Jason
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2009
Posts: 216
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Post by Jason on Jul 26, 2009 21:24:40 GMT -5
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Jul 27, 2009 1:33:34 GMT -5
Thats some awsome looking stuff Am
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Post by texaswoodie on Jul 27, 2009 6:20:01 GMT -5
Very cool stuff. It reminds me of Louisiana Opal.
Curt
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desertdweller
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since August 2006
Posts: 1,803
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Post by desertdweller on Jul 27, 2009 9:35:46 GMT -5
Wow, So, was that material porous before it had been stabilized? Or just soft? I have an opal that looks just like the ones you have in the photos but it is so porous, I'm not really sure what to do to it to make it workable.
I loved Honduras, I couldn't get over all of the fruit growing everywhere. Bananas, kiwis, mangos, coconuts and breadfruit. I was talking to a couple little kids, maybe 10 or 11 years old and I was trying to find out how they harvested the mangos from the mango trees. (Mango trees are huge, couldn't even figure out how to get up to the first branch.) The two boys ran over to the edge of the dirt road and picked up some flat rocks, they were throwing the rocks at the vines the mangos were hanging from in the same fashion you toss a rock to skip it across the water. In less than a minute they had dropped three mangos. I was so impressed, I stood there throwing rocks at that stupid tree for two hours and never even came close to cutting a mango down.
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Jason
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2009
Posts: 216
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Post by Jason on Jul 27, 2009 10:10:20 GMT -5
Thats cool desertdweller...he was showing me pics of the town he lives in in honduras..it's a little under 5300ft. so right near the cloud forest..they grow coffee and dig for black opal....looked so nice but it was real real poor areas..he showed me all kinds of pics of the area where he lives...The stuff, I think used to craze until he figured out how to stabalize it. He got some tips from some of the folks at Lightning Ridge and spent thoudands developing a technique, down in florida, on stabalizing it. 100% stable he told me..so we will see..he had about 200 cabs he had already cut some were fantastic.
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desertdweller
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since August 2006
Posts: 1,803
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Post by desertdweller on Jul 27, 2009 10:38:19 GMT -5
I know what you mean about poor areas, even the wealthy areas of Honduras only have power 3 or 4 days a week so their way of life is so very different.
I posted a method of stabilizing here on the RTH board some time ago, I need to go back and modify the post. The liquid mixture ends up being about two cups but after boiling the slabs for a while, the two cups of liquid boiled dry so you have to keep adding more mixture. This method doesn't turn the slabs yellow and you don't need any fancy equipment to stabilize the slabs.
I'll see if I can find the post or I'll go through my documents and send the whole procedure to you via PM.
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Gem'n I
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2008
Posts: 980
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Post by Gem'n I on Jul 27, 2009 14:35:13 GMT -5
I did meet Dennis at quartzite and the stuff he had was awesome!! Several years ago I worked with a guy who had an uncle that owned an black opal mine in Mexico and bought a quart jar filled with this type of opal...ended up trading half of this jar for my first cabbing outfit...an old B&I unit...anyway the Mexican black opal is very similar to the Honduras stuff..very pretty to look at but a beast to shine...opal in basalt is like water in oil....nice to see but doesn't work well...Lapidary Journal had an article about this Mexican stuffs' discovery in the late '60s using a carved head of an Aztec...I tried to figure out how they got a polish on it...I am glad to see Dennis found a way to make this stuff work. Larry
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Post by Tonyterner on Jul 28, 2009 11:32:26 GMT -5
Great looking stuff. I've cabbed a bit of that but it had the light colored matrix and they just ended up looking bad. That has some amazing color.
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Jason
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2009
Posts: 216
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Post by Jason on Jul 28, 2009 13:49:38 GMT -5
The light colored matrix may have been a sign of sugar infusion to stabalize the material...stuff looks real bad like you said
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Post by Bejewelme on Jul 28, 2009 21:44:39 GMT -5
WOW, that is beautiful!!!
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MikeS
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2009
Posts: 1,081
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Post by MikeS on Jul 28, 2009 23:25:15 GMT -5
very cool!
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Post by stonesthatrock on Aug 7, 2009 1:14:14 GMT -5
i had some that amber bought........ i don't think it shined up very well at all. I still have a few pieces left, but not sure we are gonna try and cab it. I have to talk to amber first.
mary ann
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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 Aug 10, 2009 19:11:14 GMT -5
Honduran Black Matrix Opal reacts best from the use of the full range of grits then Cerium Oxide on a felt pad, run it starts to drag and build up a little heat (don't over do it).
Good black Matrix doesn't need any treatment. If it has alot of potch (sandy spots that are alot softer than the matrix) is were the problems start.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
Dr Joe
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goldfinger1
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2008
Posts: 154
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Post by goldfinger1 on Aug 31, 2009 10:47:02 GMT -5
I got to hang out with the owner of a black Opal mine in Honduras last week. If any of you go to quartzite you may have met dennis. Does Dennis have a website or an email address where he can be reached? Steve
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bambooprincess
spending too much on rocks
I call him Foo Foo...
Member since April 2009
Posts: 318
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Post by bambooprincess on Sept 3, 2009 22:40:45 GMT -5
WOW! Gorgeous stuff!
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gloria
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2009
Posts: 9
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Post by gloria on Sept 8, 2009 20:02:07 GMT -5
Very pretty, the only opals I have are one blue and one green. I still have my antenna out for a black or crystal
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