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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 21, 2024 17:55:53 GMT -5
That's very interesting!
It reminds me of a time when I was in the Armored Cav and stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. A training exercise was to begin the next morning, so we moved out into the desert that night to camp. We threw our sleeping bags onto the sand and fell asleep looking at the stars.
When I woke up at dawn, I noticed that my sleeping bag was lying across part of an ant hill that was 6-7 feet in diameter. There were several entrances to the nest that were as wide as my forearms. I was very relieved that it was winter and very cold. The ants weren't foraging (yet) or I might have woken up with lots of sleeping bag companions.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 18, 2024 16:40:54 GMT -5
Beautiful polisher, thanks Gary! Is that muslin and foam rubber backing? I'm thinking I will either build a dedicated polisher with different wheels or have some wheels I can throw on my faceter. Any preferred saw blades for cutting opal doublets? Yes, the pad is probably muslin and it does have a foam rubber back.
As for saw blades to make opal doublets, I assume that you are referring to sawing opal rather than sawing backing material. The only saw that I use on opal is my Ameritool trim saw with 5" blades. I will sometimes trim a piece of rough on the saw, but I never try to get close to the fire. Exposing fire (or just getting close to it) is best left to the flat lap prior to heading to polisher wheels.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 17, 2024 22:21:22 GMT -5
Sorry it took a bit to get back here, lost my username and password! Thank you all for your advice! Gary, what kind wheel are you putting the diamond paste on? I was thinking leather, does this work well for boulder opal with a softer matrix. Also i need some recomendations on saw blades for splitting opal and turquoise, 4 and 8 inch. I have some chinese blades that are very thin and cut great but they are impossible to keep straight and control, not good for really high end material. Also anyone with experience on final polishes for a variety of turquoise? Ive had the most trouble with some natural royston, very soft but real beautiful material.Also when the turquoise is especially gemmy i'm often getting a matte finish in matrix when i polish with picassa, and it undercuts some of the spiderwebbing. Thanks, Evan In California.
For my 50,000 grit final polish I use this dedicated compact polisher that I built. It has a cushioned cloth pad (photo taken when new, obviously). I think leather would work, but think I recall reading somewhere that polishing on leather can get pretty hot if you're not careful.
I can't help with turquoise; I've never worked it.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 15, 2024 10:25:39 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 14, 2024 11:21:21 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 13, 2024 9:59:40 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 12, 2024 14:19:12 GMT -5
Outstanding group, Paul! I've viewed each one multiple times, and with each pass it's the Willow Creek that holds my gaze.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 11, 2024 10:52:25 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington. I was a late starter, too.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 7, 2024 11:25:21 GMT -5
It looks like the best area is reasonably flat or slightly convex, which should make this rough fairly easy to work. What I would do is gently begin to lightly work it with 600 grit, checking it frequently. If it starts to reveal more/additional opal, then continue. Slow down or stop if you begin to see the opal seams starting to shrink or disappear. If you work slowly you don't have to worry about "ruining" it. Chasing opal fire is a lot of fun, even when it's stressful! thank you so much! It has a little bit of a strange shape, but this face seems to be the best. Start on 600? Soft wheel? I only have 80 and 220 electroplated, but I should skip those altogether? I love the peeks of color and have seen some amazing finished pieces - excited to try my hand here. Thanks very much!
I don't know what you use for finer grits, but using the 220 with a very light touch would be OK to explore and potentially reveal more of the opal.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 7, 2024 10:44:23 GMT -5
It looks like the best area is reasonably flat or slightly convex, which should make this rough fairly easy to work.
What I would do is gently begin to lightly work it with 600 grit, checking it frequently. If it starts to reveal more/additional opal, then continue. Slow down or stop if you begin to see the opal seams starting to shrink or disappear. If you work slowly you don't have to worry about "ruining" it.
Chasing opal fire is a lot of fun, even when it's stressful!
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 4, 2024 10:31:18 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 4, 2024 10:28:16 GMT -5
I assemble opal doublets with 330 epoxy and always blacken it with a small amount of either carbon black or mars black. That's interesting, Gary. Is that something you have to disclose or is it industry standard kind of thing?
I wouldn't quite call blackening the epoxy an industry standard, Tela, but it's very common. I've generally not disclosed it online, but I really should mention it. Something like this ought to suffice:
"To maximze the brightness of the opal layer, it has been backed with <black jade, black jasper, ...> and cemented with black epoxy."
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 4, 2024 8:18:09 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington, Evan.
I also cut opal and finish it with 50,000 diamond paste. I don't go farther than that simply because a 50k polish is getting pretty close to the resolving limit of optical microscopes. I could see a marketing reason for going to a higher grit, but I don't think it would make an noticeable impact on sales.
I assemble opal doublets with 330 epoxy and always blacken it with a small amount of either carbon black or mars black.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 3, 2024 11:11:39 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 2, 2024 14:03:12 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 1, 2024 17:37:49 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 1, 2024 11:36:59 GMT -5
Wonderful work!!
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 1, 2024 11:35:40 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Feb 28, 2024 11:12:30 GMT -5
... I got this material from Gary opalpyrexia . (Pretty sure it is from Washington state.) ...
Wow, Khara! Nicely done. I'm amazed at the greens — none of the Rhodonite that I've cut so far has had any green.
Yes, the rhodonite is from Washington.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Feb 26, 2024 22:05:08 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington. I'm not a tumbler, but tumbling sounds like the way to go. Others will be able to help.
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