Yes- I reckon the crapper the better! It's easy to cut a good stone. A stone with issues takes real skill! Also a pretty stone is lively, I really adore them... but one with character- is truly interesting
So guys... to set up the camera i grabbed a giant cinder block. I dug it out and brought it to the table without a thought of the consequences for my nails... now i have a giant dirty thumbnail staring at me... and i presume you as well! Sorry about that!
I purchased some Jet for doublet material. I'm going to experiment with a highly polished surface and a matte surface finish. I'm going to use optically clear epoxy. I also purchased some black tourmaline for doublet material, but I think the jet will work better. The black tourmaline just adds a sense of being more gemmy ;) How much should I be paying for what they call (lightning color Black Boulder Opal) Cabochons? I'm finding some selling between $0.43 USD to $0.97 USD per carat. It looks like a white creamy color to light lavender of opal with no play of color.
If you are talking potch, it should be quite inexpensive. I'd believe under a dollar for colourless opal. If you know riley gunn, he can set you up with some nice stuff. I will caution you on using different materials for doublets. I'm not saying don't do it, just be careful. If you bind 2 different materials with different properties (porosity, heat transfer, expansion etc) then you are risking breaking the stone. I suggest you get some potch, I could even send you some, then create a fake doublet using the potch and your test material, then gently heat, cool, humidify, wet, dry... see what happens before you do an expensive opal.
@@drfill9210 I've been purchasing pieces of aquarium gravel as of late. So I stopped buying bits of lightening ridge opal. Riley and a few other place will be my next purchase. Presently I'm purchasing Ethiopian black opal and crystal opal cabochons, and polished nuggets 100 carats to 200 carats. Poorly cut, with cracks, crazing and little play of color. They're pretty enough that I'll keep buying more. And I've got a few ideas of my own of how to stabilize them. So I'll have fun testing with them. I think you and talked about this recently. I spoke to a jeweler last week who makes opal jewelry. They been using Jet as a doublet for opal for a long time. I've found others mentioning using Jet too. Now the Tourmaline, that might be an issue and I've decided not to use it. Tks for your help!
@@drfill9210 It would be fun to see one opal with the tourmaline. Maybe add an emerald cut to dress her up. 😂 I don't know what quality the tourmaline will be. I think I'll get the first few piece this coming Wednesday. The Jet is coming from China and will take a month. If you buy Jet in the future, there are two kinds. If I recall correctly, one is soft and the other is hard. I have no idea what type I bought. 😔
@@pigeonbloodruby5330 you are not going to believe this.... I picked up a rock while I was doing my fossil run today. I was using it to open fossils, but I kept it because it seemed unusual to me. It's quite possible that the stone is a chunk of jet! I'll have a look at it in the morning. If it is, I know where I found it and I'll look for more
Yeah, I think picture stone are nice. When i get back to mine, I'll show you some cherry blossom picture stones. these are ones that come from material we've all had, but if you cut them the right way, looks like a Japanese garden in winter
Dark, light, black, greeeeeeen, I like em all!
I love all my stones, even the ones that are bollocks.
Yes- I reckon the crapper the better! It's easy to cut a good stone. A stone with issues takes real skill! Also a pretty stone is lively, I really adore them... but one with character- is truly interesting
So guys... to set up the camera i grabbed a giant cinder block. I dug it out and brought it to the table without a thought of the consequences for my nails... now i have a giant dirty thumbnail staring at me... and i presume you as well! Sorry about that!
I've bought plenty of rubs, they are pretty nice as they remove some of the risk.
Yep, this isn't a professional selling video, if it were, all of the rubs would have spent some time dry so you could examine them for cracks
I purchased some Jet for doublet material. I'm going to experiment with a highly polished surface and a matte surface finish. I'm going to use optically clear epoxy. I also purchased some black tourmaline for doublet material, but I think the jet will work better. The black tourmaline just adds a sense of being more gemmy ;)
How much should I be paying for what they call (lightning color Black Boulder Opal) Cabochons? I'm finding some selling between $0.43 USD to $0.97 USD per carat. It looks like a white creamy color to light lavender of opal with no play of color.
If you are talking potch, it should be quite inexpensive. I'd believe under a dollar for colourless opal. If you know riley gunn, he can set you up with some nice stuff.
I will caution you on using different materials for doublets. I'm not saying don't do it, just be careful. If you bind 2 different materials with different properties (porosity, heat transfer, expansion etc) then you are risking breaking the stone. I suggest you get some potch, I could even send you some, then create a fake doublet using the potch and your test material, then gently heat, cool, humidify, wet, dry... see what happens before you do an expensive opal.
@@drfill9210 I've been purchasing pieces of aquarium gravel as of late. So I stopped buying bits of lightening ridge opal. Riley and a few other place will be my next purchase.
Presently I'm purchasing Ethiopian black opal and crystal opal cabochons, and polished nuggets 100 carats to 200 carats. Poorly cut, with cracks, crazing and little play of color. They're pretty enough that I'll keep buying more. And I've got a few ideas of my own of how to stabilize them. So I'll have fun testing with them.
I think you and talked about this recently. I spoke to a jeweler last week who makes opal jewelry. They been using Jet as a doublet for opal for a long time. I've found others mentioning using Jet too. Now the Tourmaline, that might be an issue and I've decided not to use it.
Tks for your help!
@@pigeonbloodruby5330 re the tourmaline: if you have some, try it! Just don't use an opal you care about...
@@drfill9210 It would be fun to see one opal with the tourmaline. Maybe add an emerald cut to dress her up. 😂 I don't know what quality the tourmaline will be. I think I'll get the first few piece this coming Wednesday. The Jet is coming from China and will take a month. If you buy Jet in the future, there are two kinds. If I recall correctly, one is soft and the other is hard. I have no idea what type I bought. 😔
@@pigeonbloodruby5330 you are not going to believe this.... I picked up a rock while I was doing my fossil run today. I was using it to open fossils, but I kept it because it seemed unusual to me. It's quite possible that the stone is a chunk of jet! I'll have a look at it in the morning. If it is, I know where I found it and I'll look for more
I like the picture stones too.
Yeah, I think picture stone are nice. When i get back to mine, I'll show you some cherry blossom picture stones. these are ones that come from material we've all had, but if you cut them the right way, looks like a Japanese garden in winter