How to Hand Polish a Petoskey Stone
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- Опубликовано: 31 янв 2019
- Learn how to hand polish a Petoskey stone without any expensive machinery.
The Petoskey stone (Hexagonaria percarinata) is an approximately 360 million old fossilized coral. It is the state stone of Michigan. Petoskey stones are calcite which is very soft, approximately 3 on the Mohs scale.
If you have a tumbler, you can save a lot of time by doing the first couple stages in the tumbler and then hand polishing to finish them up. • How to Partially Tumbl...
Another video of me collecting Petoskey stones and pudding stones in Lake Huron:
• A Walk on the Beach
This is a good place to buy aluminum oxide polish:
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Kingsley North is a lapidary store in Michigan's U.P. They make a great cab machine and sell many other brands too. They have a huge selection rough rock, tumblers, grit, jewelry supplies etc. at good prices. I buy most of my coarse grit from here in 45 lb. bags. It's the best price I have found. If you buy using the following link, I make a small commission.
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This is the cabbing machine I use:
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I buy a lot of lapidary supplies from The Rock Shed. I don't make money from your purchases there, but they have good prices and good service. This is where I buy my finer grits and polish.
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Thank you. I have so many of these from going rock hunting with my dad when I was young. I'm 66 (almost) and have kept every rock, stone I found with him. Once I went out by dad's shed after he'd passed and found where mom had dumped a bunch of his finds, some were even polished and collected them all and still have them. Yup, pretty sentimental about dad. He was also the best fishing pal ever, even when we didn't catch a thing.
It sounds like you have some great memories of your dad. Those rocks are great way to remember you time out on beaches with him. It should be fun polishing them up.
Aw man I’m so sorry for your loss. This is a really awesome memory to have and I’m so happy you have it. Beautiful stones as well!
Just over here crying at this lovely moment while waiting at the car shop haha thank you for sharing ❤
Back in the mid 50's my family made trips to the Petoskey area to hunt for stones. My brother found a large pit loaded with large rocks. We used to break them open to look at the fossils inside. We had no idea what we had. When I found a Petoskey stone that was red I threw it away because I thought there was something wrong with it. lol I still have a large pile of large Petoskey stones. P.S. We used to polish the small stones just like you did in this video.
People love those pink Petoskeys. I have thrown away everyone I have found though, because they always seem to be very low quality stones. I have only found them in Lake Huron, near where I live. I wonder if the pink Petoskeys from the west side of the state are better quality.
This is the second video of yours that I’ve watched, and I am very impressed. First of all, you are a teacher! I find your explanations and demonstrations very helpful and thorough. I love that! Plus, I’m a retired MI teacher and can appreciate those snow days! Second, you make it easy to find the materials you use with your links and references. Thank you for that! And last of all, it is obvious that you are “into” rocks. I don’t doubt that you did much research along with going through trials and errors to gain the knowledge you are now passing along to us for free! It is so very much appreciated! I also really appreciated how you determined which rocks were keepers and which rocks would take polishing. I am also much more selective now in what I keep at the beach and what I throw back. It looks like I may have to weed out many of my initial finds from years ago. Again, thank you!!
Kay K yep, I made a lot of mistakes along the way. My son and wasted a lot of time polishing Petoskey stones that were never going to look good. Thanks fo the nice comments. More videos are on the way.
I'm in Central Texas. My niece in Mason, Michigan sent me a really lovely little Petosky stone; 2", no holes. I'll be able to polish this up very nicely now following your awesome video. Thanks so much!!
I'm glad I could help!
Brilliant! Why couldn't I have geography and science teachers like you
No one has had a geography or science teacher like me. I taught math.
@@MichiganRocks oh wow!!! You fooled me!
Excellent that you're showing people the hand polishing methods despite you usually using machines yourself. Thanks, very useful.
I know a lot of people bring Petoskey stones home, but not many people have lapidary machinery. This lets everyone have fun.
So happy to find you! I have been a rock hounder all my life and am just tumbling my first ever batch of stone found along Lake Ontario. You are an effective teacher and I appreciate what you are doing so much. Thank you!
You're welcome!
thank you so much. Wonderful times on the beaches. Had no competition because I was 20. in 1960. My favorite thing to do. hand polish in gentle rains of summer!!!
No one was picking up Petoskeys back then?
You instructional videos are very clear and instructive. Kudos to you! I use a flat lap now, but when I used to do medium to large Petoskeys by hand I would start with a "shaping" step that involved wet grinding the stone back-and-forth on cement block. It was quicker than using 80 grit to start. It does leave scratches that need to be worked out, but it takes care of the pock holes. It also lets you create a little bit of a dome if desired. Thanks again for all your videos!
I never heard of that method. That's interesting. I wouldn't have thought a concrete block would be that much harder than a Petoskey stone. Thanks for the tip!
After an awesome visit "home" my husband and I went petoskey hunting. We found oodles for friends and family, and us of course. Since we had flown in for the visit, we found ourselves in a post office shipping flat rate priority boxes of rocks (and fudge) out across the country! Your video makes the process clear, and seem actually doable! I subscribed immediately!
Thanks for subscribing! I'm glad you found some rocks. Good luck polishing them.
The lump on the back of that Petoskey is its base that it grew out of the sea floor from...They were all shaped/ formed like a thick mushroom. Most of the time that base gets completely eroded off. Your stone has a bit of it left.
Weathered not eroded!
Very enjoyable lesson, Rob. I now understand why your videos are so good; it's because you are a teacher who really enjoys sharing what he knows. We just found our first Petoskey stones (last week on Lake Huron in a fine rain) and I will try the hand-polishing technique. Since I am a metalsmith I already have all the different sandpaper grits. Just need to get the final polish. Thanks for another great video!
This was the first video I made after I decided to take RUclips seriously. It's fun to see people still watching it. Good luck with your sanding project.
Found this inspiring so I did one myself. I don’t have the powder but went to 2000 grit and used a little Vaseline to shine it up. Thanks!
Thank you so much for posting this video! I've been looking all over for information about polishing my hand and it's mostly garbage. This was very helpful. 👍🏻
KathleenAnthonia I’m glad you liked it. Happy polishing!
I just found my first Petoskey stone last week! I haven't watched a single video about Petoskey stones and this showed up in my recommendations.
That's a bit creepy. Did you post something about it on Facebook or some other social media?
@@MichiganRocks Nope, maybe someone in my family watched a video about them on this account. It also might be because my device keeps track of my location so it figured I found a Petoskey stone since I went to Petoskey. It could just be a coincidence though.
After we discussed the art of "safe juggling" earlier today, of my best two (very large, grapefruit sized) stones, only one will be worth the effort to polish, thanks to your instructions at the beginning of THIS video. (too many flaws, without good definition, etc.) However, the other stone is really special, and is exactly what you described as a potentially great specimen! (luckily, both sides) I'm excited and up for the challenge. (The lack of tools and the lower cost of sandpaper is probably behind my enthusiasm, lol.) Thank you for helping me, I've been looking for accurate advice for 5 years now. (Thank goodness my stones seem to have "aged well"!) ~Cheers, from Maybee, Michigan.
I'm really glad you've got it all figured out!
@@MichiganRocks heck yeah, comes from alot of practice tryin' to fool the wife...
It's beautiful! Love naturally formed rocks and minerals. Never heard of a Petosky stone, but glad I found your video.
There are a lot of them in northern Michigan. Lake Michigan is better known for them, but they are here too. The transformation from how I find them to how they look polished is pretty cool.
The man makes Rocks Shine! Now, that's some Energy...
Energy? I worked on this for about an hour. That's not that much energy.
I brought a stone with me when we moved from Michigan to Iowa. I don't think its polish-worthy. You do a gorgeous job!!! Now I'm home sick.
Sorry to make you home sick.
This is absolutely the best petosky rock polishing vid I have seen. Very clear and concise. Thanks
You're welcome. Good luck with your polishing project.
Wow! Looks spectacular! Now going to watch you first video. Loved all the instructions on choosing rocks! Great video!
I'm glad it was helpful!
Great video I loved that video you did looking for the right ones. Thank you for explaining what these stones are made from. Polishing really brings out the beauty of them. 💗👍
Weve been polishing some of of our collection....this explains why some doesnt polish well and a few more steps with better results. Thanks!!!
Thanks so much for this tutorial!! I feel a lot more confident about hand polishing my petosky stones now, and your tips on selecting stones definitely helps.!!
Be sure to watch my video on partially tumbling them. If you have a tumbler it saves a lot of time. It also helps you grade them before spending a lot of time sanding.
@@MichiganRocks Watched it - I'm ready to hand polish!!
I have found about 10 at the farm in the last week with the rain we have been getting. I keep them all!
A thing of beauty is a joy forever! Beautiful! 😊
lizzymoore54 s
So this is a very new hobby of mine (always loved finding new cool rocks/fossils) my son and I recently have decided to start polishing by hand and also bought a tumbler...so thank you for the video! Very excited to start, have a very similar in size Petoskey stone we found last week in Michigan! Had no clue how to begin, but bought all the materials and will be getting started today!
If you watched this video, you should have a pretty good clue how to begin. Take your time on the first stage and do a really good job. When it looks perfect, go back and do some more. If you skimp on the first stage, it could show up later. The only way to fix it at that point is to start over.
This video came up in my feed. Love rocks and minerals. One video and I'm hooked! Why can't my daughter have a teacher like you? ❤
I didn't actually teach this stuff, I was an eighth grade math teacher. I retired a couple years ago.
Interesting process with a gorgeous result. I think the little dark one would make a beautiful pendant.
Thanks for posting your version! Perhaps it is my artistic nature that beckons me to the not-so-typical petoskeys. Perfect and distinct eyes are cool and all that, I just find all of the variations of patterns and colors amazing. That said, I would definitely be interested in polishing up the third one you mentioned not having a lot of pattern off to the one side. I feel like there’s a hidden beauty there just waiting to be uncovered. :)
I’m 7
Great videos! I’m originally from Superior, WI now living in Duluth, MN. (both are right on Lake Superior , home is just minutes away from the lake). When my 11 yr. old granddaughter comes to visit (weather permitting) we are on the beach. A little swimming, mostly hours rock picking. We found our first petroske about a week ago. It was an amazing find for us. Thank you for the knowledge I have gained from you videos. Time is precious with my granddaughter and you have made it even more special. Thank you!
I was just there a couple weeks ago. I met up with my sister for a couple days. I'm surprised that you can find Petoskey Stones there. I didn't see any limestone at all. I went to a beach and found a bunch of tiny little agates, but nothing big at all.
@@MichiganRocks The petoskey maybe our one and only. Not giving up hope that there could be another. 🙂 I do plan on a trip to the U P specifically to search for a few more. We have also found a horn coral fossil and one large tooth that may have belonged to a moose, elk or cow. This tooth information is from a visit to the Duluth Archaeology Center. The horn fossil and tooth were found in about knee deep water. The petoskey was close to shore in a couple/few inches of water. With our warm summer it was actually pleasant to be in the water. Thank you for your reply.
@@peggy5290 I have never found a Petoskey Stone in the U.P. They're normally found in Lake Huron or Lake Michigan south of a line from about Harbor Springs to Rogers City. I have heard of them being found farther north though.
Fantastic video!!!!!❤❤❤ Just found my first petoskey stone and got to see alot of beautiful lighthouses. Thank you for the video.
That's awesome! Congratulations.
Nicely done, learning lots from your channel. Thanks for sharing, God bless ~
I want all those rejected ones! 😄
Great episode, Thank You ♥️
Awesome! I'm spending my Saturday hand polishing my first Petoskey stone! Thank you!
Good luck!
Thank you so much for your videos and sharing your knowledge with us! I loved looking for and collecting rocks as a kid. I will soon be retiring and I am anxious to take up my old hobby and share it with my grandkids. And watch your videos together! Again thank you so much!
You're welcome, and happy retirement. I plan to do the same in a year. I'll get a part time job, but I hope to have a little more time for fun stuff.
@@MichiganRocks I
Beautiful stone. Reminds me of the rock called Septarian Nodules found in Utah; only difference is the Petoskey stone has a more gray and white color tones. The smaller stones would be beautiful as pendants. Thanks so much for sharing :-)
Michigan lakes always make me happy nowadays
Found my first ever Petoskey Stone yesterday while visiting my moms condo. I live in Texas now and would like to polish this stone up and give it to my girlfriend as a gift! Thank you for your video, I hope my process goes well. It's not the best stone, but it's my first!
Good luck with it. If it's not a great quality stone, it may not polish well, but there's only one way to find out!
Just found your videos. Your explanation of things is very good. I didn't know what a Petrosky stone was! I found some corals in the desert in Nevada near Las Vegas during a Paleo survey and at first didn't recognize them. Great video. Thanks!
Petoskey
I'm so happy to find your channel and subbed 😊
Best snow day I never had. Thanks
Back again for refresher. Wet dry sandpaper... noted.
I brought back a bag of Petoskey stones from Petoskey and the best ones from the city park in Traverse City, Michigan in June. I wasn’t sure about buying a tumbler because I was thinking I’d would be loud. I was hand sanding with 220 when my husband suggested looking online. I just found your video, and it’s a great help Now I will use your advice to look over my rocks to figure out what would be the best ones to polish. Thanks!
Petoskey Stones are very difficult to tumble. If you'd like to learn to tumble other rocks, though, I have several videos showing how. For Petoskey Stones, you'll get the best results by hand polishing or using a different kind of machine than a tumbler. Cab machines and flat laps are great for polishing them, but cost more than a rock tumbler.
Nice! I have not seen this 400 Mill on the shores of lake Superior. I just might take a ride and so long as I stop by a few casinos along the way to keep my wife happy. Watching this video I will know what to look for. Thank you. I spend more time looking for fossils. And only kept the nice one's and when I get to many I donate them to local schools.I have had science teachers say that they do not buy fossils and I say I do not sell them. It might take away the enjoyment I get sharing them with others. I talked and shared with a few college classes on where and how I found them and what tools I used. Some say you could sell them and I have said if you take this 40 pounds you could. Enjoy Life !
I have been enjoying your videos. Really enjoyed "A walk on the beach" Liked and subbed!
Arizona Bob Thanks Bob!
What a cool video this is! Thanks for sharing.
Respect!
Great job, thanks for sharing!
I attended a school on Lake Michigan... spent a lot of afternoons beachcombing... smooth glass.. rocks, including Petoskey stones.
I gave away several... just checked & found I still have 3.
I'd have no doubt kept all those that you tossed... to give away to peeps who are fascinated by them. .
When I hunt rocks on beaches with a lot of tourists on them, I usually give away all my Petoskeys to people on the way back. I have enough that I can spare some for people who might not otherwise find one.
Thank you! That was SO helpful. You explained and demonstrated each phase perfectly! Can't wait to try this out!
You're welcome.
Thanks for sharing! As a birder I am usually looking up - time to expand my viewshed!
Your neck should get some good exercise if you're going to look for rocks _and_ birds.
Best video on hand polishing Petoskey stones I’ve ever seen!
Best one I’ve ever made! (Of course, this the only one I’ve ever made.)
I have rare Petoskey stone here
Great video...this is great for those of us who have yet to purchase polishing machines. Thanks very much for posting.
I made this video with that in mind. I'd like to do more videos on how to do lapidary work without equipment, but with most rocks, that's hard to do.
Great video of polishing by hand and what to use sandpaper wise. Beautiful stone. I've never heard of this stone. God bless on you new videos.
Thanks Diana. That was the first video I made when I got serious about making RUclips videos. I had made a couple before, but I've kept up with making videos on a pretty consistent schedule since then. I've been having a ball doing it.
Petoskey stones are the state stone of Michigan. I can't remember if I said that in the video. It's a fossilized coral. They're pretty popular around here.
Great video and I've shared with others.....I've done every step you've suggested only usually walking the shores of Lake Huron near Kincardine Ontario while looking for more Petoskeys. Now that it's February maybe I'll pick some from my stash and start again. The one thing that I've never seen explained was your last step. We tumble other harder stones so will use some of the final polishing grit to finish off our Petoskeys the way you've suggested. Have you ever tumbled petoskeys - if so, I and others might find it quite informative.
You can tumble them to about 220 grit before running into problems. So if you have a tumbler, I'd start with 80 girt silicon carbide for about three days, less time if there are no big holes. I use one tablespoon in a six pound barrel with extra water. If you don't use extra water, the slurry gets really thick and hard to rinse off. Then do 220 grit for a day. Then the remaining steps are the same as in the video. Cutting out that first step really saves some time.
I Michiganj Rocks
@@MichiganRocks Hi Rob.....not sure this is the best spot for a follow up question from another video. I've done the corn cob vibratory tumble (for a dull shine) as you had suggested but somewhere along the line you mentioned somewhere another method to get a shine from a soft stone (perhaps better than dull)....so have you ever posted a video for that other method? I'm always looking to do Cladapora's by hand....here in Ontario side of Lake Huron we find much more nice ones of those than we find Petoskeys
@@scrand6 I haven't posted any other Petoskey Stone tumbling videos. I have polished them on my cab machine and by hand, but not in a tumbler. Cladopora should be able to be polished by hand just like a Petoskey Stone.
@@MichiganRocks I had been talking about this method and it works to some extent but not nearly as good as hand polishing it does. The dull shine of the corn cob does not compare to what I can do by hand....I can only imagine using a cab machine. But I thought you had mentioned somewhere another method you had to polishing without a cab machine and that you would make a video but as far as I know never have. Am I just imagining that? Thanks as always for the great videos you've made especially the many done this year - ruclips.net/video/grSlZ835VDo/видео.htmlhttps:
my cousins in michigan had these all around their pool in their gravel beds. no one told me it was their state rock
Hi there... just came back from a road trip to your hometown... thank you for The videos... found the quarry and the ditch.. found good stuff there...
That's great. I'm glad you were able to find them. Where did you go at Rockport, the beach, the quarry, or the sinkholes? They're all good choices, but there's not usually time for everything.
I followed the quarry.. I was not sure were the beach entrance was.. you did not said on the video Titled Walk on the beach.. planning another trip... if you can share how to get to the beach from the quarry that would be great
@@martinamarina6688 The "Walk on the Beach" beach is not at the quarry. That one is hard to get to because it's all private property around it. But there is a beach at the quarry. There are fossils on the beach, but I don't usually find very good Petoskey stones there. The quarry is a better place to go if you're looking for fossils, but the beach is better if you just want nice scenery.
Brilliant video mate! And seriously just gorgeous results! You really shared the mission of hand polishing! Thank you so much! I’m loving your videos!!!
Too bad this method won't work well on the chalcedony or rhyolite you find in your videos. You'll have to look for some softer rocks!
Michigan Rocks
Haha! Yeah I’d be there for days 🤪🤪🤪
But I would like to try it on some matrix opal rough that I got from the gem show sometime. It’s a fair bit softer and I reckon it’d be fun listening to a podcast and sanding down a pretty piece of stoney goodness. 😉👍
😀 yeah, the ipod is essential... got to have some music! 😊 350 million years old! I can't even begin to comprehend the life forms that have come and gone whilst that stone has been around since dinosaurs only go back 230 million years. Definetly worth the time to sand and polish up that particular one!
Enjoyed your presentation. The pudding stone is one of my favorites and I hope to find your plans to process one on this site.
Rosalind Hendricks I won’t be doing a puddingstone by hand, but I’ll do one here someday.
I don't know how I got here but it looks fun
What a beautiful end result for your labour!
That was an awesome stone. It really came out great. Was fun to watch and very informative. Great video
Yes, I chose wisely! I was really glad it turned out nice after all that sanding.
Diamond flat files will do this first step, removing holes etc. and shaping much better, faster and with less effort. Also very inexpensive and last for a very long time if used only on Petoskey Stone.
Thanks for the tip, Dan!
Do you have any recommendations for sanding fossils like ammonites preserved in harder matrix like chert? Ive been using sand paper and its a slow process. Im debating on taking some and slicing them in half but i have heteramorph's that dont dont lend well to cross sectioning.
What type of file? 180?
I find a lot of petrified wood and quartz where I’m from and that’s how I polish, it’s slow but it’s worth the outcome
Thanks for taking the time to make this video and explaining what you are doing and why. Very informative and helpful!
You're welcome.
Is there a certain grit you are supposed to get for the aluminum oxide polish? I see there are a few on the rock shed's website and I want to make sure I'm getting the right thing.
@@amyville. It’s the one called “polish”, not 500 or 1000.
I did some amber and opal stones and its just beautiful all the brilliance and clarity you can bring out of them. Great video! 😃
It's fun watching the transformation, isn't it?
Yes, it is! 🥰
That came out so well, i'm surprised at how quick it was from start to finish. Can this be done with other types of stones or is it because they are a softer stone? Thanks again for taking the time to share your knowledge with us.
Petoskey stones are a 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. That's very, very soft. This would take a very long time with most rocks.
Good job! Great explanation and wonderful result. Big "like" from me.
Wow, thanks Grieg! That means a lot coming from you.
Lots of work, getting each stage done right before moving on is key. Thanks for sharing.
The first couple stages are the most important and most time consuming. After that, it's pretty easy.
I am so in love with Petoskey. Thanks so much.
They are loveable, aren't they? I have another polishing video ready to go. I haven't decided whether it will be this coming Friday or if I'll do a rock collecting video that I taped yesterday. Whenever it is, I'll show you how to tumble them partially before hand sanding. It saves a ton of time.
I wear latex gloves so not to tear my hands up. And I just polish mine with 1200 grit paper. They shine up nice. Takes me about 2 hrs per rock.
Where did you find 1200 grit sandpaper?
@MysteriousOklahoma Thanks, I'll check that out.
LOVELY!
Thanks!
This is an excellent video. We’re just getting started with Petoskey stones. Thank you for posting this.
You're welcome. Did you see the one I posted last night about starting them in the tumbler and finishing them with sandpaper?
Michigan Rocks
No I did not but I will definitely check that out. I live in extreme northern In. but we have a place in northern Mi. about halfway between Manistee and Cadilac. We found a place near Charlavoix where the stones are plentiful. My daughter has tried a few using the mineral oil but I don’t care for the yellowish look that it gives them.
You would love it on the shores of my homeland. I live on a rocky Peninsula in Ontario, Bruce Peninsula. I have many of these. I do not know alot about them but I am collecting and didn't know how to Polish and am learning so much from you. Thank you for sharing.
Ps. My fist time trying to Polish my stone I accidentally polished the designs right off. I used an Dremel polisher with sand paper. I about cried😂
That wasn't necessarily your fault. That's why I spent time finding a good one at the beginning of the video. I find that rocks that I find in quarries that are still rough have the pattern in 3D. When I grind off that 3D pattern, many times, there's no pattern underneath. I prefer beach rocks for this reason. My theory is that the tough rocks survive the pounding they get from the waves and the weaker stones get crushed to dust. That's probably not accurate, but that's the best reason I've come up with. There are also Petoskeys with very faint patterns in the lake. I have learned not to bring those home.
Don't be afraid to use power tools like your Dremel. That's how I do most of my Petoskey stones.
I'd like to enter my finds of Petoskey stones for the furthest SOUTH that anyone has found the stones. I owned a farm on the South shore of Carlyle Lake in Southern Illinois and walked the shorelines for many years scanning for rocks, arrow points, and pottery shards, along with any nice driftwood washed up on shore. Carlyle Lake was built by the Army Corps of Engineers as a flood control project on the Kaskaskia River and flooded in 1967 and I bought my farm about 1972 so I was living on a very young lake in terms of those up in your area.
I found a total of 4 Petoskey stones within the bounds of about 2 miles between 2 state parks on my side of the lake so they were definitely not a common rock in that area. But, I did do some research on the history of the North American continent and the extension of the different ice caps as they slid their way South over the millennia, and I found that one of the glacial formations reached into our immediate area which accounted for a number of stones not native to the area of Southern IL and MO.
Regarding the polishing process, at the time I was living on the lake, I owned and operated an auto body repair shop about 25 miles West of my farm. After a long day in the body shop and a 50 mile round trip, it was very relaxing for me to take the dog and walk on the shoreline in the evenings looking for "stuff" and allowing my Lab to do some swimming and a bit of rock hunting himself. [That's another story] When I found these honeycombed rocks, I had no idea what they were and did not pursue looking for others of that appearance. Like you, I found all 4 of the stones, [one was a partial and had some solid formations on half of the stone], in the water. I took each of them home with me and they sort of laid around the work room where I kept all my "finds" from that area of the country.
I eventually took a position teaching auto body repair at a local community college in the area and I decided to take a couple of stones to the Geology instructor at the college to see if he had any information on them. We usually congregated in the teacher's lounge for lunch and I pulled out a couple of stones for the geology guy to look at and he guessed that the one rock, a sort of jade green mottled granite type rock, may be a piece of Ely Greenstone, one of the oldest rock upheavals on the North American continent. While I was showing the rest of the instructors how water enhanced the figure of these "honeycomb" stones, one of my friends entered the lounge and he took a look at one of them and immediately he said to me, "This is a Petoskey stone, where on earth did you find it?". I told him that I found the stones on the lakeshore by my farm and he then told me that, to his knowledge, those coral formations were only found in the North Country between Minnesota and Eastern Michigan. He was born and raised in Traverse City, which he said was SW of Petoskey, MI where the name for these coral formations originated. Such luck!! I was about 700 miles or more south of where these stones were once part of a primeval coral bed!
He told me that they found buckets of them back home and sold them to the summer vacationers and tourists who passed through that area for a quarter apiece. And he mentioned that his dad would "put a shine" on some to make them look better for him and he got a half a buck for them. That gave me an idea so I took them to the body shop with me and, after class that day, I started fooling around with a body grinder and some sandpaper to see if I could get some of the roughness out of one of them. I finally came up with a combination of a medium fine 120 grit small grinder disc and a light sanding with one of the "DA" type air sanders we used in the shop for fine sanding of body filler. It worked so well that I finished the first stone off with an air buffer with fine polishing compound on the flannel bonnet to bring out a beautiful shine on that stone!!
I had to laugh when I read your methods of doing the same thing that I stumbled on in my shop with the same end result in mind. With all of the newer abrasives and buffing compounds made for the Crafting world today, I would think that you may be able to find discs and compounds which would turn your finishing job into a 3 or 4 quick step process with either a Dremel tool or a cordless drill and a few attachments to hold the abrasives. I cringed each time I watched you toss another Petoskey stone back in the water as it had taken me close to 5 years of walking that shoreline on my lake to accumulate 4 stones, one of which only had a little bit of coral on it.
My theory is that the stones I found on Carlyle Lake had been deposited there when the last glacier stopped in that area and deposited the tailings of all that ground clutter it pushed ahead of its' mass down from your area in Michigan to my area in Southern IL. The only other way that they could have possibly been deposited that far from their home would be if a visitor from your neck o' the woods visited my neck o' the woods and dropped them there accidently while walking that same stretch of lakeshore looking for arrowheads or rocks themselves!! That likeliness is way too slim for me to consider, I know that those tailings extended to my area where my farm was located, and that would be a likely reason why those fossil rocks were over 700 miles from their homeland.
Holy cow, that's a great "comment"!!! Thanks for sharing your story. Obviously, they're really common if you find the right spot to hunt in this area, so I try to just bring home the good ones.
I don't usually polish them by the method in this video. I made this video because a lot of people go on vacation and bring home a few rocks and they may want to polish them. I have lapidary equipment that makes the job much quicker, but it also costs a lot (or in my case, you have to be patient and find it used). A flat lap is a nice tool for polishing them. If you're not familiar with that, it's a machine that spins a horizontal wheel (like a record player) with sandpaper on top. There's a water drip to keep it clean and cool.
Thanks again for the great story!
Old OutdoorsG
@@grammiejan8767 Well, thank you Jan, ........ I think?
It is good being selective. Picky is good.
That is really cool! I'm also a rock collector. Thanks for sharing!
Old disabled house bound dusty rusty rockhound here: Very interesting. Those truly are amazing stones...it's a fossil...that's a gemstone! Win-win!
We didn't just pick any old rock for our state stone. We picked a good one!
Hi it’s Garrett
GMAN24247 Hi Garrett.
I hope I have some friends in Michigan. Last year my neighbor gave me one and said I have to put it in my rock tumbler, I won’t ever do that again. I will polish it just like you did. It’s beautiful. I am 73 and I enjoy rocks. Thank you so muck for a great video👍🏼❤️🙌🏼💕🙌🏼
You can tumble them through about 220 grit with no problem, as long as you don't mix them with other types of rocks. Just add extra water and check them about every three days in coarse grit (I use 80) and then run one day in 220. Then you can more quickly finish them up the way I did in this video.
Thanks for the tutorial! I have always wanted to try this and thought it took much longer.
The key to doing it quickly is to choose a rock without any deep holes. The smoother the better.
Very informative! I’m a native of Michigan (now living in “that state down south”’). My late uncle (also a teacher) had a rock shop as a hobby for many years and I’ve always been interested in stuff like this. Years ago, on a vacation trip, I picked up a Petoskey stone; perhaps I’ll have a shot at polishing it! Thanks!
I believe I know the state you speak of. Thank you for not uttering it's name.
Good luck polishing your Petoskey Stone. If it's not too rough, it doesn't take that long. It's a nice way to spend a winter afternoon.
@@MichiganRocks round on both ends?? ;-)
@@moonbear894 ...and high in the middle.
Thanks for this help, it’s just what I needed! It came out beautiful and really surprised me that it was so glass like looking.
You're welcome, Renda!
Thank you very much for your video. I found it super interesting and helpful. I don't have Petoskey stones where I live, but I have some eye agates that I want to try by hand so I don't lose the eyes out of them and thought this was probably the best way.
Petoskey Stones are really soft. They're 3 on the Mohs scale. Agates are much, much harder, 7 on the Mohs scale. I think you will be sanding forever on agates. You can try it, but I just thought I'd give you a heads up so you know what to expect.
very nice. thank you for teaching us how to polish by hand...👍
Beautiful result!
I'm back lol and another great job on the video. Then everyone waiting for that final product like opening up a present as a kid on Christmas morning..
That's the fun of this, looking forward to what it's going to look like in the end.
I hunt and collect Indian artifacts and many years ago I found a large piece of this coral at a Hopewell village site. It was bigger than a softball and polished flat on one side. The next year I found a trapezoid pendant about 2-1/2 inches long made out of it but it was much darker than the piece in the video, now I know where it came from thanks.
Thanks. I’ve revisited this multiple times. Very helpful.
I'm glad it's been helpful, Jason!
I am so glad I watched this!!! Great teacher and video!
Thanks, Robin!
Thank you for this video. You asked us to share our experiences in the comments. Here is my latest experience with hand polishing.
I was using the same grits of sandpaper that you were and then I added more. I now start out with 80 grit and go up to 10,000. When I added the other grits to the sanding process, the depth of the Petosky stone seemed to increase dramatically. I didn’t even need to use polishing compound at the end it was that shiny. From now on I will be using 11 grits of sandpaper. The last three or four grits do not need to be done for very long, 2 minutes each, but it sure seems to make a difference adding those extra grits in.
Someone commented on one of my other videos about using finer grits. So I just bought a pack of little tiny sandpapers with foam backing. I haven't tried them yet, but I plan to soon.
@@MichiganRocks I’ve never heard of foam backed sandpaper. I’ll check into it. Maybe it would save the skin on my fingers from getting all cut up.
I’m not one to sit for long periods of time during my day, it seems like I’m always up moving around doing something, so when I hand polish a petoskey stone it forces me to sit and be somewhat meditative, as I focus on my polishing.
Thank you for creating your videos and sharing your knowledge.
@@PLippstreu Here's what I bought. I haven't tried it yet, but this is what I bought: amzn.to/3WsgoNA (affiliate link)
@@MichiganRocks Thank you for telling me about them. I’m thinking about ordering some.
Most enjoyed the polishing adventure...
Some helpful comments that you should have provided: 1: Start with a smaller stone. I only had a large stone. I should have begun with a smaller one. Much smaller. 2. You will wear your fingertips off before you wear the rock down. Maybe some kind of glove would help. I’m still bleeding. 3. Someone like yourself might be able to tackle this in the time that you did - your experience serves you well. A first timer may require more time, I’m currently clearing my calendar until September. 4. Really enjoying you work, keep it up!!
These are good suggestions. I have some responses:
1. I agree that a smaller stone will get done quicker. In your case, you didn't have much choice though. I'd say it's more important that the stone does not have deep pits. A small stone with deep pits takes longer than a big, smooth rock.
2. Gloves might help, but I didn't bleed or wear down my finger tips (much).
3. I'm pretty sure this was the second Petoskey stone I ever polished by hand. One of the first pieces of equipment I had was a flat lap. I have done many more rocks on that than by hand. Flat laps are much faster.
4. Thanks!
Wow, that turned out lovely. I'd never be able to do that due to arthritis, but really enjoyed the knowledge anyway. Our marine fossils down by the Arbuckle Mountains are just on the border of Silurian and Devonian age, and Ordovician (I think) Those corals are just beautiful!
DachshundsRule Petoskey Stones are from the Devonian age. I believe all the fossils in this area are from the Devonian age.
Nice. thanks for that. this will help me alot with polishing stones in any way not just by hand.
The theory is the same whether it's by hand or with a machine of some sort.
So glad to hear the time to do this neat hobby!
Another great informational video, thank you so much.
You're welcome, Cheryl.
Awesome 😍 it will be seriously helpful. Keep doing job sir.
That scrubbing with the sand paper was giving me chills down my spine like scratching a chalkboard with your nails does. Had to turn the volume down.
Sorry about that.
Wow, that came out beautiful!
I was happy with it.
What a transformation! Thanks for showing how to hand polish.
Hi there! I've watched your video many times as I recently just started hand polishing petoskey stones. I found a REALLY nice one in my backyard and as my first time doing this- just want to say thanks for the great video! Probably the best one out there. Keep on rock hunting! :D
I'm glad you liked it. There's not much to it. You can't really mess it up, either. If you make a mistake, you can always just go back a step and sand again.
Yeah it turned out very nice. I found a second medium sized stone with orange all throughout. It's very beautiful! Is this one of the "pink pets" I've read about? Wish I could post a pic on here but unfortunately I couldn't figure out.
@@kaileylawrence4960 It could be. I don't have a lot of experience with pink Petoskeys. I found one that was slightly pink once, but that's it.
I've been trying to look up more information on the geology of petoskey but haven't found much at all! To me the stone looks orange in color not pink.
@@kaileylawrence4960 I don't know much about the pink ones, but I know that the scientific name is hexagonaria. They're 360 million old coral fossils from the Devonian Period.