Slow Opal

[skywalker753]

ya, i think i will keep this opalized clam shell as a specimen for now... Most shell opal ive seen is either nearly full of sand, or almost completely potch with no play of color opal. Its a good story starter this one. Kids seem to like stories of opal and dinosaurs...lol...except ive nearly spit out my coffee with a laughter outburst when kids have asked me "were YOU alive way back then?!....."
Anyway i will pick something different to cut in a bit.

[skywalker753]

[skywalker753]

I hadn't done a boulder opal in a while...so I did! Its not fancy with red and orange like some have, but blue, green, clear, violet, and white are not bad.

For those who may want to do some opal, boulder opal rough is fairly inexpensive, and compared to expensive solid regular opal its pretty forgiving to shape, cut, and polish.
A plus besides not breaking the pocketbook is that you can do several things with your final stone...keep it dark brown as is...seal it with a shiny resin, or blacken the background with the sugar/heat or sugar/acid treatment. I will keep this as is for now.
Just beware: shaping sanding and polishing this type of opal creates "mud"!!! Its gets messy, but isn't too hard to clean up if you're prepared!...lol...

[PinkDiamond]

That's a very nice one, and you haven't treated it yet, right?

[skywalker753]

Thanks Pink! No I've not treated this one at all. The natural stone color (dark brown) seems dark enough to me to show off the play of color opal without any treatment.

[PinkDiamond]

My thoughts exactly.

[skywalker753]

I picked out another fairly inexpensive boulder opal rough to work on. Its dark brown, with white potch lines that make a pleasant pattern. BUT, I thought THAT can't be why I bought it...lol...so I investigated just a bit. Loupe, magnifying glass, strong torch/flashlight, water, every angle...
Well, we'll see. I hope to get to it tomorrow. I'm stoked!, Pumped! (Americanisms...lol...) Whats the corresponding Australian term to indicate one is really looking forward to and ready to do something?...

[crazy8s]

Most of us are not Aussies.

[skywalker753]

Sure, well, onward then...

[skywalker753]

This is the rough I mentioned yesterday. Hope to get to it later today...and...hope there is a bit more color on the final stone than is visible here.