Thoughts on Virgin Valley drying issues

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SwordfishMining
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Thoughts on Virgin Valley drying issues

Post by SwordfishMining »

From another post where it would be lost in comments. or lack of them
THE HUGE ONES DONT STAY THAT SIZE unless preserved as a virgin havent tried to dry it to cut it specimen in water, now...
We don't know WHERE they get "play of color" & the yellow orange "hue" confused. When you are showing all these "fun" "non-just precious" opal gemstones such as boulder opals with potch or jasper patterns in the faces, you have to admit wood in the face is just as acceptable for design if it is as hard as the ironstone, it's certainly much lighter to wear! Also unique for the display among the universal common looking goods.
Like I was saying earlier in another thread, but didn't, I look at all of these fine pieces & replace those "rocks" with my picked gemwoods or VV pure opal ones and get them at a craft show. That is what the miners here are doing with the things they find they can create with. Since it can be treated & logged up to whatever size or shape, clear of crack areas were always the issue, but can be found. By being a small square to facet size (as the fire opal people proved)the shrinkage pulls in the corners, it does not craze the whole or make it difficult with a lighting bolt break to cut around. Also being found in big round nodules on occasion, they spall off in chips, not in chunks to facet as it dries.
The naturals are just smaller as a rule due to water evaporation shrinkage. Crazy opal is crazy opal, but if you can dry it better, dont say it cant be dried if you never tried. The risk is in the saw time invested. Hint. the more crystal brighter ones are the more crazy ones, go figure.
You can lumber it up into little slabs to reduce your losses.I always advocate for the treat the surface & cut off at least one usable thickness gem as a natural, then slab or deal with the rest as possible. You at least had the one and cant say it was worthless. Some decisions on how to grind away rough are worthless if you dont know what is inside. So many of ours are just a surface coating like a boulder vein, but others are huge & cant dry without cracking and are too fragile of a matrix to put in a cement mixer to tumble for awhile. Who know how much crazy opal goes out in the mud from those, but then again they were not in it for the specimens like we are.
Bird in the hand is a wire wrappers grand. I mainly fight the "best on a break" color phenomenon as it is seldom uniform thru the fossil replacement.
I'll jump over my shadow. https://www.virginvalleyopal.com"
Opals & more at my ESTY store https://swordfishmining.etsy.com"
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