Anyone cab Louisiana sand opal?

[stardiamond]

A customer asked me to recut a broken cab. I have no experience with the material. She provided a link to an article about the material. The article said they lose the flash when wet and need to be cut dry. I did my own searches and could only find the same link. I only cut wet because of dust and cooling.

So the first question I have is does cutting wet ruin the opal? I would seem logical that the flash and color would return when the cab dried. Other parts of the article referred to stabilizing. I assume since it was a broken piece of a cab that it was already stabilized.

[whalecottagedesigns]

I agree with you that the flash should return. I think that they probably meant to cut dry in the same way that a few folks cut Ethiopian Opal dry (using strong dust extraction) only for the reason that you can see where the flash is while you cut, otherwise if you cut it wet the flash disappears and you cannot tell if you are cutting in the right place! But it comes back after a couple of days or whatnot. So you should be able to cut it wet, just orient properly before you cut!

[stardiamond]

This is a recut and the customer knows what she wants removed. It is also web shaped. My approach on recutting is to subtract unwanted material and evening out the wedge. Next is to refine the shape.

[lapidary1234]

I went down the Louisiana opal rabbit hole awhile back and you're right, there is very little info about it available online, let alone getting your hands on some.

It appears to only be found in one spot and that spot was possibly developed or otherwise inaccessible.

As far as cutting dry I don't have anything to add to that conversation. I can't understand why there would be an advantage but I guess some folks have their reasons. I feel like I read a comment someone made saying the material is fairly soft and crumbly but can't confirm.

At the end of the day it is beautiful material