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Post by gmitch067 on Dec 8, 2017 18:39:57 GMT -5
I have since discovered that the stone does hold a static charge. When I cabbed the Amber for the December 2017 FCC, I hand polished the stone using a dremel with a cotton pom-pom looking tool. During the final photo shoot I noted that it was a lint/dust magnet! I was forced to dig around my junk drawer for an old camera lens air ball "puffer" and brush to clean the stone prior to taking pictures... a pain...
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Dec 8, 2017 20:10:29 GMT -5
Did some tests... 1. Acetone does not touch the stone, 2. The stone gave off a pleasant earthy odor when it got warm from buffing... there was no harsh chemical smell noted. 3. When placed in a large cup of tap water, the stone settled to the bottom. When I added a tablespoon of salt, the stone floated. 4. My finger nail could not scratch the stone's surface. 5. The stone fluoresces under ultraviolet light (black light) 6. Uncertain on being able to hold a static charge... My cat bit me when I got too aggressive rubbing his fur with the stone (I don't think he shares my enthusiasm...) 7. I will not stab my (supposed) Amber with a hot needle or light it on fire! That is cruel! Sooo... I think I have me some Amber! Yippiii! Thanks Tela! You could just as well have copal. Copal smells great. It is... literally... incense. None of these tests eliminate Copal, as far as I know. Since it came from an unknown source, I would feel uncomfortable if you sold it to me as Amber. You really don't know. Copal is younger than Amber, but they're the same thing-- tree resin. It's a matter of age, and nothing you've tried convinces me you can be confident you have genuine Amber. People sliding on the ethics like this are one of the reasons I will no longer buy Amber unless it's priced like the Copal it almost certainly is. I don't say that to be a bee. I have Copal I polished myself (originally sold to me as Amber) that looks not one bit different from your piece. I no longer sell it because I have no way of knowing if it's genuine except... I know the provenance was lost, and you know that too. If it was Amber, maybe they'd have an incentive to take more care.
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Post by rmf on Dec 8, 2017 20:30:42 GMT -5
If the Acetone does not cause the surface to get sticky the you have Amber. I bought some amber once and it turned out to be copal I got taken. The Acetone test is how I discovered the difference. Amber can be any color I have some that is red and opaque.
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Post by gmitch067 on Dec 8, 2017 21:52:43 GMT -5
Did some tests... 1. Acetone does not touch the stone, 2. The stone gave off a pleasant earthy odor when it got warm from buffing... there was no harsh chemical smell noted. 3. When placed in a large cup of tap water, the stone settled to the bottom. When I added a tablespoon of salt, the stone floated. 4. My finger nail could not scratch the stone's surface. 5. The stone fluoresces under ultraviolet light (black light) 6. Uncertain on being able to hold a static charge... My cat bit me when I got too aggressive rubbing his fur with the stone (I don't think he shares my enthusiasm...) 7. I will not stab my (supposed) Amber with a hot needle or light it on fire! That is cruel! Sooo... I think I have me some Amber! Yippiii! Thanks Tela! You could just as well have copal. Copal smells great. It is... literally... incense. None of these tests eliminate Copal, as far as I know. Since it came from an unknown source, I would feel uncomfortable if you sold it to me as Amber. You really don't know. Copal is younger than Amber, but they're the same thing-- tree resin. It's a matter of age, and nothing you've tried convinces me you can be confident you have genuine Amber. People sliding on the ethics like this are one of the reasons I will no longer buy Amber unless it's priced like the Copal it almost certainly is. I don't say that to be a bee. I have Copal I polished myself (originally sold to me as Amber) that looks not one bit different from your piece. I no longer sell it because I have no way of knowing if it's genuine except... I know the provenance was lost, and you know that too. If it was Amber, maybe they'd have an incentive to take more care. Thank you for your honest response peachfront. I am not put off from the beauty of the stone... a few million years aging or not. LOL! I did not buy my stone (Amber or Copal) and did not know the difference... hence the thread's name...
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Post by gmitch067 on Dec 8, 2017 21:59:30 GMT -5
If the Acetone does not cause the surface to get sticky the you have Amber. I bought some amber once and it turned out to be copal I got taken. The Acetone test is how I discovered the difference. Amber can be any color I have some that is red and opaque. Thank you for your reply rmf. I got a little too much Acetone on the Q-Tip when I tested that reaction. It just pooled on top of the stone and rolled off without reacting. the Q-Tip came away without coloring. Glenn
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Dec 9, 2017 19:31:57 GMT -5
You could just as well have copal. Copal smells great. It is... literally... incense. None of these tests eliminate Copal, as far as I know. Since it came from an unknown source, I would feel uncomfortable if you sold it to me as Amber. You really don't know. Copal is younger than Amber, but they're the same thing-- tree resin. It's a matter of age, and nothing you've tried convinces me you can be confident you have genuine Amber. People sliding on the ethics like this are one of the reasons I will no longer buy Amber unless it's priced like the Copal it almost certainly is. I don't say that to be a bee. I have Copal I polished myself (originally sold to me as Amber) that looks not one bit different from your piece. I no longer sell it because I have no way of knowing if it's genuine except... I know the provenance was lost, and you know that too. If it was Amber, maybe they'd have an incentive to take more care. Thank you for your honest response peachfront. I am not put off from the beauty of the stone... a few million years aging or not. LOL! I did not buy my stone (Amber or Copal) and did not know the difference... hence the thread's name... No worries... I wasn't trying to put you off the stone's beauty, and if money is not involved, there would never be a problem. Unfortunately... Copal is pretty much indistinguishable from Amber, which is why there is so much fake Amber on the market. Some of these tests were good for distinguishing Amber from plastic, but there is so much fake Amber on the market, some of it going at least 100 years to the 1920s (and perhaps before, but I'm aware of the 1920s era fake Amber from vintage shopping), that for me it makes no sense any longer to buy or sell the stone. Even people I thought were honest got caught faking... the person who sold me the reddish "Amber" allegedly from the Dom. Republic later got caught selling fake Amber sandwiches with included insects, an elaborate fraud and nothing he could have done by accident or mistake. And he's still in business to this day. Since there are no consequences to selling copal or reconstituted material as Amber, then people are going to do it. I got tired of dealing with it. Turquoise is largely going the same way-- so much reconstituted material, so many sellers who don't quite know where the material came from so they're putting the most optimistic possible interpretation on the price tag. I'm just not comfortable with that so I've given up on collecting the material.
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<'))))>< Fish
Cave Dweller
Gone Fishing
Member since April 2005
Posts: 1,841
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Post by <'))))>< Fish on Dec 12, 2017 15:00:48 GMT -5
most copal comes from Columbia, it's still tree sap, but is only a few hundred years old.
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Post by broseph82 on Dec 23, 2017 22:34:16 GMT -5
I'm guessing amber. Copal shouldn't be florescent. Try a drop off acetone. Amber will be unaffected but copal will get sticky. Not true. I have a bag of copal that will glow blue/green. Copal is Amber just not as old and hard. If it’s sticky and soft when working it’s copal. Even though Amber is a very light material it’s a pretty hard material (the Chiapas variety I’ve worked anyway)
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Post by gmitch067 on Dec 24, 2017 3:19:15 GMT -5
broseph82It was soft but not spongy or sticky - at least to the touch. When using the dremel with a 400 grit sand paper (glued to the top of a buffing tool) the friction heated it enough to melt a little. When I stopped the dremel, the area solidified. I did the remaining shaping with hand sanding in a puddle of water. I used the dremel during the polishing stage, but used a cotton pom-pom to lightly buff the surface until a shine was created. During that process I made sure to keep the stone cool. Glenn
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Post by broseph82 on Dec 24, 2017 22:19:34 GMT -5
broseph82It was soft but not spongy or sticky - at least to the touch. When using the dremel with a 400 grit sand paper (glued to the top of a buffing tool) the friction heated it enough to melt a little. When I stopped the dremel, the area solidified. I did the remaining shaping with hand sanding in a puddle of water. I used the dremel during the polishing stage, but used a cotton pom-pom to lightly buff the surface until a shine was created. During that process I made sure to keep the stone cool. Glenn As long as it came out good... my copal is all sticky and can’t seem to get the scratches out being what it is. My Chiapas Amber is a whole different story. Have a Merry Christmas!
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