Contour polishing petrified wood

[@CuriousEarthMan]

thanks for the great video-- so beautiful to see! would have loved to see the tools in action. Planning to buy a wet polisher, wonder about how much water they put out along with if electric or air powered, and also would like to see how the different pads look in use, down to a 50,000 polish. but really nice work there, thanks! and your Arizona one too...that one is awesome as you turn in it!

[@joebishop4316]

That is a nice job; I like polishing the petrified wood with the natural brake, I think it really makes the rock stand out. Thanks for the video

[@rodwhite9737]

Wow! Good job with the polish. I like it, but more color is what appeals to me. You had some beautiful stills of colorful ones.

[@mrguitarwho7141]

now that's a whole new meaning for " tailgaiting' Good Job !!

[@lizzymoore54]

Thanks for the reply! I have pieces that I have found on the east coast in mountain rivers and on the sides of mountains. They are small compared to the pieces you have but I love the feel of mine. So smooth, almost polished already, glass like. Very small to pieces about 4-5 lbs. I use a " beeswax " to polish them. I let it set then use a soft brush to burnish them. Some pieces look as though they were in fire, millions of years ago and some look as though they have been " cut " before they petrified. Wonder who cut the wood originally, millions of years ago? I'd love to see if any of mine have opal in them but just can't bring myself to remove any of the bark.😊

[@patrickakins9641]

all the best pieces are the ones that you find yourself!! I also understand the feeling of not wanting to cut or change the material - I guess that's why I like the contour polishing process- it's a compromise between polished and all natural :) glad you enjoy this like I do!!

[@lucascornelisse6896]

what do you think of devils tower and basalt columns do you think these are petrofied wood?

[@patrickakins9641]

I don't think so

[@lucascornelisse6896]

Well every basalt spots resemble cell stem structure and lava flows make swirling patterns and all around basalt relics the find petrified wood and fossilised leaves especially devils tower no lava in the area and appears to be a petrofied tree stump with the outer membrain being the softer cells on the outside which crumble away over time alot of people theorize that for these reasons and perfect hexagonal cell structure I am truly looking at these as prehistoric tree fossles over thousands of years they have been slowly falling apart...... Try searching devils tower tree. Its really interesting theory... I truly don't see how lava flows can create these as they would be represented in eruptions today which they never do....

[@lucascornelisse6896]

Patrick Akins secretenergy.com/news/are-these-giant-prehistoric-trees/ This truly blew my mind this concept I know it sounds so different from what we know but I thought I could share with you and maybe this could blow your mind too idk remember this is just a theory

[@saaamember97]

Beautiful work! I am also into the art of lapidary. Wish I could find some petrified wood of the size you show in this video. Currently getting in some practice before I start on our two largest pieces of petrified palmwood (~ 60 lbs each). I also do video work. Suggestion: Slow down your panning. You are not allowing the viewer time enough to get a feel of what you are showing them.

[@clivechirova115]

Can get this size got you in WhatsApp [phone]

[@PwnerEpicGuy]

Hi There, thank you for the video, it is very informative and it actually made me want to try it for myself, however i am curious as to what RPM's you keep the polisher at during different stages, I usually keep mine at a steady 1750 RPM throughout but I heard some people slow the polisher right down for the final polishing. hope you can shed some light as your pieces look amazing and i would like to use the same method for my own specimens. Many thanks in advance.

[@brendapalmer3565]

I love this wood !!! I have some small pieces.I am in love with it!!!!!!

[@rawpower172]

This was awesome to watch wish I could buy one

[@EDLaw-wo5it]

Excellent vid! Wish I could have watched you work though Do you have a shop? I live in southern Okla. and would love to see more.

[@johnmorales7415]

Excellent polishing work sir gorgous specimens .

[@OfficialKequan]

I went Arizona and got some wood like yours my brother found one and broke a peace of and I polished it to day

[@gunnareriksen8756]

Nice. What a wonderful word.

[@gunnareriksen8756]

World

[@chili9843]

beautiful work, would you mind tell us what kind of pad do you use for the 50000 mesh dry polish? thanks

[@MGk-Farmer]

That would be a sight to see it looks so amazing i just want to touch it I've seen petrified wood but nothing like that it looks better than a diamond in my opinion

[@bandilla7317]

nice

[@MrMinigun457]

I just wanted to know at 7:08 is that Arizona rainbow wood? And where did you get it? How much did it weigh? Same goes for the big black one you polished I want one to polish as well Thank you

[@paulpitman9865]

I have a very similar piece I have been working on for several months. A few questions: what speeds (rpm) do you use for the various grits; how long do you use each grit size on each piece; I seem to have a hard time not creating scratches with my pads as I move over the contours of the stone...how do I avoid that; do you use a wet pad for your final polish and what size. Thanks in advance.

[@nunyabidness6242]

If you look at his gear at 0:11 you'll see he is using a MK Diamond wet polisher. I'm sure he uses water on every pad. I'd bet the stone is just dried after each grit level so we can see it better. I'm sure we all have a tough time avoiding the scratches we creates. I do so by being less aggressive, take my time and focusing on getting out the grooves early on - usually before I get to 100 grit. Good luck!

[@Mack49230]

I'd love to get to fabicrate a few pieces like this

[@minimotors1]

What are you using for your first dry grind ??

[@joeyaltmann1]

Hi Patrick! Lovely job on that piece! Can you tell me which rpms you use for grinding?

[@patrickakins9383]

Hi, I have an old model 1503 MK Diamond grinder, not the variable speed model. Think the operating speed is fixed at around 3500 rpm, but I don't know for sure...

[@joeyaltmann1]

@@patrickakins9383 Throughout the process you use the same grinder? or do you swap after grinding? the reason I ask is because I see two tools in your video- Cheers

[@loueckert4970]

Amazing, thanks for posting

[@cvray2777]

Hi Patrick, I was wondering if you purchased this piece or if you were lucky to find it? I'm looking for a BIG piece myself. :)

[@patrickakins9641]

I purchased this from a rock shop in St John's AZ. I've had good luck shopping on Craigslist as well.... how large of a piece do you want?

[@cvray2777]

maybe about 5 ft long. I want to cut it to make a table.

[@parkerkimber5843]

Hi i was wondering what brand and size of wet sander/sanders you use to do this kind of work, and approximately how long did this project take? Thanks!!!

[@patrickakins9641]

Hi, I use an MK Diamond machine. i have tried the Barranca sander and it works fine, too. the diamond resin pads can be purchased through either company or in numerous online sites. some work better than others, so you have to ship around to find the best deal for the material you work with. this project took about 6 hours of steady work.

[@parkerkimber5843]

Thank you for the quick reply, ive been slab cutting alot but it would be nice to do some of my larger pieces and this turned out very nice so it looks like i have some shopping to do!

[@DWH1911]

I have a piece I have always wanted to get polished. Do you do this for other folks or only for personal enjoyment?

[@patrickakins9641]

Dee Hugo - I would like to see the project you have in mind. I do work for other people but I don't have the means to handle really large pieces anymore. send me the approximate dimensions or a picture of the stone you would like polished. I live in Flower Mound TX.

[@АлександрПерчов-ж9у]

St. Johns AZ, huh? Not too far, really, from Holbrook or Snowflake AZ....Is that a species known as 'Woodworthia' or 'Schilderia'? I believe those are extinct species of what we call Ginko tree's; there's a lot of that around Snowflake on BLM land; it was legal to collect off of BLM land 20 years ago; not sure now...I got a bunch of Schilderia limb casts from the Escalante that are lined with small quartz crystals (before it was declared a historical monument by Clinton in 1998); when it was still legal to collect there...Both those species are a lot rarer than the Auricauna species; which were pine like coniferous trees; which are basically the Arizona 'Rainbow' colored specimens; as compared to Schilderia & Woodworthia which, being Ginko's, were broad leaf dissiduous trees....

[@thingsofsuch]

Man all you needed to do was spray on some Pledge and wipe off. Done deal. Naw, JK, this is a great specimens with great results. As you stated it is cool to have the "fossil within a fossil" with the spore rings.

[@jimmywhitlow7174]

Looks like the river chert we have here.

[@lizzymoore54]

What did you use to stabilize the cracks and fissures? Also, what was the white chalky pen you used?

[@patrickakins9641]

I used super glue to seal the small cracks, but I mix sand or crushed pieces of petrified wood if there are large holes that I want to fill. have to be careful with that, though... it never really looks natural when there is too much fill. I use Crayola crayons to mark the surface between steps... be careful not to leave the crayon on the stone on a hot day. the wax melts into the tiny holes in the surface of the wood and has to be ground out :/

[@calvinh.8882]

If something melts into the cracks, just take a small hand torch and re-melt it and blow it out with and air hose.. Beautiful pieces you have.. Peace!

[@drpk6514]

Beautiful, how long did it take?

[@patrickakins9641]

Mohammad Karbaschi - this took me about 8 hours total to complete

[@dudeman3986]

You did all the steps of buffing a car

[@rickbangloy2031]

I also have a one piece sir the color is black

[@robertlee9712]

so weres the trees age lines in the middle i see a lot of blood no tree for the real information.go to MUDFOSSIL UNIVERSITY

[@nunyabidness6242]

Not even all trees today have growth rings (palm wood, saguaro, etc.) and the vast majority of the petrified wood I've polished collected locally don't have growth rings. It may also be that if rings are there, they just aren't visible after the petrification process.

[@mantisimo]

hi. Do you trade your petrified wood?

[@patrickakins9641]

sometimes - I've been to a few swaps and I've traded for tools and equipment. what did you have in mind?

[@clivechirova115]

I can sell to you from Zimbabwe

[@RR67890]

Why can't you hold the camera steady? Stop bouncing around. I couldn't get passed 2 minutes.

[@HAPPYPUMPKN]

Why not finish it with compound & finishing glaze ? Would look like a show car clear coat finish... I buffed Show cars for a living... It could look better & in half or less time.... It looks good, just took far more steps then needed to get perfectionism !

[@Sea1fly]

Boring