What Do You Need To Carve And Polish Stones With A Dremel?

[@coreymerrill3257]

Listen to Roy . Roy rocks is more than catchy title, Roy is awesome people and knows his opal and gear.

[@RoysRocks]

Thanks man. Hopefully helps people take those first steps.

[@idkwhatnonamemyself1951]

Thank you for mentioning safety equipment, in far too many hobbies where its needed i see tutorials and such that dont mention it at all, meaning beginners are likley not to do it safely.

[@RoysRocks]

I think a lot of the time people with experience do it without thinking forgetting that beginners might not even think about it so I'm just glad I remembered to mention it because I could easily forget. I wear safety glasses all day at work normally and dont even think about it.

[@idkwhatnonamemyself1951]

@@RoysRocks yeah, i supose when something is really natural to you it might not occur to you that others might not think about it. Good on you for mentioning it though.

[@kcc976]

Very nice going to give this a shot thanks😊

[@RoysRocks]

Good luck. Hopefully gems in the near future.

[@vladimirkomissarov9986]

TY!

[@RoysRocks]

Hope it helps.

[@amirmousavi5969]

would be great if you had put Amazon links , you could make money through associate as well

[@RoysRocks]

I used to but I'm not the biggest fan of amazon so choose not to these days apart from the amazon shop category on the website.

[@niklazz7037]

Hi I am new to your channel and want to get into the hobby. This is amazing information thank you so much. I have a question. How long do the nova drill bits last you for? How many should I have around as extras. Thanks again for your help and this is a great channel am sure I am going to spend hours on.

[@RoysRocks]

They last a very long time but the 280 grit in particular will wear much faster than the rest so for every 3000 grit you'll go through a dozen 280s.

[@3SiameseCats]

Most helpful video! Currently outside with my dremel wondering how the hell to use to. Found a cool landscaping rock with some cool quartz and want to clean it up a bit

[@RoysRocks]

Happy to help. Its the aim of the game here.

[@gramonehundred]

I'm just getting into this. When I attempt to polish a rough jasper or pet wood, I can never get the surfaces completely polished. most of it is perfect, but there's what seems to be shollow indents that don't get polished. I use a dremel but smaller rocks. 50,80,120,240,380,480,600,800,1000,2000 grit. maybe it's too hot, or I'm unaware just unaware of the correct procedure lol. ty for reading lol✌🏽

[@RoysRocks]

I dont think you would need all of those grits. I would go hard 100-600 then soft 80, 240, 600, 1000, 2000 and finish with cerium oxide. Shallow indents I'm not sure about. that could only happen at the lower grit end.

[@gramonehundred]

@@RoysRocks ty. think I'm not spending enough time on the 50

[@nicolepinkham4241]

What does it mean to “go hard” on the 100-600 and then “go soft” afterwards? Is this a type of dremel point that is hard?

[@RoysRocks]

@@nicolepinkham4241 There are hard (metal burs) and soft (resin burs).

[@jencapaldi420]

Hey Roy, thanks for the short! I've been playing with my rotary tool & electroplated burrs, it's fun! But I'm having an issue with some of the deeper parts of the stone, I can't get the sandpaper in there. I was thinking of trying diamond paste & toothpicks or some shaped dowels. Any suggestions, or should I just put them to the side until I get some nova points? Also, what is the lowest speed on your dremel/rotary tool? I feel like mine is maybe just a little too fast at 8000, but it still may just need some getting used to. It just feels like the ideal speed would be around 5000-6000 rpm maybe... anyway, hope you're well! Thanks!

[@RoysRocks]

You can go for the toothpick and diamond paste method. I still use that occasionally when even a worn small nova point can't get into the tight gap. Suva lapidary have actually sent me a bonus in the last shipment that may also be an alternative and you'll see that in a long form video soon. 8000rpm is what I typically use 5000 on another tool I have feels too slow. I like 8000-10000rpm.

[@muhammedmihenne3617]

Tnx buddy ❤

[@RoysRocks]

No worries 👍

[@bearshield7138]

thank you

[@RoysRocks]

No worries. Hope it helps.

[@bearshield7138]

We will find out soon@@RoysRocks

[@RoysRocks]

Good luck, stay safe and have fun with it.@@bearshield7138

[@megansmith1382]

I need some cerium oxide. I have bought a ton of bits already but there are way too many people and places selling cerium oxide and I just didn't know who I can buy some from and who to trust. There are far to many mixed reviews on Amazon to purchase from them. I refuse to buy from just anyone when I start my new hobby of carving opals. So thank you for this 💓

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah I feel ya. Having bought more CeOx than any person I know (well over a dozen while researching what works best so I could develop my own) I fully agree that it can be very hit and miss. The listing on many sellers websites are just nothing like the product you receive and you waste soo much time getting it to work. Even worse, it really is not that expensive to develop really good stuff compared to the crappy cheap stuff so I dont know why companies penny pinch and sell below average CeOx.

[@JanWillemdeGeest]

Where can i buy these in the EU?

[@RoysRocks]

I would guess amazon

[@muhammadadib6366]

Where to get it powder ?

[@RoysRocks]

The polishing powders? I have them on roysrocks.com

[@rogerlimoseth4790]

I've read that tin oxide works best on softer stones like opal. I've never tried it but I am curious if anyone has.

[@RoysRocks]

Tin oxide is good but it sits between the hardness of CeOx and AlOx (about 6-7 MOHs). I prefer to use the CeOx on silica based materials as the chemical polishing potential is higher (so performs slightly better) or jumping to AlOx for hard materials. None of the Tin oxides I tested performed as well as many of the CeOx samples I tested. Most of the differences wont be noticeable by eye but when I take them to the lab I can see huge differences.

[@cassieclementine2252]

❤

[@RoysRocks]

❤💛💚💙💜

[@jamespace4023]

Sent you an email off your website Roy!

[@RoysRocks]

Hey James I have replied. Look forward to seeing/hearing more about the project.

[@thomasnorthcastle4130]

Silica dust will also give you a condition called sarcoidosis in which I have from breathing in silica dust.

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah its pretty nasty stuff. I'm still trying to get an expert on the channel to talk about it. Australia is banning the use of manmade stone for things like countertops because of silicosis. Its why I never cut without water, dont trust a mask alone to get the job done.

[@SophieMire-ek1fn]

OMG. Beautiful huge Opal😅

[@RoysRocks]

I reckon you saw the big Boulder opal. Still one of my faves.

[@mepik15]

I have those.. and they dont even touch quartz.. how or with what the actual fuck do i do this?

[@RoysRocks]

Quartz is on the harder end of the opal spectrum (around 7+). For that hardness electroplated do really struggle so you really will need to consider sintered diamond burrs. They still wear but can still cut along the way.

[@barretthart5603]

The problem isn't polishing them. It's getting them.

[@RoysRocks]

I am very lucky to be living in Adelaide Australia where you can get opal all over the place without trying too hard.

[@barretthart5603]

@@RoysRocks I would love to have a beautiful stone like this one to cut. I live in the States. Really hard to get quality off of your island. Boulder Is a little easier than say Lightning Ridge rough, but everyone wants finished prices for rough stones these days.