DeepTimeIsotopes Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 (edited) I recently received a piece of dinosaur bone that was cut with a saw and nothing more. I'd like to be able to the patterns in the bone without having to look through the saw marks by running it under water. How would I polish it without messing it up too badly? Sandpaper? The bone is supposedly from the Morrison Formation. Edited July 7, 2016 by UtahFossilHunter Each dot is 50,000,000 years: Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic........... Paleo......Meso....Ceno.. Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here Doesn't time just fly by? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 You can "polish" with sandpaper- but it will take a long time and lots of energy. Use water. If You want a "cabicon" then You will need some specialized lapidary equipment. Diamond grinding wheels of various grits. Lapidary work is an art in itself, not hard to learn. You can check with a local rock club, they may have a lapidary workshop where they will teach You to polish stones. Tony 1 Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 if you have plenty of time, yes sand paper will do. you'll have to work your way from 320 to 2000 wet sanding paper, with many different types in between. ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepTimeIsotopes Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 if you have plenty of time, yes sand paper will do. you'll have to work your way from 320 to 2000 wet sanding paper, with many different types in between. Alright. Is there a more recommended way to get a slab of rock to shine? Each dot is 50,000,000 years: Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic........... Paleo......Meso....Ceno.. Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here Doesn't time just fly by? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimS Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 You could cheat by using an oil or wax. Otherwise you'd need to grind and polish which can vary depending on the hardness of your material. If it's agatized that is hard indeed (~mohs 7) and takes multiple steps to result in a good looking polish. If it's a smaller piece you might look into buying / borrowing a tumbler, which takes a long time but isn't labor intensive. Or you could take it to a local rock shop and see if they would polish it for you --- some around here will but they charge for the service. If you don't have access to equipment like a lap / grinder / polisher you can hand polish through 50-100-200-400-800-1500-polish stages using diamond infused pads (my preference) or equivalent tumbling grit on a sheet of tempered glass or something. Or join a rock club which often gets you access to all the knowledge and equipment you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike from North Queensland Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 If you do not have time or access to polishing you can try painting with Paraloid B72 or clear fingernail polish but the results will be nice from afar, but afar from nice. Remember paint thick and do not keep brushing. If the bone is not porous you can clean it of with acetone and if the bone is porous you would most likely never get a shine to start. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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