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Jordy's Gem and Lapidary Odyssey thread!

theredspinel

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Oh wow :o !!! And I'm after a pair of drop black opals... :errrr:
 

jordyonbass

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I don't think they're black opals TRS but they're looking beautiful regardless!! I think these are white opal pieces but I'll have to check once they're finished and off the dops. They're going to be a present for my grandma once they're done, I will probably get them set for her as well. She's not well so I hope this brings her some happiness :)

I just got pinky off the dop and was pleasantly surprised with what I have gotten; 14.5mm x 11.2mm x 7.5mm and weighing in at 11.1 carats. I still have to flat lap the back and do an oxide polish on the dome but I was saying I'd be stoked if I got 10 carats back so I'm really happy! :dance:
 

theredspinel

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Jordy... do you know what; I am so used to seeing the white milky opals in high street jewellers all my life that when I see the light/white opals from Justin.... my brain just processes it as "black" lol. Those mall store ones have scarred me...
 

jordyonbass

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I used to have a very different idea of what opals looked like as well and when I first became a gem geek I wasn't too fussed by opal. But the colorplay in the opals from Lightning Ridge is very distinctive, they really are some beautiful stones from that area and have helped fuel my new opal passion. I wouldn't mind looking at getting some Welo Opal at some point too! :naughty:

A couple things I didn't mention in my update: one of the black opals looks like it may only be potch with no color bar. I knew there would be some stones in the package like this due to the nature of opal, just disappointed that the first black opal we attacked may have no color in it. It's still on the dop so I will remove it at some point and give it a good inspection.
My wife has also started shaping the previously pictured fluorite and it's lightened up a lot but still a bit rough around the edges at this point. We were also given some minerals for cabbing by a nice lady at the club today. I may take some pictures of all this stuff and add it at some point as well.
 

aussiejamie

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You are doing very nicely Jordy! Keep up the good work and those 2 crystal opals are looking good. Photos never do opals justice and I can imagine the colour play on them is sensational. TRS, I think many people have been scarred by low quality white opals in the mall.
 

jordyonbass

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Thanks Jamie! And it's Mrs Jordy who has actually done the work on the pair of pears, she has an amazing touch for the light and delicate jobs like small opals. This Saturday I shall be attacking my first opal and I'm pretty excited to get started, Pinky has helped teach me patience :lol:

And I'm impressed that you picked them for being crystal opals while still dopped!! I had to get them off to double check whether they were white or crystal! :oops:
 

jordyonbass

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I forgot to add to my previous post; I took another snap of the ovals when they were being a bit more photogenic. They were glowing like little blue and green lights at the time, I think I may have found a love for Lightning Ridge stones :)

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jordyonbass

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So since I've developed my gem obsession I've had family keeping an eye out for rocks I might be interested in. My father was recently at a market near his house and found a stall selling rocks. He sent me pics of some stuff that was there that didn't really interest me however this did;

It's a piece with a combination of Malachite and Azurite, we're going to slice it like a loaf of bread and see what the slices look like. We'll probably take what we want and donate the rest to the communal table at the lapidary club.

By the way stay tuned this weekend if you are following the thread, I'll be cutting my first opal as I didn't get the chance last week, most of my time was devoted to getting ol' pinky done!!

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theredspinel

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I just love those drops :love:
 

jordyonbass

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Thanks TRS!! Funnily enough I think we may have had some beginner's luck with those...

Today I gave my first opal(s) a shot with results that were less than ideal. My first stone had a grey potch that went through the middle of the color bar that essentially left me with an opal that had color around a grey circle with nothing we could really do about it. So that stone was no good unfortunately.

The second and third stones that I attacked had a very dark grey potch throughout as well so they ended up as dark opals with not so great colorplay. I actually stopped on these as I was worried about the colorbars disappearing after they did on my first stone when we tried to cut out the potch. Jamie and/or any pros following; it seems like there's still some potch on the top of the stones, I'm just worried about losing the color bar. Do you guys think I should just bite the bullet on one of the stones and see if the color bar can be brought up by removing more of the top?
Number 4 is still in progress, it's a white opal that has a nice color bar bur it has a sand spot that's giving me fits.

It wasn't just me either, Mrs Jordy had issues with potch as well and had a couple of small stones that just wouldn't show up a clean color bar.

Here are some not so great quality pics, it may seem silly to have so many stones going at once but as I came across issues or was feeling a bit nervous about something I felt it was best to stop and start something else (we also had some Lapidolite slabs that we were working on).

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Lovinggems

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This is interesting indeed, I too am curious to see whether it'll show more colours if you remove more of the stone. Also Mrs. Jordy did a lovely job on the drops. :appl:
 

aussiejamie

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Hi mate,
Can you post up some side views of the stones so I can see the colour bar thickness please. A little trick you can do to see how deep the sand goes is to shine a torch through the back of the stone. This usually lights up the stone internally so you can see sand etc. Remember with opal alot of cabochon rules go out the window. If the gem has a thin bar do not do any doming until you are happy with the colour in the face.
 

jordyonbass

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Thanks LG, she's quite proud of them so I'll let her know.

You're not wrong Jamie, trying to figure out the colour bar has been tricky. I'm flat out with the new job at the moment but will try to get some decent pics this week and upload them. I'm thinking I need to take more potch off the top.
As you remove potch does the color bar gradually show up usually? I was seeing gradual color show but I just kept worrying about losing the colorbar.
 

jordyonbass

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So today we were supposed to be doing some work on the opals at the club but I had to get one of our cars serviced and I decided that I'm going to hit the water tomorrow for a day of fishing on my own. So I'm taking today to relax a bit as hand drilling holes on clay for the new job has been tough and my hands have a few blood blisters. The water and stone dust probably won't help much.

I did get a call about 20 minutes ago from the faceting expert at the club though, Mrs Jordy and I are booked in for June 25th/26th for the beginner’s course. While I am sure this has probably been a moment that some people following have been looking forward to, I'm kinda disappointed that we're going to be pulled away from the opals! We may get one visit in at the club between now and then as we have my mother's birthday and our wedding anniversary coming up so hopefully I will have another opal update before I start with the faceting posts.
 

jordyonbass

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GREAT OPAL SUCCESS!!

So it's been a few weeks since we've been down at the lapidary club; between my little sister in laws debutante, our second wedding anniversary and car repairs I haven't had time. Today we got down to the club and I had some success with the white opal that I had posted a picture of where there was a sand spot giving me trouble.

First up I got warmed up by using their flat lap machine to get ol pinky's back side reasonably flat (similar to a faceting machine without the quill to hold the dop stick, my hands are the quill and my eyes are the gauges). That's all done and all ol pinky needs now is the final powder polish. Once completed I'll get the final weight and a few pics!

Then it was time to tackle an opal so I chose the white opal and worked on it with one of the 280 grit nova wheels. While the 280 diamond wheels are very rough on an opal, the nova wheels are soft enough to work on sand spots. A few minutes of work and the sand was basically all gone!! I've left the shape of this one a little more baroque although I did try to make it slightly oval-ish.

We worked on a few other stones while there and over the next few days I'll be doing hand polishing using leather and powder in the same manner as the 'Steiner Technique' from the Black opal direct website. I'm not sure if my camera skills will be able to pick up the shine but if it's very noticeable then I'll be posting pics for sure!!

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theredspinel

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Oh gosh gosh gosh gosh gosh!

How *amazing* to go from having an interest in gems/gemology to doing this. Actually creating your own gems! :dance: :appl:

That opal looks fantastic and well done for getting that sand spot out. As far as baroque shapes go, this one is very very decent! Gorgeous colour play too.

How do you feel taking a rough piece of rock and ending up with that last imagine of all those gorgeous stones on their dop sticks.... (love that pic btw it's like seeing all your Xmas pressies lined up just waiting to be opened :naughty: )

So jealous you're able to do this!
 

jordyonbass

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Thanks TRS!! I was going to cut the shape a bit more symmetrical but I felt I'd lose too much color so left it as is, last night I did an Aluminum Oxide polish on most of my stones but will be doing Cerium Oxide today and starting on the opal. I'll be doing a post with some pics for this process very soon!

It's amazing to watch how the stones take shape as you don't really know what you are going to end up with, especially with opals since revealing the color bar is the only way to get an idea of what you are going to get out of the rough - something I am learning as I cut them more. But even Ol' Pinky didn't come out the way I thought; initially I thought it would probably be a round or an oval but as I cut the back of it the stone was showing me a tear drop shape.
You should see if you can find a lapidary club near you TRS, one of my points with this thread is that while it takes many years of work to produce the kind of quality stones that the vendors produce, you can still look at learning the skills of lapidary and cut some cheaper stones as a hobby or even for yourself as cheap jewellery! :bigsmile:
 

jordyonbass

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POLISHING BY HAND WITH OXIDE POWDER AND LEATHER

I've mentioned previously in this thread that I've been wanting to hand polish and actually got stuck into doing some stones today, one of the things you need to make sure you're doing is using an oxide powder that will polish the material. While Cerium Oxide will polish many different types of minerals, for Ol' Pinky I had to get Aluminum Oxide powder.

The process itself is quite simple; take a strip of leather, add a small amount of powder to the leather, a few squirts of water from a spray bottle and mix together with the dopped stone to make a paste. Then polish away!
It's quite a slow process that takes some effort while ensuring the stone is kept moving so flat spots aren't made but the results are quite nice and it's actually very satisfying, if not a little messy.

Ol' Pinky is now finished as well at a final weight of 10.73 carats, I am more than ecstatic with the final result as 10 carats was more than I ever thought I would get back from the 20 carat rough. Unfortunately the white opal needs a little more work which my tired eyes didn't see but it's looking good for the most part.

Next weekend we start the faceting course, it's run over 2 days at the club. I'm hoping I can get one of my Rhodolites, topaz or the blue sapphire cut under the guidance of the club's course teacher!

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theredspinel

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Yes looking into something like this is a definite for when my youngest has started full time education. Can't wait!

I too saw that video of the kid polishing by hand on Justin's website, how awesome! Oh congrats on ol' pinky btw you must be chuffed.

Don't worry the opal doesn't look so bad.... ok ok it needs a bit more work lol.
 

jordyonbass

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Definitely look into it TRS, maybe even Google to see if a lapidary club is near you. Take the kids down too as they have lots of kids classes usually, we had a girl guides group in on Saturday and they were all gawking at the stones we were cutting there. We even got a couple of the girls polishing the big round lapidolite cab.

And yeah I'm aware that I still need practice hahaha the sand spot will be easy to fix but I didn't see that damned chip at the bottom of the large bulbous end until after the polish. I checked the pics of it before the polish and I just can't tell if it was there before the polish or not. Either way I'm going to lose precious colorbar fixing it :(sad

I'm also going to start using a rotary tool to start polishing soon, or a dremel as they're also known. It's probably going to be a little easier than hand polishing with leather :lol:
 

theredspinel

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Lol well atleast you can say you've tried/done hand polishing now.

My kids are a bit young for that sort of club I think (4 and 2) they're at the stage they'd try to touch everything in sight :rolleyes:

Tbh if I did get into something like this in the future it would be so unlike anything I've ever done before (I am not even remotely 'handsy' at all)!
 

jordyonbass

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What I find most interesting about this is that it's very similar processes to doing a paint work restoration on a boat or a car in the sense the you're essentially sanding away at something to get a glossy, smooth finish. When my father used to do the finish on a hot rod or other car he would use baby powder to shine the surfaces, much like how I use Cerium Oxide and other powders.

I picked up my dremel today, only $50 from the local hardware store. While hand polishing does achieve a nice result it's a rather labour-intensive process. The dremel should be a good way to do a machine-quality polish without having to invest in a full cabbing machine (which I may be doing shortly anyway but this will get me polishing for now). I'll do a post on how I have developed a technique to use it once I open the box and do a few stones as it will be my first time using a dremel to polish stones, I usually use one for detailing chrome and stainless steel fixtures on cars and boats.

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jordyonbass

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So a little update for those who are following this thread...

I did the faceting course last weekend and faceted some lead glass (being the best thing for people who are first learning to facet to learn on). I will make a post on what I learned and the experience from the course itself when I find time as it may be a little lengthy. Unfortunately because it is not a natural stone I won't be able to post any pics of it, however I plan on faceting one of my Rhodolites in the coming month or so after another practice run on glass. So stay tuned for that as well!!

And I've also made a new, rather large purchase by the look of it (as long as the item passes my inspection). Stay tuned for more on that this weekend!! :bigsmile:
 

jordyonbass

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OUR NEW BABY!!!

So as I mentioned we did the faceting course last weekend, I'll be doing that post very soon. But while we were there I was having a short break and looking at the notice board at the club and I saw that someone was selling their cabbing machine. It was a 4 wheel x 6 inch setup and the price was very reasonable I thought. Well, that was until I called him and asked what work he may have had done to it. Basically all but the motor, sheet metal work and axle housing has been replaced. I recognized that it was a steal for the price he had it listed and jumped on it immediately!

So I went for the 2 and a half hour drive today and picked up the machine, he was also kind enough to give us a box full of minerals he no longer needed since he was moving to faceting from cabbing. To say I was happy with my purchase is an understatement!!

I've already rigged the waste plumbing and have to figure out a way to get water from my holding tank, I think I may have too much slack hose and have to cut it but I'm nearly there with getting it up and running. Once that's done I have to work in the 3000 grit wheel with a piece of agate, I think the grit on that wheel is applied in a paint and it sets with rough edges.

Very excited right now!!! :dance:

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theredspinel

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Oh wow great find, well done! You're really moving in leaps and bounds with this hobby aren't you!
 

jordyonbass

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Thanks TRS and sorry for the late reply! To be honest the machine wasn't really something that I was planning on buying any time soon, but when I saw the price and spoke to the owner and discussed what he had replaced on the setup - I knew that I wouldn't find the same kind of deal again and had to jump on it! And I was lucky that I did when I did too, about 3 hours after I called to confirm I'll buy the machine the previous owner received a call from someone else who said that they would buy the machine! It wasn't going to last long at the price he was selling it for.

As I mentioned previously the former owner gave me a bunch of rough slabs and pieces to work on which I was very grateful for despite the fact that he didn't know the names of most of the minerals he had. But yesterday as i was cleaning my 'man-cave' these 5 stones had seams that had caught the light and producing color and that was when I realized that these are Queensland Boulder Opal! Very unexpected yet welcome freebies with the machine purchase :bigsmile:

Yesterday I attacked one of the pieces and attempted to remove the ironstone skin, it's the rust coloration in the pics below. I can start to see the colorbar come up but exactly how it's going to look I am not sure. It does have purples and blues in it but whether I can get anything nice from it will remain to be seen, apparently Boulder opal is very tricky to cut and the ironstone leaves a residue that makes the task a bit more difficult as I constantly have to wipe the stone so I can see how much has been removed.

I will be doing the post on the faceting course soon however I want to do pics with it as well so I might do my first natural stone first and then post about the course and processes.

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theredspinel

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No way!!! You got free opals! What a stroke of luck that was :appl:
 

chrono

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Love the progress on the opals and a new toy to play with. Can't beat that! :bigsmile:
 

Lovinggems

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Cool machine! The green hose are they the same as regular garden hose? The boulder opal rough is intriguing.
 

jordyonbass

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Thanks TRS and Chrono!!

LG that's correct, it's all 12mm/approx. 1/2 inch size fittings which are essentially garden hose fittings. All the green hose work I had to do myself, I'm also trying to figure out a way to pump water from my 125 gallon rain tank to the machine. At this point in time I'm just running it off our garden tap however the pressure is a hard thing to get right. Get it wrong and you either have no water or there is water coming out of every plumbing joint on the top of the machine. I tried to gravity feed water from my rain tank until I did a level check and realized I was trying to break the laws of gravity :lol:

So another interesting 'thing' has happened today; we had our first house inspection from our real estate and landlord since moving and one of the areas they checked is my man-cave where the machine and a bunch of my other lapidary stuff is setup. When the agent saw our equipment she was shocked; she's a rockhound too and fossicks all around our state! She shared with us a location that's only 20 minutes from my front door that yields olivine, dark sapphires and the occasional star sapphire. We were blown away to find out and it looks like a gem fossicking trip may only be weeks away instead of months!!! :bigsmile:
 
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