My African Opal that Looks Like Africa...

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Artfldgr
Posts: 399
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:46 pm

My African Opal that Looks Like Africa...

Post by Artfldgr »

ok.. i am TRYING to do more opals on the side.. in the cracks of life
soooo... i had to come up with a way i can do this..

and here is the CHEAPEST way to do free form opal carving that comes before polishing
there is some other good stuff in this "article" as well..
like how to locate a fault easier...

20191019_095011.jpg

_KJR2722.JPG


thats it... thats ALL that is needed to do the carving..
its of course not as fast as a motor... but its a lot more fine in removing absolute minimum..

_KJR2673.JPG

Image

i am hoping that it doesnt lose another part or such before i get all the faults out..
there are two... (and one tiny divot.. a small dent)
its where the PENCIL mark is... do NOT ever use marker... EVER..
capillary action will grab the ink, and draw it in fast..
[i have figured out that there are layers to an opal.. the most outer layer dries out.. but inside it cant..
so you have a kind of rind that has no water, and THAT is what sucks ink, and such]

as to pinks point as to oils changing colors... it depends on the oils.
ie. body oils have proteins in them... and guess what turns yellow?
but mineral oil... thats clear... and over time... it evaporates like the oil in an oil painting..

here are some more pics then the faults... :(

_KJR2668.JPG


_KJR2680.JPG
_KJR2678.JPG
_KJR2658.JPG
_KJR2635.JPG


ok.. now that thats out of the way.. you may have seen the fault
but these next photos will not only show you, but show you HOW to find them..

once again.. the sun is your friend :)

this is the divot... easy to remove..
_KJR2713.JPG


and this is the thing that i think EVERY opal cutter HATES with a passion
_KJR2710.JPG


i find that if you can turn the opal every which way, you can get the sunlight to bounce off the interface
if its on the surface like this one.. you can cut it out.. changing shape..
but if you find one way inside... your better off probably making more than one stone
however... those seeming cracks.. can be unstable, or stable..
glass is a liquid... not a solid...

take a glass cutter... and cut a line..
put pressure and click the glass cuts

do the SAME THING
but wait an hour or two.. or overnight...
now try...
the glass wont cut along the line and may even break in an odd way
the fracture while still being there, has healed


thats it for today..
the diamond water based polish has yet to arrive by pony express..
[four days in california so far.. ]

be very nice to see what this stone looks like
oh, and this method works GREAT on tiny stones that are harder to hold
while its too slow for some things, but its kind of nice when your waiting for the bus..
now that is opalholism..
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PinkDiamond
Posts: 15404
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2015 9:30 pm
Location: Ozark Mountains

Re: My African Opal that Looks Like Africa...

Post by PinkDiamond »

Opalholism takes many forms, and your thread might just inspire some who want to try their hand at it to take a leap of faith and give it a go. :mrgreen:

That's a cool shape, and I hope it turns out exactly the way you envision it. Your tools are like what I used to do my first opal, which was very slow going, as you said, but that was a boon to me working with such a thin piece of Welo opal barely 2mm thick. I'm looking forward to following your journey and seeing how it comes out. Good luck with it. :)
PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist


· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ There are miracles left for you to do .... -:¦:- -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* It all begins inside of you. ;)
Artfldgr
Posts: 399
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: My African Opal that Looks Like Africa...

Post by Artfldgr »

its actually quite fast... (not like sandpaper)
i even have large but fine tuned hands.. :)

the shape was governed by the stone itself...

but the BEST part? this works with almost any stone..
i have tried it on lots of them.. though the harder the stone, the slower the pace

and want to guess what you can use to cut them? IF your patient?
you can use a diamond saw blade, and saw it like wood..
a bit much..
Artfldgr
Posts: 399
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: My African Opal that Looks Like Africa...

Post by Artfldgr »

as i said, i didnt shape it to look like africa..
i found some pictures... the bottom was done with sandpaper, but the faults have to be removed
as i removed them, it took the shape naturally... whether it will stay that way will have to rely on providence.

_KJR0103 copy.jpg


_KJR0098 copy.jpg


_KJR0094 copy.jpg


_KJR0081 copy.jpg


i actually have no idea what you would call THAT pattern..
but, this thing should really look hot regardless of whether or not it is shaped like the continent of origin
Artfldgr
Posts: 399
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: My African Opal that Looks Like Africa...

Post by Artfldgr »

found some earlier pics which show the bottom before i took sand paper to it to make it flat and remove what appears to be a monstrosity and fibrous potch.

_KJR9923 copy.jpg


_KJR9927 copy.jpg
Artfldgr
Posts: 399
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: My African Opal that Looks Like Africa...

Post by Artfldgr »

Same opal.. except i got bored before i cut it.

_KJR9879 copy.jpg


_KJR9845 copy.jpg


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_KJR9582 copy.jpg


EXCELLENT!! i found its ORIGINAL state
maybe i will make an opal movie from original state, to end?
who knows..
_KJR8411 sm.jpg


_KJR8416 sa copy.jpg
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