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Post by Tony W on Sept 5, 2008 11:55:56 GMT -5
Did some cutting on the last of last years opal rough. For those interested in seeing the innards Tony And the one I'm looking forward to grinding first.
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Wolfden
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2007
Posts: 1,368
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Post by Wolfden on Sept 5, 2008 12:07:30 GMT -5
wow Tony .. I see some very nice color peeking out .. that first one should be amazing
Thanks for the pictures Dennis
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Sept 5, 2008 12:51:50 GMT -5
That kind of Opal never ceases to amaze me...Beautiful.
And that's not the only one I see!
Now hurry up and polish it!!!!!!!!! ;D
Dr Joe
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Post by Titania on Sept 5, 2008 12:53:41 GMT -5
*drools*....I can't wait to see these finished up, Tony!
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Post by Tony W on Sept 5, 2008 13:18:06 GMT -5
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2008 14:47:00 GMT -5
Those look pretty sweet, looking forward to the finished product.
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firewalker45
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since August 2006
Posts: 929
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Post by firewalker45 on Sept 5, 2008 15:09:02 GMT -5
Wow Tony that is some beautiful opal you have! I bet that soon, you will have some knockout cabs! WTG Tony and thanks for sharring. Daniel
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Post by Tony W on Sept 5, 2008 15:33:29 GMT -5
Hey, Daniel!! Haven't heard from you in a while. Hope all is well. I'm working on a piece of that Chevyite you sent me, but I can't get it to shine like Ed can. He told me to try a buffing pad instead of my leather. I'll give that a try. Hey, Tony.... well you know with this grade I get pits coming up... and cracks... but some of this is ironstone matrix and I can get some nice yield from that, sometimes. Here's hoping. Here are a few more..... This one will yield a small stone... maybe... from the top, but the rest is crumbly sand matrix that will pit and crack as soon as the wheel hits it, I'm afraid. And I'm a bit scared for that top spot pitting, too. I will get chips for inlay stuff, at least...
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Wolfden
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2007
Posts: 1,368
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Post by Wolfden on Sept 5, 2008 19:39:38 GMT -5
I love the reds in this piece , is the lower left corner crumbly? looks like it might be . but it should still make a great cab
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MidNight~Rocksi3
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2008
Posts: 1,716
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Post by MidNight~Rocksi3 on Sept 5, 2008 20:39:22 GMT -5
Ahhhhhhh!..(C.E.N.S.O.R.D.) just realized I diced up my BO without knowing it .. . till now..just recognized some of them patterns.. .. The only Good thing is I found my B.opal... .. Bad thing is .. it doesn't even look as Good as yours... Is there a Special Master Technique to cutting that? ...Cuz I think I seriously mangled mine.. Anyways... Great cuts.. and excellent splash of color.. Realy like that third pic.. Looks like it says Ez.. lol *smiles*
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Post by sitnwrap on Sept 5, 2008 20:43:43 GMT -5
Tony, those are gorgeous. I have a couple of questions about cutting and working Karoit. Do you use a thin saw blade to cut? It would seem that you would loose a lot of opal due to the width of a standard wf saw.
Also can you stablize Karoit or would it affect the opal?
Thanks for sharing your pics.
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Sept 5, 2008 23:23:28 GMT -5
I recently was gifted a few pieces from Ed and I found it to be some difficult stuff to work...very soft and crumbly and MESSY! Red mud everywhere - all over my face and arms. LOL....but I got a Baker's dozen of pretty little BO cabs. I hope to get them finished soon and show them to y'all.
Some great pieces you've got here!
;DS
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Post by Tony W on Sept 5, 2008 23:52:46 GMT -5
Hey, Dennis.... yeah, it is crumbly at the bottom... or maybe not so much crumbly as sandy. I can probably sand it down pretty good and it will be stable, but it may well never take a good shine. I get a lot of undercutting trying to shine sand. I've taken to cutting it away. That one is real dark... the photo makes it look better than it shows in person. I doubt it will be a bright one... but that is the fun of it for me.. getting to find out. I'm always being surprised especially when bright glitter pops out where there was no hint of it. T
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Post by Tony W on Sept 5, 2008 23:54:41 GMT -5
Hey, Midnight.... well, my great technique this time was to think about how to cut and where to cut for months, and put it off and put it off... then, spontaniously just go out and start cutting. That was my special masters technique... just say "to heck with it" and start cutting Of course I have gained some experience messing rough up.. so there may have been 35 percent method to my mostly madness, lol. Don't worry about how you cut yours just get to grinding carefully and wait to be surprised! My early efforts seemed to always have the best parts around the girdle Now I sometimes get them on the face. Today I gound on one that was mostly dark ironstone matrix but a beautiful blue opal pool started to come out and it kept getting bigger. A lot of times they will pit if you grind them too much so I stopped... but some day I may have the guts to grind it somemore to see if it will get bigger. You have to grind on them all 'cause you just can't be sure what is inside from looking on the outside. Tony
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Post by Tony W on Sept 6, 2008 0:18:10 GMT -5
Sitnwrap.. I have a hot dog blade, that is thinner than my workforce.. but with lower grade stuff I don't know that anything thinner is going to save me too much. The best piece, #1, was already faced (I think he threw in a better grade piece for me) so I just cut it to maximize the color spread and cut two blanks out of it, and didn't loose anything but matrix. When I win the lottery and get some top grade stuff I'll get one of those really thin opal blades that go on an arbor. I have to glue lots of pits in this stuff... I tried using Opticon early on but it was messy, stank really bad, and didn't fix the pits and cracks.. so I don't use it much anymore . When I get the confidence to sell cabs and jewelry, I'll buy better grade stuff that, hopefully, won't need fixin'. Tony
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Post by stoner on Sept 6, 2008 16:27:42 GMT -5
Well? ?? It's been a few days, where's the cabs?
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Post by Tony W on Sept 7, 2008 0:58:12 GMT -5
Ha! Well, I don't have one of those super fast Ferrari cabbers like you do, Ed. With those sandwiched baracuda teeth blades that cut titanium in seconds. And the same polishers that worked on the Hubble lenses. I actually have to stop and change wheels...over and over, then change belts, over and over, then change leather pads over and over.... so it all takes time, man, it takes time. Like today I had to play croquet... and tomorrow is football... it all just takes time T
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Sept 8, 2008 12:58:09 GMT -5
NO NO NO! Outside is for gathering rocks, washing BIG rocks and taking pix in sunlight! Otherwise it's BAD! Now go have some fun cabbing ;D (PS, the hubble polishing unit wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, remember? ) Dr Joe .
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Post by Tonyterner on Sept 8, 2008 13:23:57 GMT -5
That is some good looking B.O. I have a pound or two of material but nothing that looks even close to this stuff. I'm lucky to get one fleck of color per cab. Someday......
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Post by frane on Sept 8, 2008 19:24:35 GMT -5
We really have some wonderful cabs coming our way from this batch! I am really looking forward to it! Fran
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