Listing of Past Listserv Discussions

June 2002:

Subject:  Subject Jeweler In Tampa Area
From:     Greg Johnson Date:     6/04/02


Hi folks, I tried sending a message out earlier, but did not get a return message and am wondering if there 
is something wrong with the connections here.  I am looking to find a jewelry maker in the Tampa area who 
might help a client make a ring with a piece of amber.  Or, it would be nice to have any names of people 
who work silver and make jewelry.  Any suggestions?
 
Tammi


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Subject:  amber polishing?
From:     fgthjxfg_frgthgfyi >ah4764@yahoo.com
Date:     6/13/02


Does anyone have any experience polishing amber with a
lapidary wheel? I've been using a hand drill with a
sanding attachment but I want to find a proper wheel.

Is there a particular kind I should look for? I can't
find anything other than very expensive gem polishing
wheels.

Can amber be polished well on a cloth wheel? Doing it
by hand takes a long time.

Thanks



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Subject:  Re: amber polishing?
From:     John 
Date:     6/13/02

Look in archives, also Gianfranco's website has good tips at
http://www.amber-ambre-inclusions.info/ or our host's website to name few
that talk about polishing. You must start with rougher grit to remove
unwanted material before switching to polishing one, otherwise it will take
a long time. I have never used a lapidary wheel.
I have samples from 50 kg batch of rough Baltic amber examined for a science
paper, all those thousands of pieces started with sand paper before being
polished

By the way, this paper will be published soon in Acta Cracoviensia and
everyone interested in inclusions in Baltic amber will be suprised I think,
by the actual numbers of inclusions in rough amber!
John



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Subject:  Amber special on Discovery Kids Tonight
From:     Scott Anderson 
Date:     6/05/02

Hi Everyone,
 
If the preview feature from my cable outfit is correct (Adelphia - Northern VA), tonight at 6:00 and again 
at 9:00 EST, the episode entitled "The Science of Jurassic Park" from the Children's series Bonehead 
Dectectives will be airing.  It's on The Discovery Kids Network, which is channel 101 for Adelphia subscribers.  
Anyone who gets the whole suite of Discovery Channels from Dish Network, etc. should have this one too.
 
This episode is essentially a re-edit of the version seen on PaleoWorld.  It's the episode with Dr. Grimaldi 
and Roy Larimer.  Roy gets the Bonehead award.  It also has them visiting the NJ location.
 
Even though it's on the Discovery Kids Network, it's worth checking out.
 
Thanks,
 
Scott Anderson





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Subject:  RE: Amber Polishing?
From:     Les Sayetta >sayless@adelphia.net>
Date:     6/13/02

RE:  polishing amber
 
Of utmost importance, is keeping the RPM of your wheel at a low speed.  Anything more than several hundred 
RPM, will generate heat that can cause the amber to get sticky, and or get really nasty.  I find the heat 
problem exists even when hand polishing, if I get too enthusiastic.
 
Be careful.  Amber does not respond well to too much heat.
 
Les



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Subject:  RE: Amber Polishing?
From:     Les Sayetta 
Date:     6/13/022

Kirk...
 
Did not say the amber would melt if polished too hard, but it most certainly will get nasty and sticky. 
 
I guess you can do almost anything with genuine amber......  have seen some amazing fakes.
 
Les




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Subject: Re: Amber Polishing?
From:    Yale Goldman 
Date:    6/13/02
 
I have had the experience of copal melting when put under pressure during polishing. I have not had 
this experience when I've polished amber in the same manner.

Just this week, I've seen 4 fakes of lizards in Baltic amber. The jewelry who showed me the pieces 
had purchased the 4 four together for several hundred dollars. I took her without seeing them, they 
were fake. The lizard was placed on a real piece of baltic amber which was then enclosed on top and 
sides by some type of resin.

Remember real lizard, scorpions, etc are going to cost 1000's of dollars.

Sincerely,

Yale Goldman


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Subject:  Re: amber polishing?
From:     Greg Johnson 
Date:     6/14/02

Hi folks, speaking of really interesting fakes.....my partner and I are
updating our Amber Gallery web site and would like to feature photos of
fakes.  Would you be willing to send me digital scans of some good ones that
we could post up?  You would of course be credited, and/or a link to your
site provided.  Thanks!




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Subject: Ivan Milani
From:    Ivan Elin >ivanelin@hotmail.com
Date:    6/14/02

I'M IVAN MILANI ,HOW CAN SUSCRIBE AT YOUR LIST.I LIVE IN CHIAPAS... 

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Subject:  lapidary wheel
From:     fgthjxfg_frgthgfyi 
Date:     6/15/02

Does anyone have any recommendations for what sort of
lapidary wheel to use on amber? I'm looking for a
brand name or something that will assist in my search. Thanks.



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Subject:  Re: lapidary wheel
From:     John 
Date:     6/18/02

Maybe this is why: http://www.gravescompany.com/grinding.htm


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Subject: Re: Lapidary Wheel
From:    ah4764 
Date:    6/17/02

So, no one on this forum has ever used a lapidary
wheel for polishing amber?

I really do need to find one.



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Subject: Lapidary Wheel
From:    Andie Paysinger 
Date:    6/18/02


I tried to send this a few days ago but it kept bouncing.


I polish amber on a lapidary multi-wheel machine but I have a "step down" pulley  on the shaft and on the 
motor shaft and set the belt on the motor pulley on the smallest  wheel and on the shaft on the largest wheel.  
I timed it out with a strobe and the polishing wheel is only turning at about 800 rpm.  
I use the "rag" wheels instead of the hard cotton wheels.  These wheels are hundreds of layers of cotton 
cloth sewn together.  I am sure you have seen them.  They are very effective and will not cut into the amber.  
I even use them for cleaning up hard wax when I do a wax carving for casting.   I have a tiny mist nozzle 
hanging over the face of the wheel and a valve in a foot pedal so I can mist a little water onto the face of 
the wheel to keep it cool.
I converted one of the plant watering coiled tubes to make this little gem.  I saw one in a gardening catalog 
and figured I could find a lot of uses for such a "gadget" and so I have.  

I also use a mini "sand" cutting airbrush  for cutting and polishing odd shapes I have carved.  You have to 
be very careful and use a vacuum system and wear a respirator mask but you can do a lot of very interesting 
work with one of these.  
It looks like an airbrush and you need a compressor but it is very, very fast and very precise.  


Andie Paysinger & the PENDRAGON Basenjis, Teafer ,Singer & Player
asenji@earthlink.net   So. Calif. USA   "In the face of adversity, be
patient, in the face of a basenji, be prudent, be canny, be on your
guard!"
http://home.earthlink.net/~asenji/

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Subject: amber crazing
From:    ah4764 
Date:    6/23/02

Some of the Dominican pieces I've had for ten years or
so are showing signs of crazing; a network of fine
cracks over the surface that obscures the interior.
Other Dominican specimens I have show no signs of it.

The Baltic pieces seem pretty stable, although the
white opaque pieces have slightly darkened into more
yellow-orange colors. Polishing them over takes care
of it.

Because Copal crazes after just a few years, I wonder
if signs of crazing in Dominican amber means that the
piece is of a younger age than the ones that don't.

Thinking that the crazing was due to exposure to the
atmosphere, I experimented with an inexpensive piece
by coating it with clear polyurethane, but it began
crazing again anyway. I suspect now that crazing is a
result of evaporating terpenes within the amber, so
the polyurethane would have been useless since
exposure to oxygen was not the problem.

The only way I have been able to fix badly effected
specimens is by grinding and polishing them over
again.



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Subject: rather scary...
From:    John 
Date:    6/25/02

Rather scary if you ask me, especially for people who do not just want "amber"...
I just came across this posting surfing amber topics:
 

    Well all here is a little trade secret when I was at the Amber Company
    we cut hundreds of kilos of Amber Baltic, Chiapan, Dominican, you name
    it we were cutting it. the good chiapan Amber is much Like Dominican
    Amber same basic age (slightly younger than Baltic if I remember
    correctly Mexican/Dominican approx 30 million years old, Baltic 40 to
    60 million years old). we used standard lapidary techniques to cut our
    amber, and polished with cerium on wet leather (this only works on
    natural amber, copal is to soft and usually just smears, heat treated
    amber is recuttable but you may find the amber inside is a different
    color usually much paler in color than the outside due to the heating
    and treating of the amber, or the fact that most of the Baltic amber
    used in the mass produced Russian and polish jewelry is reconstituted,
    amber scrap that is melted back together). Any way to address your
    problem we healed many pieces that exhibited cracks, or were broken
    altogether, by heating very lightly( we used a dop pot) you don't want
    to melt it, or burn it, just drive out the moisture. Then use crazy
    glue (cyanoacrylate) the very thin kind to fill the cracks it will
    actually migrate into the piece, then spray with the accelerator to
    make sure it hardens completely. you can then recut the piece. Amber is
    basically a natural polymer(plastic) in mexico(chiapas) they hand sand
    and polish with brasso metal polish and a hand rub, results are not
    as satisfactory as true lapidary techniques but it works. crazy glue:
    the brand I've always used is from Satellite city p.o.box 836 Simi
    valley,CA 93062 805 522 0062 they have a nice variety of thicknesses
    from thin to gap filling.

Alex
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