bunnybunnybun
starting to shine!
Discovering my cooking is like tumbling. Both result in inedible rocks
Member since September 2016
Posts: 42
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Post by bunnybunnybun on Oct 26, 2016 18:46:57 GMT -5
    So... I ended up getting about 2 pounds each of Fire Agates, and Peruvian Blue Opal as their prices were too good to pass up. However... what do I do with it? My first desire would be to tumble it all and make beautiful polished shiney things, but I know everyone on this forum would scream "NO!" to that. Is there a way to polish it up without damaging them? Or to remove the extra rock without the beautiful aquamarine colouring? They are lovely, but I want to make them even more lovely or displayable, but not sure how. So basicly, if you had these clumps of stone, what would you do? |
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Post by accidentalrockhound on Oct 26, 2016 19:16:54 GMT -5
Pick out one that you think is ok and send it to me!! Nice score,
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bunnybunnybun
starting to shine!
Discovering my cooking is like tumbling. Both result in inedible rocks
Member since September 2016
Posts: 42
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Post by bunnybunnybun on Oct 27, 2016 14:38:17 GMT -5
Pick out one that you think is ok and send it to me!! Nice score, Tempting, but I think I'd like to hear other ideas first |
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Post by Garage Rocker on Oct 27, 2016 15:05:30 GMT -5
I have some fire agate, but am waiting until I have some experience and better equipment to work with those. Never worked with opal either. Wish I could offer a suggestion.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller 
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,063 
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Post by gemfeller on Oct 27, 2016 17:46:32 GMT -5
First, welcome to the forum. Judging from your images (and having cut hundreds of fire agates) I'd say there are only a couple of pieces that have "fire" potential. I see mostly chalcedony "roses" which are pretty in collections but have no color. The play of color occurs in the brown chalcedony under the white stuff and cutting it is one of the most challenging lapidary tasks. Get some experience before you tackle it.
The Peruvian opal has lots of waste and you'll need a trim saw to slice away the brown matrix before cabbing the dendritic blue material. This stuff is usually riddled with internal fractures due to the use of explosives in mining, so "candle" your cabbing pieces against a strong light source to locate any fractured areas before cutting. I have some on my bench right now and I'm pretty frustrated by the abundance of fracturing. In my parcel clean cabs are few and far between but parcels can vary a lot. Hope yours is cleaner than mine.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 28, 2016 9:55:47 GMT -5
Youtube has some videos on working with this material......A few member on the forum too...Receive answers,ask questions and dive right in and work it.....
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Erich
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2015
Posts: 411
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Post by Erich on Oct 29, 2016 7:29:07 GMT -5
Looks like some nice opal, love any shade of blue in rocks! For myself, I have quite a bit of rough and slabs that I won't work yet due to the expense of certain rocks and my inexperience in cabbing. I have done enough slabbing where I feel confident there but not yet not near enough experience to try cabbing expensive or fragile material. Plenty of material to practice on though - inexpensive, but nice. I'm obsessive, so I've learned that patience for me - in my dotage {  ]- is necessary to achieve decent results. Main thing, have fun! |
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bunnybunnybun
starting to shine!
Discovering my cooking is like tumbling. Both result in inedible rocks
Member since September 2016
Posts: 42
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Post by bunnybunnybun on Oct 30, 2016 20:24:33 GMT -5
Sadly I have no tools necessary for cabbing. I'm pretty much just a tumble enthusiest and would like them for display. Just hoping to find a way to shine them up or remove some of the stone to show them off better. Was hoping there was some trick, similar to ones I've heard for using vinegar or acids for disolving some types of stone, or something that won't involve thousands of dollars of equipment. ....ah heck, maybe for the less exciting ones I'll try tumbling them anyway
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Post by Pat on Oct 30, 2016 20:34:44 GMT -5
A quick easy way to give shine is to coat your rocks with Future floor wax. It's clear.
Welcome and good luck.
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,818
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Post by Mark K on Oct 30, 2016 20:39:10 GMT -5
We used to do that for a lazy spit shine on our boots. Worked great until they got damp. Then it went opaque.
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Post by Pat on Oct 30, 2016 20:42:27 GMT -5
I've used Future on rocks to display at our show, just to show one way of achieving a shine if you don't have a Genie or such. Can also use liquid detergent and water. Never tried it on boots, but sounds like a good idea if you wear boots in dry weather!
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dottyt
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 305 
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Post by dottyt on Oct 30, 2016 21:01:40 GMT -5
You could try wire wrapping and make some of the smaller stones into "natural stone" pendents. Wire wrapping supplies are relatively inexpensive and don't take up much space.
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bunnybunnybun
starting to shine!
Discovering my cooking is like tumbling. Both result in inedible rocks
Member since September 2016
Posts: 42
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Post by bunnybunnybun on Oct 30, 2016 22:16:02 GMT -5
naw, you have to be really good at the twisting of those wires, otherwise they look so cheap. Plus these chunks are pretty big too, most of the good ones are a little smaller than my fist. Will ponder the polish idea. My mother knows quite a few cleaning products that work wonders (though admittingly mostly glass polish or wood oils) but what's the worst that could happen?
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]- is necessary to achieve decent results.
