My name is John Franklin from Des Moines, Iowa. I recently obtained some slabs of Cherry Creek Jasper. I cut and polished the Jasper on my Genie through 14,000 grit diamond. The black lines in the cabs took a high polish, but the other colors have a dull finish. Is there a better way to polish Cherry Creek?
Thank you,
John
Cherry Creek is softer than most Jasper. I think it might be a Dolomite or Rhyolite. Although I have not worked any of the Cherry Creek, It may work similarly to Rhyolite. I have a local Rhyolite that takes its best polish at 1200 diamond. A finer grit will reduce the polish. Some Rhyolites attain their best polish with Zam on a buffing wheel. I guess I should get a chunk of the Cherry Creek and see how it works. Good Luck....Bob
Gathering dust in Montana.
John, we submitted the following for the March 2013 issue: Our quick online search of this unfamiliar stone indicates it is imported from China and most references indicate that the material is quite soft and doesn’t take a good polish. We did see one thread that indicated successful polishing using a mixture of tin oxide with a bit of white vinegar on leather lap. You might give that a try. Cherry Creek Jasper may be of a similar hardness as turquoise, most of which is most often stabilized so it will take a polish. A few other threads indicated that some of the Cherry Creek Jasper material appears to have been stabilized.
If you’ve read any of our lapidary projects, you’ll remember that our favorite polishing compound is a slurry of Holy Cow on a slow-rotating leather lap; the polishing occurs when the stone begins to pull against the leather. We purchase our polishing compound from Guy Clark via his email, clarksrock@aol.com; be sure to put Holy Cow in the subject line. Guy will send you a return email with information on how to use Holy Cow as well as prices and payment options. Good Luck, Tom & Kay
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