felrock
starting to shine!
Done with the agates, now onto some Quartz!?!?
Member since July 2021
Posts: 39
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Post by felrock on Jul 19, 2021 19:28:47 GMT -5
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Jul 20, 2021 9:29:03 GMT -5
Hi there, and welcome to the RTH.
It's great that you have some opal that your grandfather bought. That's a special thing.
That said, tumbling opal in general isn't the best idea, and those pieces have "crazed" over the years. They would likely break up in a tumbler.
My wife and I are both opal cutters, and have bought rough from Murray at AOM. I still get his email offers.
I'm thinking you might enjoy the pieces you have more if you put them in a nice little glass bottle full of water. That will let them show their colors, and they'll be something you can look at forever.
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Post by fernwood on Jul 20, 2021 10:07:24 GMT -5
Nice opals, but they have cracked over the years.
Agree to put them in some water to prevent further cracking and enjoy.
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Post by perkins17 on Jul 20, 2021 11:08:36 GMT -5
Those are very nice. I would not recommend tumbling them as I have tried with heavily crazed or fractured common opal and ended up with a pile of small fragments and only a couple of intact rocks.
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felrock
starting to shine!
Done with the agates, now onto some Quartz!?!?
Member since July 2021
Posts: 39
|
Post by felrock on Jul 20, 2021 11:26:52 GMT -5
Nice opals, but they have cracked over the years. Agree to put them in some water to prevent further cracking and enjoy. So a good Idea would be to simply keep them in water? |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 20, 2021 21:30:59 GMT -5
I highly recommend listening to Vince on this one...he does know his opals!  |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jul 20, 2021 21:39:25 GMT -5
felrock, yes, put them in a bottle with water and just a drop of bleach so they don't start growing stuff. 
We have a number of display bottles with chips and other opal that we prepared that way.
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Post by Starguy on Jul 26, 2021 18:05:55 GMT -5
felrockI agree with everyone. The tumbler will ruin them if they even last a week. It’s hard to tell how big they are. Water or glycerin in small glass will keep them from crazing any further It’s cool you have them from your grandfather. I also inherited a lot of rocks from my grandfather.
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