Tortoise Turquoise - Working the Rock

Tortoise Turquoise is solid 6-7 in hardness and delightful to cut. Sawing the rock is a stone cutters dream as it cuts smooth and does not flake or crumble.

Cabbing this Turquise is equally a pleasure as you do not need to use a backing material to hold it together - it is solid! It takes a polish like nobody's business, just like glass!

In polishing these examples I used a 180 diamond wheel, then
I went to a used 400 grit belted wheel, then to a old 600 grit wheel and then polished it with tin oxide on a white leather disc. The white elk hide is uncerpassed for polishing Turquoise and you can get them at Indian Jewelrers Supply in Gallup, NM I achieved a high polish with very little effort. Dillon took a piece from 180 - 400 - 600 - 1800 - then to zam - it took such a terrific polish and you can actually follow the webbing down into the stone - just beautiful!

We have barely tapped into this mineral resource, and are already liking what we see. As you may know, the deeper you get in a mine usually the deeper the color and greater the quality (I am not sure the quality could get much better, allot of this material is AAA grade, not to mention I love the mint green turquoise)! Most of this material we will be using in our jewelry, but we will be letting a tiny bit of A, AA, and AAA go.

Tip; Always soak rough material of any type before sawing on a diamond saw. Break up an old grinding wheel and use it to slowly and precisely sharpen your diamond blade.

To purchase rough Tortoise you must call Dillon Hartman personally M-F 10:00 - 5:00 PM at 970 375-2401

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Contact Information:
Durango Silver Company
17897 Hwy 160 W - Durango, CO 81301
Phone: 970.375.2401
Dillon Hartman