nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 981
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Post by nursetumbler on Oct 8, 2022 22:48:18 GMT -5
All these bins and the garbage can are full of just some of my opal collection. vegasjamesWOW!!!! I tumble mostly and would love some to tumble. Love the pink at 630 in the last photo. Love love love pink
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 9, 2022 3:11:18 GMT -5
All these bins and the garbage can are full of just some of my opal collection. vegasjames WOW!!!! I tumble mostly and would love some to tumble. Send me a message. I have a lot of other colors as well that I did not even post.
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 9, 2022 3:13:34 GMT -5
vegasjames WOW!!!! I tumble mostly and would love some to tumble. Love the pink at 630 in the last photo. Love love love pink Pink is a pretty hard color to find. I do have some though, mainly opalized wood. I will pull up a few pics of some of the pink opals I have found.
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 9, 2022 3:26:31 GMT -5
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 981
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Post by nursetumbler on Oct 9, 2022 8:21:06 GMT -5
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Oct 10, 2022 7:56:54 GMT -5
All these bins and the garbage can are full of just some of my opal collection. I was looking for a head exploding emoji, but didn't see one. That's a mad amount of opal!! Awesome!
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Oct 10, 2022 11:21:15 GMT -5
Those cabs are awesome man!
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 10, 2022 17:02:08 GMT -5
Those cabs are awesome man! Thank you. The opals are my favorite material to work with. So much variety of colors and patterns and easy t work with.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Oct 10, 2022 17:08:01 GMT -5
Those cabs are awesome man! Thank you. The opals are my favorite material to work with. So much variety of colors and patterns and easy t work with. They are awesome for sure! Some of them are crazy cost wise tho, like more expensive than diamonds. It is insane.
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 10, 2022 18:13:09 GMT -5
Thank you. The opals are my favorite material to work with. So much variety of colors and patterns and easy t work with. They are awesome for sure! Some of them are crazy cost wise tho, like more expensive than diamonds. It is insane. Same with turquoise, which can go up to $1,000 per carat.
Common opal, which is any opal without play of color (flash) is not all that bad though. It is a lot less expensive than precious opal , which is any opal with play of color. There are around 300 types of opal.
Common opal averages around $0.50-1.00 per gram for the higher quality material from what I have seen.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Oct 10, 2022 18:24:43 GMT -5
They are awesome for sure! Some of them are crazy cost wise tho, like more expensive than diamonds. It is insane. Same with turquoise, which can go up to $1,000 per carat.
Common opal, which is any opal without play of color (flash) is not all that bad though. It is a lot less expensive than precious opal , which is any opal with play of color. There are around 300 types of opal.
Common opal averages around $0.50-1.00 per gram for the higher quality material from what I have seen.
I think my girl paid like 11.50 for the lb of green opal she got me. So I totally get that. They are all awesome if you ask me lol
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 10, 2022 19:02:17 GMT -5
Same with turquoise, which can go up to $1,000 per carat.
Common opal, which is any opal without play of color (flash) is not all that bad though. It is a lot less expensive than precious opal , which is any opal with play of color. There are around 300 types of opal.
Common opal averages around $0.50-1.00 per gram for the higher quality material from what I have seen.
I think my girl paid like 11.50 for the lb of green opal she got me. So I totally get that. They are all awesome if you ask me lol Yes, the solid color, opaque opal is cheaper especially from certain countries where mining labor is very cheap.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Oct 10, 2022 19:10:00 GMT -5
I think my girl paid like 11.50 for the lb of green opal she got me. So I totally get that. They are all awesome if you ask me lol Yes, the solid color, opaque opal is cheaper especially from certain countries where mining labor is very cheap. I just wish I had somewhere closer than 3.5 hours to mine something other than quartz and quartzite lol. Dont get me wrong, I love the quartzes but sometimes i just want to find something really cool and brightly colored lol
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Post by susand24224 on Oct 11, 2022 3:04:28 GMT -5
I've tumbled quite a bit of common opal with a process much like I used with obsidian. I used grit, starting at 120/220 but just for a few days, in a 3 lb barrel. I cushioned significantly more than I did with most tumbles by adding (I think) a lot of Ivory Soap to the barrel, and about 50% ceramic shapes. Most made it through fine, some didn't. I recently put a bunch into the vibe (for polish only) because a lot of tumbled stones were needed for giveaways at the local county fair, and much to my surprise, they weren't eaten up too badly.
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ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on Oct 11, 2022 8:27:11 GMT -5
vegasjames Those are beautiful cabs! I didn't know opal could have stripes - those are awesome.
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 11, 2022 15:24:55 GMT -5
vegasjames Those are beautiful cabs! I didn't know opal could have stripes - those are awesome. Thanks.
That is actually opalized wood, but opal can also form in layers.
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dirtsifter
Cave Dweller
Co to za kamyczek?
Member since September 2022
Posts: 402
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Post by dirtsifter on Oct 15, 2022 1:51:12 GMT -5
I don't know if this applies to green opal, but I have been watching this guys videos for a couple of weeks. His work on a grinding wheel is something to behold. You ask very good questions sir. I did a search on the forum boards "opal" there is some information there from awhile ago. vegasjames I tried to look for some of your work, hence the search for opal. I would love to see it.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Oct 15, 2022 1:58:06 GMT -5
I don't know if this applies to green opal, but I have been watching this guys videos for a couple of weeks. His work on a grinding wheel is something to behold. You ask very good questions sir. I did a search on the forum boards "opal" there is some information there from awhile ago. vegasjames I tried to look for some of your work, hence the search for opal. I would love to see it. Thanks man, I saw that video and honestly, I dont have the equiptment he does to shape them up before hand, but I will say the green Opal I have are much less rough than the stones in the video, all the outer sanding crust is gone already, they are just not shaped or polished. Also not sure what he is using for grit, he called it Pomace powder, which I dont have lol
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dirtsifter
Cave Dweller
Co to za kamyczek?
Member since September 2022
Posts: 402
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Post by dirtsifter on Oct 15, 2022 2:24:07 GMT -5
Thanks man, I saw that video and honestly, I dont have the equiptment he does to shape them up before hand, but I will say the green Opal I have are much less rough than the stones in the video, all the outer sanding crust is gone already, they are just not shaped or polished. Also not sure what he is using for grit, he called it Pomace powder, which I dont have lol IDK, maybe one of our Australian members could enlighten us. A Dremel can shape many stones. I've seen videos of cheap walmart rotary tools with inexpensive diamond burrs, cones, etc. Would love to see pics of the process. The first video I watched from Blackopaldirect was of him cutting an Australian black opal. It was breathtaking and suspenseful.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Oct 15, 2022 2:27:26 GMT -5
Thanks man, I saw that video and honestly, I dont have the equiptment he does to shape them up before hand, but I will say the green Opal I have are much less rough than the stones in the video, all the outer sanding crust is gone already, they are just not shaped or polished. Also not sure what he is using for grit, he called it Pomace powder, which I dont have lol IDK, maybe one of our Australian members could enlighten us. A Dremel can shape many stones. I've seen videos of cheap walmart rotary tools with inexpensive diamond burrs, cones, etc. Would love to see pics of the process. The first video I watched from Blackopaldirect was of him cutting an Australian black opal. It was breathtaking and suspenseful. Mine are no where near as cool as the black Opals, that is for sure. They are kinda a baby puke green. But they are still cool. I have a dremel and Diamond cut off discs, but not bits. I have a few Ideas how im gonna tackle them. I am gonna start in either 220 or 500 Silcone carbide, so that im not too agressively cutting. But im just waiting to get media that isnt harder than the opals.
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