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How To Make Opal

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 11:44 am
by OpalSpectrum
like most people here I'm not into making synthetic opals :? :lol: and this is not the reason I share it here :lol:

I think this is the best video about opal formation & structure ever made !
this guy is doing different experiments and not only explain them but he also show amazing macro videos and pictures where you can see how silica spheres stack together and how opal is created .. which also explain how fire works and why there are different patterns :roll:

enjoy 8-)


Re: How To Make Opal

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 5:12 pm
by OpalSpectrum
here is something similar to the last video about - ''Growing Opal''

quite long (you can speed up x1.25) very interesting info and experiments
*it looks like 'opaque' opal forms when the process of sedimentation is faster and crystal opal forms 'slower' :roll:




** about a week ago on FB someone posted video of 40 years old opal jar and the jar had fire on the bottom (inside) :o
> similar to 'ancient glass' but it was REAL opal fire and only inside
couple people commented that they seen this before in 30years old + jars

this is very strange because it seems that some 'silica' desolve in water and forms micro-layer of 'opal' on the bottom (similar to the experiments in the videos) > it's slow but doesn't take 1M years :roll: :?

Re: How To Make Opal

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:27 pm
by PinkDiamond
That's great, and thank you for resurrecting this topic. IMHO, Len Cram did the most extensive work and grew opals in jars that were true opals, and Chris, who set up this forum and gave it to me, transferred the article I had posted on our old home's website and transferred it here, so check this out. 8-)

viewtopic.php?t=280

Re: How To Make Opal

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 8:33 pm
by SwordfishMining
Ill watch it later. This computer is sucking up too much of my time lately. Len also said he would never share the formula he found as it would only do his miner friends harm. The problem was it did not have a lifespan compared to real opals not being tested perfected, natural or whatever. I mean they wrote all opal has a fuse burning in the Australian Mineralogist journal. It was the earth holding them tight & wet and when taken out into the light of day..... eventual change.
That did slow down the synthetic= true mineral only silica opal, not a drop of resin or plastic in it, being copied by the the SIMULATED=looks like opal sponge material that is hardened with epoxy or plastic to be worked. Much more forgiving beside being much less and with a uniform pattern.

Just saw a site; Sterling Opal, that alluded theirs was synthetic but the sales page states resin infused. They did find a way to make black go in the cracks so it more resembles boulder opals. https://sterlingopal.com/

Thanks for sharing. I read also that Desert Varnish on rocks was a black potch essentially when examined.