Arts and Crafts

[metalsmith]

Tiger's Eye has a Moh's Scale hardness of 6.5-7, so it was quite hard to grind. Outwardsly hard silicates are generally strong at a molecular level so there wasn't much chipping. The stone in question was an odd shape so it really needed some tidying up. It was also quite a small stone, so fiddly, dubiously worth the effort, but the sample was a little different, I liked it and enjoyed doing it. Overall, it just took a bit of patience but needs a final polish yet then I'll post a picture.

Creating dust from fibrous materials such as Tiger's Eye poses more of a health hazard than just normal stone dust. You should really be wearing a mask for that anyway - or wet grinding, as I was.

Your description of 'green dust everywhere' causes me a small concern. Malachite dust is quite toxic and appropriate controls should be in place to minimise exposure.

[vernon]

i really meant green sort of paste as used some water for coolant and lubrication I put a rag in my bench skin and then chucked it away.

[metalsmith]

Good stuff!

I found this litte tip whilst perusing a grinding / polishing cheat sheat of mine earlier fyi:
Use Tin Oxide for hard stones such as agate and jasper
Use Zam / Holy Cow for finishing Malachite

hope this helps

[vernon]

Brilliant I am planning to slice another piece of the stone and want to polish it after. This is a photo of the original rubbish photo though