Friday, July 19, 2013

Little Known Tidings In Making Thin Section Bearings

By Carmella Watts


Petrography is the branch of petrology dealing with the study of rock minerals and its textures. Thin section is carried out to study the petrographic properties of minerals using a polarizing or petrographic microscope. On the common grounds, these thin section bearings are the tip of the iceberg in the optical mineralogy and petrography.

Thin sections are small cut of rocks glued with the use of epoxy to a glass slide. Generally, it measures an inch by two, but it depends on how big or how wide you want it to be. It will be ground to zero point zero three millimeters before it could be observed in the microscope. Creating a thin section is very costly, time consuming, and requires a great deal of patience. But if you love to take the challenge, read below the tips.

Prepare the following main tools for they will be necessary in the process. Trim saw, slab saw, cut off saw and grinder. Prepare a marker, pencil, glass slide, and epoxy. When your materials are all ready, muster all the patience and determination you have. Also, make sure that your hands are steady otherwise you are not going to perform the job well. Remember that these are considered the main component in your recipe.

Mark the rock and cut the slab. Mark a line using a marker or pencil to be your guide in cutting. After doing this, use the slab saw in cutting your rock. You may not have the strength Hercules has, but that would not be a hindrance since the saw does all the hard work as you switch it on.

Reduce and polish the size of the slab. Trim saw will be used to cut the chip smaller. The size has to be reduced to an inch by two inches. After reducing the size, grind the chip on the grinding wheel to remove the marks.

You have prepared your rock, now it is time to prepare the glass slide. Grind the corner of it on the wheel. Spin the two hundred forty grit grinding wheel to frost your glass. This is done to flatten out and roughen the surface. The epoxy will not bind well if it is not roughen.

Glue the slab to the frosted side using epoxy. Mix both the epoxy from large bottle with one part hardener and from the small bottle. Stir the combined mixture in the same pattern. After mixing it, spread a tiny amount on the frosted side of the slide. Place the chip on it and gently squeeze to get the extra epoxy out.

Remove the chip from the slide. This will be done by cranking up the cut off saw and grinding the slide slowly. Take most of the chip off but leave enough for the observation later. Add a cover slip for the clarity in the microscope.

While living in a world where discovering is not brand new anymore, it pays to practice a profession even though you do not hold a degree. Even the non miners can make thin section bearings. Follow the steps mentioned above and discover a great deal of stones that you have in your backyard.




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