jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
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Post by jspencer on Aug 28, 2012 23:25:32 GMT -5
I decided to brave it and try something new which I finished up today. I think it came out well for such a soft stone. I can see more of these in my future. Ethiopian welo opal, a lot softer than the Hondran black opal I recently polished for my first opal. I took this to 50,000 on diamond spool polisher. Hope you enjoy! Attachments:
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keystonecops
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2010
Posts: 957
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Post by keystonecops on Aug 28, 2012 23:29:25 GMT -5
There was an article in Rock&Gem bout these opals. Lotta work an a lotta bandits. Ya done an awesome job with it. Later Clyde
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Post by Tonyterner on Aug 29, 2012 8:06:51 GMT -5
Looks great. Just bought some Ethiopian opal but never heard of Welo opal before.
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Aug 29, 2012 8:45:53 GMT -5
A little beauty!
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Post by docone31 on Aug 29, 2012 9:03:03 GMT -5
They facet very nicely. The difference from other stones, you have to have a thicker girdle to set the stone. I like to set them in tube settings. a 4mm faceted Welo looks great.
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itsandbits
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 825
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Post by itsandbits on Aug 29, 2012 9:56:58 GMT -5
The etheiopian; welo is an area, sure are a treasure when you get peices that don't crack or that you can work around the cracks/fractures. The large amount of crystal and the fire throughout the crystal in a lot of them make large size peices and high domes possible without being doublets or triplets. You can get a showy peice for a few dollars and some time. Why would you need a thicker girdle? I hope you don't mind me dropping this in here to show what some of the lower quality stuff has for fire. If you do, pm me and I'll get rid of it Lloyd Attachments:
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Aug 29, 2012 10:31:54 GMT -5
can anyone recommend a good supplier for this material?
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Post by christopherl1234 on Aug 29, 2012 10:33:19 GMT -5
Very well cut
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Post by Tony W on Aug 29, 2012 11:37:39 GMT -5
Nice! And looks clean too. I always seem to end up with chaff in my Welo's, and they are so danged small. I think you need to get some Koroit next Of course, I may be partial a bit. T
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pporky
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2007
Posts: 1,932
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Post by pporky on Aug 29, 2012 22:35:20 GMT -5
You have cut that really well and got a nice fiery polish to boot
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adrian65
Cave Dweller
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,787
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Post by adrian65 on Aug 29, 2012 22:49:22 GMT -5
Beautiful stone, perfect dome on this cab.
Adrian
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jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
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Post by jspencer on Aug 30, 2012 12:50:50 GMT -5
Thank you for all the kind words! I wouldn`t start out buying anthing less than 12 ct. chunk to start with in a rough piece. Look for a flat side to be the back or you will need to grind it flat. Unless of course you prefer to keep it round which may be a trick to polish. I got it on E-Bay and it is plentiful in small pieces or by the lot. But remember you will lose a good bit to shaping and polishing when buying it. I had it polished once but it seemed to have a clear outer shell that dulled the fire in it. I took away most of it and got down to the white inner material which is when the fire stood out in it. I started out using 220 paper on the expando to shape it and get the dome then went to spool polisher with diamond paste to polish it. Those in the other pic look fine to me! I am anxious to try more opals now. Black lightning ridge may be next from Australia for me.
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steveo
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2011
Posts: 273
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Post by steveo on Aug 30, 2012 13:00:45 GMT -5
Very nice Opal, I have a couple that I'm going to try faceting at some point.
Thanks for showing us.
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Post by rockjunquie on Aug 30, 2012 16:16:52 GMT -5
Very nice cab!
I love opals. I had never seen one of these before so a friend of mine sent me a crystal one and it is stunning! It was like a rainbow in clear water. It is faceted really strange and I don't know how to use it for jewelry but it is awesome to look at. (Paul Downing used some pictures of my friend's stones in that Rock and Gem article on Welo Opal.) He told me that he gets his rough from Village Smithy Opals, but I went to look for the site and the website doesn't exist anymore or is having problems. Think I'll check back on it.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Aug 31, 2012 20:18:45 GMT -5
Opals are the coolest, that one's sweet!!
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