How To Stabilize And Color Enhance Soft Turquoise

[dennis]

How To Stabilize And Color Enhance Soft Turquoise
By Ed Ashton for fellow rockhounds

How many of us rockhounds (in copper related mineral areas) have picked up chalky soft very light blue (or and depth blue) turquoise and have thrown it back down because we did not know how to work it and end up with a piece of jewelry? I'm sure the answer will be that most of us have experienced this many times. With use of Opticon (a material used in sealing fractures) we can stabilize and harden this material and use it to our great satisfaction.



STABILIZING PROCEDURE
1. Select the clean materials and sort the sizes up to ¼ inch thick. Place the material in a container (casserole with cover or a crockpot with a glass cover) and be sure to cover it with Opticon 224 without the hardener. Cut large pieces with Crystal Cut (not oil) so that the maximum thickness will be 1/4 inch."

2. Set the casserole aside. Look at the color enhancement as it will be seen on most materials immediately. The color that was hidden because the chalky appearance is gone. In two days full enhancement should show up. Since the Opticon must soak into the material, the thickness will increase the time. When the material is 1/4 inch thick it will take at least six weeks for the Opticon to penetrate to the center of the material. However, 3/4 " material will take at least 12 weeks for the Opticon to penetrate to the center of the material.

3. After the required amount of soaking (6 - 12 or even 16 weeks), place the covered casserole in the oven. Set the temperature at 250 degrees F, for one hour (if using a crockpot — 1-1/2 hours). Then turn off the oven and leave the casserole in the oven overnight. This slowly lets the temperature return to 90 degrees F.

4. Lay a piece of waxed paper on your work bench. (Don't use foil wrap). Drain the Opticon off the material and wipe it clean. Save the Opticon in the casserole for future use. Take a clean baby food jar and put two tablespoons of the Opticon in the jar. Then cover the casserole and
remove it from your work area so that it will not become contaminated by the hardener. This Opticon can be reused again if it doesn't get any hardener in it accidentally.

5. Following the directions on the can, add twice as much polymer (catalyst) that is called for, to the Opticon in the baby food jar. Coat or dip the material in the catalyzed Opticon and lay it out on waxed paper. Do not let it touch or it will harden together.

6. Now comes the patience time – let the material cure for at least 2 months and you will have stabilized turquoise that works well. I use Dico Company plexi-glass buffing stick compound and it works well and easily. It will take only a few seconds to get a high polish on this stabilized material. The material will also be very tough and about 4.5 to 5.6 hardness.

If this material is properly soaked and cured it is impossible to tell that it is stabilized. It takes a blow pipe and an experienced person to tell. The material heat destructs differently. I have personally taught a lot or people how to use this procedure and they have been both successful and happy with the results, GOOD LUCK.

[Opticon can be purchased at most rock shops including the Red Roof Rock Shop in Deming]

(Above edited from an article by the late Ed Ashton former DGMS member)

Via Rock Chips 10/07

[Old Dude]

Thanks Dennis!

Back during the Turquoise craze of the 1970's I bought a batch of soft Turquoise and tried all kinds of epoxies etc. and finally gave up.

This is such a rare and beautiful stone. Thanks for showing how to preserve even the poorer specimens.

For those interested in the composition, Turquoise is a Hydrous Phosphate of Aluminum and Copper - CuO.3Al2O3.2P2O5.9H2O

Hardness = 5-6 on the Moh's scale, but may be almost powdery in the dehydrated state.

It is found in desert areas in thin seams; sometimes reniform (kidney shaped), stalactitic, encrusting, or rolled masses.

[dennis]

My dad had a friend that lives in Mannassa, Colorado (King Turquoise area). He taught me a lot of the little tricks the commercial companies use. He called it plasticize where they use a vacuum to pull the air out of the stone & when they release the vacuum it pulls the color & stabilizing mixture into the stone. What they say is "there is no good turquoise left." It is all treated.

I was re-cutting some Chinese Turquoise & lost the color. My Dad explained to me they used paraffin wax to enhance the color. That made sense. Back in the 70s I was making chokers & I would put nuggets in wax to hold them still so I could drill them under water & they always came out better looking after I boiled the wax off the nuggets