Polishing a Large Puddingstone
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Learn how I polish large puddingstones.
Here are the steps I took to polish this.
I started with my normal, dry angle grinder. The cup wheel is 50/60 grit, but is way more aggressive than the soft 30 grit wheel I followed it with. The angle grinder also spins much faster than the wet stone polisher. I spent 17 minutes shaping the rock and removing holes in it.
Next I moved to the wet stone polisher. This has a soft backer, so the pads can flex to the shape of the rock. The grits and times are as follows:
30 grit - 40 min.
50 grit - 11 min.
100 grit - 11 min.
200 grit - 11 min.
400 grit - 8 min.
800 grit - 11 min.
1500 grit - 10 min.
3000 grit - 8 min.
At the end, I used a cloth polishing wheel with aluminum oxide polish. I think I'll skip this step in the future. I don't think it made much, if any, difference.
- MERCH -
michigan-rocks...
- FACEBOOK -
/ michiganrocksrob
- INSTAGRAM -
/ michiganrocksrob
- KINGSLEY NORTH -
Kingsley North is a lapidary store in Michigan's U.P. They make a great cab machine and sell many other brands too. They have a huge selection rough rock, tumblers, grit, jewelry supplies etc. at good prices. I buy most of my coarse grit from here in 45 lb. bags. It's the best price I have found. If you buy using the following link, I make a small commission.
bit.ly/3MerxdI
This is the cabbing machine I use:
kingsleynorth....
- THE ROCK SHED -
I buy a lot of lapidary supplies from The Rock Shed. I don't make money from your purchases there, but they have good prices and good service. This is where I buy my finer grits and polish.
rockshed.com
- AMAZON STOREFRONT -
I also have an Amazon storefront. This is where you can find other products you may have seen in my videos. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn't cost you extra.
www.amazon.com/...
- SUBSCRIBE -
On Michigan Rocks you can join me on relaxing rock hunts in picturesque Michigan. I'll also show you how to polish rocks and teach you other lapidary techniques. New videos are posted every Friday and some Tuesdays. Subscribe now so you don't miss any upcoming videos!
www.youtube.com...
As a rock Lover and a Michigander, I love and appreciate your videos!! So so much! Im learning more than I did in school for damn sure!
Juliesunshine 333 being an eight grade math teacher, I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m glad I’m teaching you something!
Really appreciate your breakdown of your process & showing each step, I get both new info and confirmation of my own approach. Beautiful pudding Stone!
Janice Gipson I’m glad you learned something. I really enjoy teaching other people how to do stuff themselves.
It really is amazing before and after. Love how you polish rocks. And thank you for telling us how you do that. Great information!
307 Wyoming 4E I love seeing before and after pictures. I don’t always remember to take the before pictures because I’m so excited to get started.
Hi there! Great job!!! You made love to that pudding stone! You know every nook and crevice and corner by the time you got done with it. Impressive dedication!
You do get to know a rock pretty well by the end of that process.
@@MichiganRocks I knew you would agree! 🌞
Gorgeous stone! I am so happy this video is out because I needed a tutorial for larger stones, I’m currently hand polishing a 90 lb stone that is the size of a basketball yet the shape of an oval, this tutorial is exactly what I needed!
I’m glad I could help!
I was looking for an art project to do with my kids. I am so glad I had found your channel !
I'm not sure this is a good kids project, but I have one on polishing a Petoskey stone by hand that might be.
Another Blast From The Past.Very Nice
I just become a "Rockhound" in the last 3 years. I'm fascinated by the myriad of different types of rock i encountered when excavating my garden. Now, because I walk alot, i find rocks all over NYC. So oftentimes I travel with a butter knife and a plastic bag. People look at me like im crazy, but they'll never get to see the fruits of my labour. GREAT JOB with that rock, its gorgeous!!
What's the butter knife for? Prying them out of the ground?
@@MichiganRocks Yes. I only collect the ones I see loose or partially buried, when outside in my neighborhood.
@@MichiganRocks In all actuality the butter knife is to defend my newly found bounty from 'Rock Pirates'. They're everywhere!
@@MADGUNSMONSTER Yikes!
I a have research how to polish large stones. Just stumbled across your video of pudding stones. I have accumulated several big and large for my property in southwest Michigan. Thank you for the how to no I can.
I'm glad I could help you out.
That process was impressive! Another great video... Thank you.
It's so impressive to see the before and after of that rock. It's God's gift to mankind and you know how to bring out that shine. I love your little forest in your yard. Trees are amazing.
Thanks. Our whole street has wooded back yards. That’s one o the main reasons we bought a lot here. Lots of wildlife to see too.
Turned out beautiful! Great information too!
Thanks for all of your amazing videos that have taught me so much over the years and have contributed to one of my favorite hobbies. Your videos were a wealth of information when I started tumbling a few years back and they continue to be today as I've just stumbled upon this video. I recently found a Petoskey stone about half the size of your pudding stone and was going to try out this process with polishing it. Keep doing the amazing work that you do! All the best!
Wow, thanks for the tip! I'm glad my videos have been helpful. Have you seen my videos on polishing Petoskey stones? I did a big one with a drum sander on an electric drill. It wasn't made for polishing wet, so I wore out several drums while doing it, but it got me through the first stage. After that I polished it by hand. That's a lot cheaper than buying the machine I used in this video. Here's my video on hand polishing a Petoskey stone:
ua-cam.com/video/sjImNrwR9As/v-deo.html
@@MichiganRocks Thanks for the advice, I've handpolished a few smaller Petoskeys using that video actually! I really lucked out and found that makita wet stone polisher on facebook marketplace new in box for a price too good to be true so really been looking forward to getting it dirty. I'm a bit hesitant to put an angle grinder to the Petoskey for the first stage so I may try your drum sander technique or go at it with some 30 grit pads on the wet Makita until I'm happy with the shape. Either way it will be a fun learning lesson!
@@foulout If you already have a Makita wet grinder, just use that. It's made for water and it will work well.
Woah man! What a beauty! This was really helpful bud. I’m working on those littler ones yesterday and today and it’s really so much fun but also kinda mesmerising doing it. Learning a bunch from you dude. Thank you so much!!!
Rookie Rockhounding this is what I think you should do with that big one you dug up and dragged home.
Michigan Rocks
Yeah I’m hoping to get some of the grinder cup things and then try them out on that biggy 😉 hopefully ha! Have a great weekend mate!
Rookie Rockhounding good luck!
Michigan Rocks
That rookie gets everywhere, always poaching ideas and getting free advice.
BTW, that's just my sense of humour and I never ever write anything derogatory about my Buddy the rookie.
Symon Sheppard yeah, what a jerk, coming here and complimenting me all the time!
That turned out beautifully!
Good to see you on Pinterest Rob...love your videos! I learn so much from you and your wife and neighbor. Thanks and keep them coming.
I didn't know I was on Pinterest. I think someone else probably put a video of mine there.
@@MichiganRocks yessir! I look up various rock specimens here, at times, and I ran into you sanding and polishing your friends Pudding Stone. Maybe someone placed it here. Never theless, it was great seeing your videos here.
Turned out beautiful!!
Carolyn S I found the crystals searching for diamonds in my youtup channel ➡️ cambaz cnl
There was a time when I'd have rolled up my sleeves and done that but I don't have the strength now so I guess I'll just have to find one to buy :) You did a great job :)
Mary-Anne Swanson thanks. If you’re just doing one, it wouldn’t be worth investing in the equipment.
Etsy and other online sites have some gorgeous specimens
Thanks for this video and your whole channel! I always know to go to Michigan Rocks for answers!
You're welcome, Nancy.
Wow looks amazing after your work on it! Loved watching the process. I have a lovely slice of pudding stone that looks like its had some polishing but not as much as that!
I have never polished a slab. I should do that when it warms up. Seems like it would be pretty easy since I wouldn't have to keep track of what I had done and what I hadn't.
That rock was really nice. Trying to talk my siblings into a trip to Michigan 😉
It sure was nice. They're not all that good.
That is beautiful! I never knew puddingstone could shine up like that. I can't wait to get to Michigan to hunt rocks- maybe I'll even find a puddingstone!
I hope you find one. They shine up pretty good. When I tumble them, the light colored matrix rock gets little pits in it, but the red jasper shines up great.
The pudding Rock is beautiful. The client that you are doing the work for. It's going to get one beautiful Rock. Thank you for sharing how you. Buff out the Rock.
Great vid, subbed. I've just recently discovered my interest in geology and being a Michigander myself I think I'm in the right spot, I have three puddingstone that are about three times the size of the one you just polished, two more about twice the size and one about the same and I've been looking how to polish all of them up, thanks for posting the vid, looks like I've got some work ahead of me!
You might like this video too: ua-cam.com/video/v7xwyC_prV8/v-deo.html
Thank you! I’m learning
You did a beautiful job on the big rock.
Thanks Thomas!
I was just talking about you and the pudding stones at work today🤣😁❤️
Turning a humble dirt rock into a shiny peice.....nice👍....do you know how this type are formed?
I’m no geologist, so I’ll just link to something I found on the internet. geo.msu.edu/extra/geogmich/Puddingstones.html
TFS 🤗
In my experience pudding stones are quite unremarkable until you clean them up. With the exception of ones found in the lake .
Amazing. Thank you for showing each step!
Wow , amazing job
Really is incredible how it goes from beast to beauty
That's why I keep polishing rocks. It's the transformation that I enjoy.
Beautiful
Where did they find that pudding stone?
Carson Frisch I’m not sure. Possibly Hubbard Lake.
Wow.. hope I find some on my trip..,👍👍👍
Good luck!
I was surprised you weren't surrounded by a cloud of mosquitos in the first grinding step. I think your can of OFF! is a vital tool in this process. :-)
It definitely is. There’s a swamp a little farther back in my yard. The mosquitos are awful.
that is so cool
Thanks!
Hey, thanks a lot!
Really nice job there. I have a very large rock that is supposed to be Brazilian agate but it also has Jasper and other minerals. It has a crust on it that is pretty hard and it is not calcite. I need a grinder like that but may have to do with a regular grinder and figure how to add water without electrocuting myself lol. The rock weighs 7 1/2 pounds. I have learned quite a lot from you. Thanks and havagudun.
Good luck with it. I think the diamond sanding pads that I use can be used wet or dry. I know some can, at least. You might want to invest in a respirator and just sand dry.
@@MichiganRocks I am going to buy a respirator next week. BTW I ask for some info from Kingsley North and I told them you referred me.
@@EDLaw-wo5it Thanks, I appreciate that. It would be cool to get some free products to review, but I don't know if they even do that.
You could try 3m rubbing compounds. They come in a paste. Looks great!
Thanks, I’ll look into that.
FANTASTIC. Really great!
Hi I'm new here I have also like this rocks I like to collect a nice stone
Awesome!
Essa máquina de poli q tem a lixa já saí água junto. Bem pratica. 👍 Interessante o processo de polimento da pedra. E um processo q leva tempo mais o resultado ficar vale a pena.
Man that really brought the colors out of that rock.
If you do it right, it should look wet when finished. I’m not sure I got quite a wet shine, but it’s not bad.
@@MichiganRocks yea brother it looks really good
Nice! Thank you for this tutorial. We have a monster huge Petoskey stone to polish!
Petoskey Stone is much softer than puddingstone, so the work will go much quicker. I did a pretty big one that I found in a quarry. The rock wasn't very good quality, but it shined up by this method pretty well.
Thank you! I’ll look up if you did a video on the polishing of it. My brother who’s passed found it and gave it to my Mom many years ago. She’s 92, so we’ll want to polish it this winter. Chuck said he almost died getting it :-)
Patty W P Schoonbeck you can start it just like I did in this video. I do have a Petoskey stone polishing video and you could finish up the last step or two like I did in that video.
Good job, no matter how you do it.
That turned out perfect!!
I thought it looked pretty good.
Wow so cool
Great job! Looks great!
Awesome! I actually have some solid granite stones that I won’t to polish. I have one almost the size of a beach ball. Could you guide me in the direction on how to polish natural granite stone?
I haven't polished granite, but I'd do it exactly like I did this one. I have confidence that it would turn out like this one did.
Excellent video 👍
Nice work
that's gorgeous!
Wondering how much work this puts on the polishing pads. That is, how many rocks of this size do you think you could before replacing the pads you prefer? Just thinking about the cost in terms of materials of doing this. (It's something I'd love to try!)
I have done three stone bowls and probably around ten rocks. I don't do that many because it's really time consuming and I don't want to irritate my neighbors with the noise too much. I'm still on my first Harbor Freight cup wheel. I have gone through three or four of the first couple coarse pads. I haven't replaced any of the other, finer pads yet. In my opinion, it's not that bad, just buy more of the first couple grits of coarse pads when you make an order so you don't have to keep ordering more.
@@MichiganRocks Awesome! Thanks!
I am very interested in your stone videos.
Great, I'm glad you like them!
I’m going to try to do this!
Go for it! It’s not difficult.
Wow, awesome result! Just wondering, could you tumble it in your 12 lb barrel, or is it too large? Are there tumblers big enough to do it?
This was too big for any of my tumblers. There are some really big tumblers that would handle it,
I we live in Lake City Michigan and want to find more pudding stones where on Lake Huron would be a good spot like Alpina we were at towas and didn't find too much but the water was high
I'd try Harrisville State Park, Sturgeon Point Lighthouse, or Negwegon State Park. At Negwegon, you have to walk about a mile down the trail at the north end of the parking lot until you get to the Blue Bell campsite. Go to the water there and continue to the north. Farther south, the Singing Bridge public access was good too. You have to get wet there about to your knees because the water is high, but I found several good ones. Singing Bridge Video: ua-cam.com/video/JF469dElD3E/v-deo.html
Any chance you could link or recommend the correct angle grinder for polishing? Not sure if I need a variable speed one or go with a fixed speed. Thought I read you don’t want to go above 4500 rpms or close to that. Thanks again!
I use a Makita electronic stone polisher. It is variable speed with the top speed being 4000 rpm. I run it at the top speed all the time.
www.amazon.com/Makita-PW5001C-4-Inch-Electronic-Polisher/dp/B0002HC2HU/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=Makita+wet+stone+polisher&qid=1603716649&sr=8-5
I just liked and sub this is a great place to learn for me just starting the rock hounding thing in Upper michigan
What brand are you using for sanders? They look like Makita's? Can you use the same process on say a large agate that you want to do just one face or any rock that you want to have just one face finished?
It's a Makita. I have it listed in my Amazon storefront, which is in the description of this video if you want to see exactly what I'm using. You could easily polish just one face of a rock rather than the whole thing. I have made a few bowls this way too: ua-cam.com/video/3QaMUvfbJfU/v-deo.html
I have a couple large rocks like that and a few small ones much like that from the Gold beach OR beach.
Beautiful work! I'm curious, is the wet grinder a commercially available product or did you modify a dry grinder?
CplSki USMC it’s a Makita wet stone grinder. I think it would be a very bad idea to modify an electric tool with water.
Very nice! Did you polish the rock this way rather than tumbling it due to the time difference the methods take?
No, this rock was way too big to fit in a tumbler barrel.
What was the purpose of the diamond wheel again? Does that just grind out the roughest areas?
They were all diamond wheels. I assume you mean the first cup wheel. That is very aggressive and grinds out the worst spots pretty easily. From there, it's just a matter of using finer and finer grits to smooth out the scratches left behind by the earlier discs. It's a lot like sanding wood.
@@MichiganRocks Did not realize they were all diamond. Thank you.
Do you have a recommended RPM for each of the wet polishing pads? I know the Makita has 5 different speeds. Thanks!
I think I just ran them full speed.
Great site, thanks. Just have a question for you, if I may? Have you ever tried using an air-powered angle grinder instead of electrical? It strikes me as being a tad less hazardous but since I'm new to this rather addictive hobby, I would be most grateful for any tips you and the rock-hound community may have, thanks. Have lots of beautiful jasper awaiting my ministrations... ?=)
No I haven't tried an air powered grinder, but I agree it would be safer. The one I have has a built in GFI and I have it plugged into a GFI outlet. I also wear rubber gloves and rubber shoes, although the rubber shoes are usually full of water, so I don't think that does much good.
@@MichiganRocks Thanks for that. I just bought myself an air compressor today and since I'm used to using air-powered die-grinders on a/c, I think I will give them a go. I find them less cumbersome to use when compared to an angle grinder.
Keep up the awesome postings. Wifee and I love them.
@@K1w1scot One of the reasons that I went electric is that I don't have an air compressor. If you had one for something else, that seems like a good way to go.
@@MichiganRocks I'll let you know how it goes, if you like.
@@K1w1scot Yes, I'd like to know.
is that a makita wet stone polisher?
Yes.
LOVE the channel! What brand/model wet polisher was that? I'd like to buy one now for some of my larger stones. Thanks!
It’s a Makita. It has worked really well so far.
I've been thinking of doing this a lot recently. This looks like a great method. Ever do any large boulders?
Jeff Clark of Clarkle Sparkle
That would be considered a large boulder by most with an interest in lapidary.
The biggest one I’ve done was about twice as big as this one. I’ve never done something so big that I couldn’t move it. I see no reason it couldn’t be done, it would just take a lot longer.
@@symonsheppard5519 hahaha. Something you can't move with one person and no tools. This is just a stone and i could lift it very easily.
@@MichiganRocks are there any types of rock you've done that didn't work so well?
Oh that grinder sound is painful with headphones, even muted as it was. *Yakety Sax* would seem appropriate to me...
orion khan I wear ear buds and listen to podcasts as I work. The first wheel is the loudest.
I was thinking as an alternate audio track to any grinding sound... film a time lapse and *_bewm_* you’re *Benny Hill.*
Wow! Isn’t that beautiful! Its a lot of work, but that pays off in the end.
TONI DUPONT-MORA I found the crystals searching for diamonds in my youtup channel ➡️ cambaz cnl
Right tools for the job would help. Looked like you were having a bit of trouble with the drill at the end there.
You’re right, I need to find something that will fit on my wet grinder.
😍😍😍😍
Niccccce 👊💨. Grow your own 🌱🍁💚☝
Currently watching the Mexican place episode.i found an excellent website called gemsbymail.com..that has a vast selection of stones to order for tumbling and such.. FYI
I’ve heard of that place, but I have never ordered from them.
👍👌👏
Nhìn phân của nó kìa
Oh yes and that stone has a piece of pet wood embedded in it.
I have never heard of puddingstone having pet wood in it, and I didn't recognize any in this one. Can you tell me the time in the video that you saw it and approximately where on the rock?
@@MichiganRocks Not your puddingstone. was referring to a rock that I have. sorry.
@@EDLaw-wo5it Oh, ok. I missed that.
Have you ever gone nighttime rock hunting for yooperlite? I just watched a video of these stones that are grey in daylight but fluorescent with a UV light at night. Glow in the dark, fluorescent sodalite. Pretty darn incredible! I wonder how they would appear once they were polished? Would a polished yooperlite still fluoresce? I copied the link to the story of the yooperlite.
ua-cam.com/video/KxOIyheHXMo/v-deo.html
I have been reading about yooperlites for a couple of years now. I bought a cheap UV light to take with me to the U.P. this year, but I forgot it at home. I’m almost 100% sure they’d still glow if you polished them, but I can’t say how well they’d polish. Some rocks polish better than others.
Michigan Rocks Have you ever taken a UV light to the rocks you've already picked? Who knows, you may already have a yooperlite in your collection, lol!
@@purrrrson Good point. I have only tried that with Petoskey Stones. I heard that calcite fluoresces under UV light. I tried my cheap light on those, but I didn't see much. I really think I need a better light to see much. I should try my light on my finds from this summer.
My husband and I are completely hooked to your channel! We just purchased some land in Fostoria, MI with a 22 acre lake on it. It used to be a gravel pit so we have found SOO many beautiful and unique stones (including Petoskey!) so we are stocking up on all the polishing gear. Thank you for being so informative and also entertaining!
That sounds like fun. I'm glad I can help out a little.
Hey neighbor I’m in North Branch. Amazing place we live
And I liked how you did the before and after picture to show the comparison it’s very nice good job 👏
Carson Frisch Thanks Carson!
I have a new appreciation for pudding rocks! Thanks!
Sue Erickson I found the crystals searching for diamonds in my youtup channel ➡️ cambaz cnl
Me, too.
Very nice! Thank-you for another great video as always, you make a great teacher ☺️
Wow, you are a fantastic rock smith. Great work. I’ll be watching this one again! Upon closer inspection, your work really brought out the jaspelite or banded iron rock on the right!
Gorgeous rock! You do great work. I enjoy your videos immensely.
The before and after photos are nice, I wish you could do this for random stones you collect, it's always interesting to see what they turn out to look like.
I have a video in the works right now showing some rocks from Lake Superior that I’m tumbling.
Thanks for being so kind to do this step by step as you did. Very well done. What an artist (and teacher) you are. Rock polishing aside, you are quite a good instructional video maker. Bravo!
Thanks, Rick. I'm trying.
Crazy talented
👍♥️🙏
Wow! a beautiful stone and fine polish
great! just today i was looking at similar sized rocks in my garden, wondering how i would be able to tumble them. now i know. i need to purchase one of those wet grinder -polisher and pads. fantastic. great post!
I haven’t been able to get them quite as shiny as tumbling, but the matrix is much better this way. When I tumble smaller ones, the matrix always gets quite pitted.
Incredible piece!
Nahuel Britos I found the crystals searching for diamonds in my youtup channel ➡️ cambaz cnl
Hey! Love your videos. I want to polish quartz (rose quartz, very very large pieces) the same way you did in this video, do you know what tools I will need, it has a hardness of 7?
Check out my Amazon storefront in the description. I have a section just for those tools. Puddingstone is fairly hard. It's quartzite with chert and jasper pebbles, among others. The tools are all diamond, so they should work fine for you.
@@MichiganRocks thank you so much, I've been looking but can't find a similar one in Europe / netherlands. Not with a water entry
@@jellevansluis191 They're used to polish concrete or stone countertops. So if you have those, then these should be available. Maybe search for "granite polisher" or "wet stone polisher" You can't use most angle grinders because they go too fast for the diamond pads. You can use a lot of the diamond pads dry, but not at really high speeds. You will also create a lot of dust if you work dry.
This is just the information I’ve been looking for, thanks!
Cvx 2dog I glad i could help!
Congratulations, this video is amazing, good luck ❤❤
just want to say you really did a great job! thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Cyrus!
My parents had a puddingstone a little smaller than this one that was cut in half. I inherited it when they died and I always thought it was just some slag conglomerate put together. I never knew it was a real rock (never learned of it in my Texas geology class years ago) until I saw you collecting them on another video. I had never heard of a petoskey stone either. You have amazing things at the Great Lakes we don't have in Southern Indiana!
I think it's fun that different places have different rocks. We are lucky here in Michigan to have a huge variety. The rocks near my house in Lake Huron are completely different than the rocks up in the U.P. If you get up to the Keweenaw Peninsula, there is a huge variety of rocks and minerals.
wow ! great puddingstone !! I've found a few one even shaped like a turtle !! unfortunately lost it...😟 great video on polishing methods start to finish !! will you be adding it to your garden or as an centerpiece on a table ?
I did this one for someone else. I’m not sure what they’ve done with it.
J Shiloh Shea I found the crystals searching for diamonds in my youtup channel ➡️ cambaz cnl
Do you think a gowganda tillite would shine up? You're El Cajon bay video helped me identify that! Thank you!
Gui Jo yes. I think they’d polish by this method better than by tumbling.
I’d like a large pudding stone to polish like this... because the rock is _amazeballs_ and my neighbors are all asshats.