Helpful Rockhounding Tips @ Jewel Info 4 U
By: Ritika
 Rockhounding
is for those who love to collect
rocks and minerals from their
natural environment as a
recreational hobby or sport. It
starts when you chance upon a
beautiful stone which you pick up.
Humans are very curious by nature so
your curiosity about its origins is
bound to get aroused at some point
of time. Talk to a few people and
you'll find there is a whole world
of rockhounders there who love to do
what you just did but they go the
whole gamut.
Rockhounders clubs flourish in
practically every town, county and
city and there will always be
old-timers who will give you
important tips and handy hints on
how to get the best out of this
hobby. Read up on petrology,
geology, rocks and minerals and kit
yourself out with a rock hammer,
gloves, safety goggles, water, a
book depicting rocks and minerals
and their features, a first aid kit,
food for you and fuel for your mode
of transport and you are a ready to
go rock hounding.
 Besides the slew of precautions you
have read about and been informed
about there are a few other aspects
to rock hounding that are good to
know especially if you are planning
to go in to this hobby full time. It
would be a good idea to read up all
you can about lapidary, working with
rocks and minerals, facts to keep in
mind about the various
characteristics of various rocks and
minerals, how best they can be
cleaned and polished, tools required
for cleaning and polishing etc.
As you gain experience in rock
hounding, your collection too keeps
growing. Soon you will have quite a
nice little assortment of rocks and
minerals. There are lots of aspects
to cleaning and polishing of rocks
and minerals. Given below are a few
tips and hints that might help you
as you learn on the job.
Did You Know?
* Cleaning Stones is an art by
itself. Eyeglass silicon treated
tissue removes fingerprints from
stones.
* Flush the dirt to the surface
using toothpaste that has fluorite.
It can penetrate brick, terracotta,
ceramics and stone easily. The dirt
can then be rinsed off with water.
* Desert roses and best cleaned
using a solution of "axion". Soak
overnight, brush gently and rinse in
clean water. This is an easy and
safe method.
* Ultrasonic cleansers are used by
some professionals but there are
some stones that must not be cleaned
in this manner. They are stones like
pearls, lapis, opal, coral,
tourmaline, mother-of-pearl, emerald
and turquoise, agate, topaz and
malachite.
* Fluorite should never be cleaned
in warm or hot water because it will
wash off the luster and it will
never come back. A better idea is to
put in 'muriatic acid' which will
remove the calcite and then rinse in
cold water.
* Pyrite, quartz and other silicas
are best cleaned with radiator
cleaner DuPont No.7. Use one
tablespoon for one quart of water
then rinse with silute ammonia and a
final rinse in clean water.
* A good soak in water and ammonia
will clean out lichen and algae from
your rock samples.
* If you want to see what's inside
your stone then before you commence
faceting drop them in some oil of
cassia or cinnamon. All flaws and
inclusions will be visible as the
refractive index of these oils is
very similar to that of most
gemstones. The surface
irregularities disappear, making it
easy to see.
* Jade and other soft stones like
aventurine and tiger eye, can be
effectively polished using a wet 600
sanding cloth. Once done, apply the
No. 1200 metal lapping compound,
available at any auto supply store,
to one inch of a leather lap and
work the stone, you will find that
the stone gets a dull polish which
can then be given a good shine using
cerium oxide or tin.
* Peridot is best worked on suing a
260 to grind, 1,200 for
pre-polishing and then with Linde A
on a type metal lap or a tin lap.
* Malachite can be cut using a saw.
This is soft stone so it's best to
keep away from the direct parallel
of the grain by about ten degrees.
By doing this you will get the
bull's-eye effect when you dome the
stone. Wear a mask while grinding as
the flying dust is toxic and grind
on a well worn out 600. Give it a
final polish with "ZAM on hard felt"
the more you polish the better the
stone becomes.
* Fire Agate is really a chalcedony
which has a layer of iridescent
limonite that is trapped in-between
the chalcedony layers. You need to
be careful when working with fire
agate. Start your grinding slowly
suing a 100 grit wheel. The "fire"
is the dense spot inside where the
iridescent limonite is. Once done,
grind on a finer wheel so you "fire"
is seen more clearly and clover to
the surface. Be careful you don't
sand away the "fire". Finish off
with a leather buff using tin oxide.
Interesting facts
* Molten rocks are responsible for
the formation of topaz, emeralds,
diamonds, and rubies.
* Ground water evaporation is what
forms opal, amethyst, quartz and
turquoise
* Metamorphic re-crystallization
makes garnets and staurolite.
* Of all gemstones jade is the most
durable.
* Wear opals, pearls, amber and
turquoise carefully as they scratch
easily.
These are just a few tips and hints
on polishing and cleaning of rocks
and minerals. Read up all you can
before you commence with the
cleaning and polishing for best
results.
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