My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
To grind or mot to grind.
That is the question.
I have been purchasing my mineral / rock thin sections for about $8.00 CDN per slide or $700.00 CDN /100. I know it is not cost effective to buy a lapping machine ($650.00 CDN) and make less than a 100 slides. But could I make my own slides by hand with the tools I already own.
The slide presentation shows my first attempt at grinding and polishing two thin section slides.
It is still Winter outside (March 6, 2015) and no opportunity for picking up sample rocks of any kind. Unless it is the rock salt they put on roads.
I did manage to find some rocks in my landscaping supplies for my model buildings. The rocks were also just the right size for a first attempt.
See photo 1.
Making thin section slides, according to the articles on the web, requires patience and a very flat work surface. Patience is free, but the very flat work surface required purchasing a lapping plate from Lee Valley Tools. $16.00 and a series of carbide polishing papers. $18.00 CDN.
I do not know why, but I always seem to follow the Frank Sinatra song "I did it my way."
To mount the rock I used Super Glue Gel, not the liquid as suggested. The evidence of that is on Photo 6.
The process is rather straight forward and slow and can be outlined in these steps.
1 Mount the rock on a wooden clothes pin.
2 grind and polish on side flat.
3 Glue the flat side to a clean slide.
4 Use the Dremel to with a cut off disk to trim the rock as close to the slide as possible
5 Use the Dremel tool with a drum sander and grind the rock as close as possible without screwing up.
6 Place a sheet of #80 grit on the lapping plate and slowly grind the rock flat.
7 Continue the process with 100, 220, 400 and 600 grit papers. Carefully cleaning the sample and work area between grits.
8 Check for specimen thinness by looking through it with an OLD microscope you do not use anymore. It will get dirty and be useless for anything else in the future.
9 When light shines through the specimen, switch to 800 and 1200 grit for the final polish.
10 Figure out "Was it worth it?"
Review what I did. (Wrong)
1 I did not polish the first flat face smooth enough.
2 I used the wrong mountant.
3 I did not polish the final surface long enough.
4 I did it my way.
It was an interesting experiment, but not something I would do on a regular basis. I would do it again if I came across a specimen that looked interesting and was not already in my collection.
Click on the image
[/url]
to see the slide presentation.
That is the question.
I have been purchasing my mineral / rock thin sections for about $8.00 CDN per slide or $700.00 CDN /100. I know it is not cost effective to buy a lapping machine ($650.00 CDN) and make less than a 100 slides. But could I make my own slides by hand with the tools I already own.
The slide presentation shows my first attempt at grinding and polishing two thin section slides.
It is still Winter outside (March 6, 2015) and no opportunity for picking up sample rocks of any kind. Unless it is the rock salt they put on roads.
I did manage to find some rocks in my landscaping supplies for my model buildings. The rocks were also just the right size for a first attempt.
See photo 1.
Making thin section slides, according to the articles on the web, requires patience and a very flat work surface. Patience is free, but the very flat work surface required purchasing a lapping plate from Lee Valley Tools. $16.00 and a series of carbide polishing papers. $18.00 CDN.
I do not know why, but I always seem to follow the Frank Sinatra song "I did it my way."
To mount the rock I used Super Glue Gel, not the liquid as suggested. The evidence of that is on Photo 6.
The process is rather straight forward and slow and can be outlined in these steps.
1 Mount the rock on a wooden clothes pin.
2 grind and polish on side flat.
3 Glue the flat side to a clean slide.
4 Use the Dremel to with a cut off disk to trim the rock as close to the slide as possible
5 Use the Dremel tool with a drum sander and grind the rock as close as possible without screwing up.
6 Place a sheet of #80 grit on the lapping plate and slowly grind the rock flat.
7 Continue the process with 100, 220, 400 and 600 grit papers. Carefully cleaning the sample and work area between grits.
8 Check for specimen thinness by looking through it with an OLD microscope you do not use anymore. It will get dirty and be useless for anything else in the future.
9 When light shines through the specimen, switch to 800 and 1200 grit for the final polish.
10 Figure out "Was it worth it?"
Review what I did. (Wrong)
1 I did not polish the first flat face smooth enough.
2 I used the wrong mountant.
3 I did not polish the final surface long enough.
4 I did it my way.
It was an interesting experiment, but not something I would do on a regular basis. I would do it again if I came across a specimen that looked interesting and was not already in my collection.
Click on the image
[/url]
to see the slide presentation.
Re: My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
I like the story sequence and I bet there is more satisfaction from doing your own. BTW, not bad
Can't wait to see more.
Can't wait to see more.
Re: My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
Hi QCC,
Can you tell us how long it took you to prepare these slides, it can give a real handle on the value of the commercially prepared ones.
I think after the 1200 grit you need to polish your specimen with rouge.
Peter.
Can you tell us how long it took you to prepare these slides, it can give a real handle on the value of the commercially prepared ones.
I think after the 1200 grit you need to polish your specimen with rouge.
Peter.
Re: My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
The making of the two slides took three days.
Not three days of work, but 2.75 days of waiting for glue to set.
There are two glue stages and each one requires the glue to set really hard.
I started out with very small rock samples as suggested by the DIY sites. This was wise in that the first stage of grinding a flat surface on the sample did not take too long. About two hours.
It was probably unwise in that I thought this is a piece of cake and probably went too fast.
I did spend longer on the second face, about three hours.
As you mentioned, I should have finished off with a 2000 grit polish.
The first attempt at making thin section mineral slides did not take long. The actual labour part was about seven hours. I spent as much time manufacturing a thickness gauge and grinding / polishing holder for the slide and specimen. These can be used for the next attempt.
There will be another attempt ...
Not three days of work, but 2.75 days of waiting for glue to set.
There are two glue stages and each one requires the glue to set really hard.
I started out with very small rock samples as suggested by the DIY sites. This was wise in that the first stage of grinding a flat surface on the sample did not take too long. About two hours.
It was probably unwise in that I thought this is a piece of cake and probably went too fast.
I did spend longer on the second face, about three hours.
As you mentioned, I should have finished off with a 2000 grit polish.
The first attempt at making thin section mineral slides did not take long. The actual labour part was about seven hours. I spent as much time manufacturing a thickness gauge and grinding / polishing holder for the slide and specimen. These can be used for the next attempt.
There will be another attempt ...
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Re: My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
I think this is totally worth it! You should try petrified wood, I will probably try your technique on a few hardy fossils!
Re: My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
Thanks for sharing... I have always wanted to do this, but it seems like a tremendous amount of work... I like your step by step method...
Re: My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
Thanks.
I have recently purchased a flat lap machine with several diamond grinding discs and am in the process of making a few more "first attempts" with different minerals.
I am starting off with soft rocks.
They are relatively soft. The size I am working with if dropped on your foot would probably result in "Damn!" not "Ouch!"
I have recently purchased a flat lap machine with several diamond grinding discs and am in the process of making a few more "first attempts" with different minerals.
I am starting off with soft rocks.
They are relatively soft. The size I am working with if dropped on your foot would probably result in "Damn!" not "Ouch!"
Re: My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
Hello,
Have you any photos through the microscope of some finished mounts you have done?...
Have you any photos through the microscope of some finished mounts you have done?...
Re: My first attempt at making rock thin sections by hand
The gallery presentation shows what I have managed to this point. They are not the greatest thin sections, but I am improving. At least the failure rate has dropped if that is any indication.
The thin sections
The thin sections