my 1st try

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Nili
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:22 am

my 1st try

Post by Nili »

Hello all
loving , having and even seting opals is 1 thing but polishing.. thats a dream come true and i wont that expriance to be as perfect as it can be
having some rught ethiopia i jumpet at the opretuninty when some one oferd me to use ther dremel when they are not working
befor the photos :
1: This is a 1st for me.
2: i am stack and need some help / advice

so using difrend grad Sandpaper i started to work on this wello ( it is gam ) what you'l see here is my work which is not finished , yet , and questions

( did not use water just a bit of damp clouth when wonting to see whats going onand made sure to stop working every time i felt the stone geting a bit worm )

here is the 1st one pretty big wello 2 photos of what it looked like and 2 of how it looks now
1st 1 no2.JPG

1st 1.JPG

1st try  2nd photo.JPG

1st 1 part 2.JPG


question : by now this stone is very smove and the Sandpaper dasn't do anything to it what shuld i do ? Also the littel sand patches shuld i use a needel to take them out ?

Thanks for looking and any advice will be grait :)
Attachments
1st 1 no2.JPG
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PinkDiamond
Posts: 15405
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2015 9:30 pm
Location: Ozark Mountains

Re: my 1st try

Post by PinkDiamond »

What bits did you work with so far Nili? I suppose you could just pick out sand spots, or even drill them out, but with the thickness of that piece, I think I'd grind them right off to have a smoother surface to polish.

What kind of sandpaper are you using to polish, and what grits have you gone thru? I use wet/dry sandpaper that's made for cars, which I use wet. I buy it in auto parts stores, and if memory serves me right, the grits go as high as 2500 for a smoother polish. If they sell auto paint, they'll surely have the sandpapers, too.

You need a loupe or a good magnifying glass to look thru to make sure you get all the scratches out as you work your way thru each level of grit, and don't jump too high in between them or the grit will be too fine to buff out any scratches left by the last, coarser grit.

Looks like you've got good color in there, and unlike Aussie material where you have a color bar you can cut thru and lose all the color, you shouldn't have to worry about cutting all the color off with Ethiopian material, and as you polish with finer and finer grits, the colors should emerge even more, but it does take a lot of time and polishing with a dremel or done by hand. With magnification you'll know when you have the polish as good as it can be for each level before moving on.

Hope that helps and that others will jump in and give you their tips, too, since I haven't cut very many. :)
PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist


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Nili
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:22 am

Re: my 1st try

Post by Nili »

HI Pink
Thank you . you advice helps a lot i do use the wet/ dry sandpaper
But from what you wrot i belive i jumpt from the rught to a smother one skeeping a few nombers that i shuld have used .. let me see i started with 250 , then moved to 300 something i havent got to the 1000 or more yet :) so i think i'll sort of start ,again, with the 250 that will , hopfully , leave some scarches , then move from 1 to the other with out jumping and i think the sand will be goon by the time i get to 2500 who knows what it'll look like :) i'm hopping..

what do you think Pink shuld i start again ?

I only have , about 3-6 hours a week to work at it so thats gives me planty of time to think about the stone , and for the stone to " relax "

And thanks i was a bit worrid about the colors But you make sence :) so now just to work slow and safe
keep fingers x :)
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SwordfishMining
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Re: my 1st try

Post by SwordfishMining »

Its getting there. I like to pick out all the ash as I can as i go. Diamond files coarse then fine. Go by doubling grit size: 80 grit 160, 320, 600, 1200, 2500, 5000 Wet and Dry Sandpapers. Polish with cerium oxide/tin/Linde your polish? on leather. Tumbled stones stop at like 1000 - 1200, then are polished for comparison. The ash pits you could put a dot of super glue in to fill after they have been cleaned and before polishing if you dont care it the stone has been repaired for a smooth surface with no pits.
I'll jump over my shadow. https://www.virginvalleyopal.com"
Opals & more at my ESTY store https://swordfishmining.etsy.com"
Nili
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:22 am

Re: my 1st try

Post by Nili »

Hello to all :)
it has been a long time since i visitied , i was in japan ( nothing related to opals ) then i returnd just less thena month ago to find out this wounderfull site was having some dificultis But Thanks to Pink ( and whom ever helped :)) i can now post, so i'll start with this 1st try of main becuse i have made some progress <G> and would love to hear feedback which ever it may be .
Now lets see if i remmber how to post photos ;) .

1st 1.jpg



other side of 1st 1.jpg



golden threds.jpg
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PinkDiamond
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Location: Ozark Mountains

Re: my 1st try

Post by PinkDiamond »

That's a beautiful piece of opal, Nili, and I'm so happy you were finally able to log in. Where was the opal mined? And will you use it in jewelry, or as a specimen? Hope you had a great time in Japan. It must feel great to be home again after being away for so long. Welcome back! :)
PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist


· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ There are miracles left for you to do .... -:¦:- -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* It all begins inside of you. ;)
Nili
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:22 am

Re: my 1st try

Post by Nili »

HI and Thanks Pink :)

I'm happy to be back .. prahpes one day we or some of us can all meet at a gem con or somthing....

the opal is a wello opal , and it'l be in a long pendent i'll be doing as soon as i polish a cappel of others opal ;) it's real fun polishing.

As for japan , well , forst thing on Friday ( my tomarow ) i'll post some photos , in the more nature related arya at this forum ... i'm actualy safering now from japan withdrowl :( so much to see , so manything yet to see... and i still wont to chace a tornado ....
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PinkDiamond
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Location: Ozark Mountains

Re: my 1st try

Post by PinkDiamond »

I'm looking forward to seeing the pics of Japan, Nili, so I hope you get time to post them for us, maybe in the General Chat category. So are you still going through withdrawal? You'll have to plan a vacation there so you can go do the things you didn't get a chance to do on this trip. :)
PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist


· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ There are miracles left for you to do .... -:¦:- -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* It all begins inside of you. ;)
Rockranger1
Posts: 253
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:02 pm

Re: my 1st try

Post by Rockranger1 »

Nice job, they are a sweet size to work with too.
Nili
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:22 am

Re: my 1st try

Post by Nili »

Rockranger1 : yes the size realy helps here .. and now i have started with the 2nd one .. this is very adicting <lol>
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