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Techniques for CollectorsFrazers hush mine,England fluorite galena

2nd Aug 2012 17:53 UTCRock man456

Hello, i have a fluorite & galena specimen about 6" wide & it has some smashed up fluorite crystals in between the big galena crystals & was wondering how to remove the fluorite without affecting the galena.

Thanks & any help greatly appreciated

2nd Aug 2012 18:08 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

Only really practical way is mechanically, breaking small pieces off and removing them.

2nd Aug 2012 21:48 UTCJesse Fisher Expert

Removing damaged fluorite crystals from a specimen is relatively easy with an air scribe of the Chicago Pneumatic variety. Use a needle point and just touching it to the broken crystal will cause it to shatter without effecting those around it.

7th Aug 2012 13:36 UTCAndrew Zioto

I didn't know what a 'air scribe' was so i Google'd it and it says its used for engraving and writing. How does this work for specifically removing crystals without damaging others around it? Is a 'needle point' a specific bit used on the air scribe? I'm very curious because i find a lot of dolostone with dolomite, calcite, fluorite, etc. that would make excellent specimens if it wasn't for one or two broken crystals. if i could somehow cleanly remove these defects that would be just awesome!

7th Aug 2012 21:56 UTCRock Currier Expert

There are many small hand held tools that are sometimes called air scribes. Actually they are small hand held "jack hammers". They can be very small tools with vibrating steel or carbide heads that are commonly used for "writing on metal" or they can be bigger and stronger ones that can chip away chunks of rock. The size of the one that will prove most useful in chipping away broken crystals may depend on what mineral species you are talking about and how large it is. It is helpful to have several sizes from which you can choose the most effective tool.

7th Aug 2012 23:47 UTCEugene & Sharon Cisneros Expert

For a large selection of high quality micro air tools see http://www.paleotools.com/ . And, no I don't sell them. I have seen them operate and have one on my wish list just under Micro Blaster.

Gene