
making cabs) start with perhaps a1000- 1200 micron paper and go
through the grits to perhaps 2400. microns. Always use them wet.
Waterproof paper sort of defeats the purpose! For polishing, Obtain
some cerium oxide and mix it into in a slurry, use it on a
pre-dampened felt wheel in your flexshaft or Dremel if that’s what
you have -it will save time from hand work ALso when using any rotary
tool remember its the rotation not pressure that does the job. If you
can’t find cerium in a small-ish size contact me off list, I have a
few containers of it available. Check your stone hardness with the
hardness of the main component of the “sanding paper” you are
using/you have if you can’t afford to buy anything else right now, to
insure the material is HARDER than the stones you are working on- you
wouldn’t use garnet paper on garnet for instance …rer
start with perhaps a1000- 1200 micron paper and go through the grits to perhaps 2400. microns
I’m sure you mean mesh or grit, not microns. 2400 microns is nearly
a tenth of an inch.
We’ve seen a lot of advice, but I still don’t know what the OP is
trying to accomplish.
Al Balmer
Al I think he’ s trying to polish a stone by hand!