I managed to get a nice shine on limestone using red compound polishing paste for jewelry (and a Dremel, but I am sure it can be done manually also). However it did stain some parts of the stone, there might be one with no color that works better, but this one was free so hard to complain. Great job with the sanding, looking forward to seeing the end product!
Hi EM, great videos keep up the great work. When using wet/dry sand paper keep the area wet like you did , but add water every so often to keep the residue running off the paper, also sand only in one direction etc. forward and back, do not change directions as you did in the video. You will find that there will not be any swirls or lines in the piece when you check it under different lighting conditions. Also it should sand a lot smoother. Take care. lil'john
Hi i use a robi battery sander to sand just keep a bucket of water to dip the pieces in to keep them wet or a drill the same battery and by the one has velcro for the drill then by the sanding discs set on ebay about 35 dollars they come 50 100 150 300 500 800 1000 1500 2000 3000 grit you wil get a better finish.
You can use the finer paper up to about 2400 and it would help to get a glossy Finnish. I wouldn’t bother with the 80 grit, just use the 120, 400, 800, 1200 and 2400. I’d glue the paper to an old mirror or some ceramic tiles to keep the paper dead flat.
Hi Em! Interesting video as always! Nice job. :) You should finish them off with a polishing paste. There are some brands on the market for polishing rocks. Then you will get the final shine! Cheers/M
Great videos! For 'rock' very few grits are needed, and go to 800 or even 1600 grit... to get that glassy look. 80 Grit will take out really bad saw marks. Polishing compound and a buffing pad will achieve that final gleam.
I like that ammonite. I think it would make a great bottom piece to wind chime that way you could view both sides. Just a thought. Nice job. I'm digging your videos 😊 Get it, DIGGING. LOL I crack myself up 😂
We have just returned home from the Jurassic coast, and I have caught the bug big time!! Just subbed and looking forward to watching your vlogs for some top tips ✌️
*Things you did right:* Start with lowest number, work up. Use some kind of flat base (pane of glass, cutting board). Wet sandpaper first. Sand with back-and-forth motion *Things to do to improve:* Use figure-8 motion instead of straight back-and-forth. Add fresh water regularly (to keep abrasive wet and to wash away grit) Go higher grit sandpapers - up to 6,000 grit (from craft shops?). Keep sanding each grit until previous sanding marks are gone. Finish off with polishing compound and cloth buffing wheel (on drill or desktop grinder). You can get quite a shine.
Hi ‘Em! Enjoyed you vid. If you check out Michigan rocks RU-vid channel he polishes heagonaria fossils by hand in one or two vids. They call them petoskey stones in Michigan. They are limestone. He shows the steps and approximate times for each sanding stage. I think he uses denim cloth and rock tumbling polish for the last stage. When I first started polishing rocks by hand I used a sandpapers and metal polish from automotive supplies store. I used the polish with a felt tip attachment for my Dremel rotary tool. Really adds a shine after 1200 and 2000 grit sandpaper. It takes a bit of time but the cost is low when it’s a $1.50 a sheet of sandpaper ( I cut the a4 sheets in 4 and use a sanding block). Hope that gives some ideas. Keep the videos coming please
The sandpaper is actually wet OR dry. Working up to 1000 or so will give you a gloss. If you want to go for glass-like, MIcro Mark makes sets of even finer grit pads and then you could go to a polishing compound as a final step.
Definitely get higher grit! I want to see them glossy if you ever get around to it! You can find polishing paste at very, very fine grits too, but you probably won't need that
Em, you did a very good sanding job for someone who has never done it!!!! BUT, what you need to do is buy me an airplane ticket, room and board me, and give me a tour England and then I may done some more sanding for you!!!! hahahhahahahhahahahah
