Kate I’ve been cutting and polishing rocks and gems for close to 20 years. Opal is some of the most difficult material to cut and polish. So believe me when I tell you that you did an amazing job on that opal. To catch that much color in a layer so thin,and in a notoriously unstable opal is amazing. Cool opal Kate!!😎😎
Hello Katy I really do like the way you leave part of the host rock on with the opal ,being on there together they beautify each other and makes it a unique stone ! great video love from gloucester 😊
Wow! that was awesome! Just cant resist the lure of opal. That turned out to be a fantastic piece! You did a fantastic job with it too. Both pieces! Gorgeous Kate! Thanks for sharing!
Kate you do amaze me! I would have been so nervous about grinding that down, but you have given me faith that all that work is so worth it! I do not think I will be fearful to try what you just achieved. That rectangle is one super beautiful opal!
Sometimes you can use sugar and sulfuric acid to change the background color to black and make the color play more intense, I don’t know if it would work on that material
Hey Katy, regarding the opal face you were working on 2nd I was seeing glints of color. I liked how you decided to leave the other stone attached as I felt it helped show the opal flashes.
I adore opals, so unique. I bought a piece of black potch to practice on and it turned out to have a opal bubble under the cap which you couldn't see at first.
@@KatyDidRocks Its fun and nerve wracking at the same time. Im too scared to polish my stone completely in case I loose colour. Its tiny but has a bright red/pink/green/blue 3d affect and was such a welcomed surprise, I danced around. Anyone would have thought I had won a car.
* WOW ~ The color at the 16:50 mark is Extremely Colorful.. I don't think you should take any more away ! ! * It is just flashing red & Green so beautifully... As you said goodbye, one of your cats was trying to EAT a rock.. Good Grief.. So Funny..
It definitely took some patience getting down to the color but you did it. And you did it without rubbing the color off. Nicely done 👍 That other piece looked like it had a small Fox wrapped around the Opal. I’ve been wanting to build a cabbing machine myself and then find some rough to practice with. Unfortunately here in Nebraska there isn’t much Opal to be had without buying it from someone else. But I won’t let that deter me lol
They told me over the phone this spring that they weren’t going to open the pile. 🤦🏼♂️ I did find a huge collection someone had stashed away years ago, about 65lbs. I’ve cut solids and a bunch of triplets. Spencer opals throw the wildest patterns
They opened on Fourth of July weekend. They have changed the price structure to $75 per person - apparently to help cover insurance costs. Cool that you have so many stashed away!
Love your videos-I am also a big Spencer opal fan and have dug there many times. Could you please advise what grit you are using when you use each of the wheels? I start with the 200. Love this last piece you did! Wow!
Hi, Marsha, sorry it took me so long to respond. I use the roughest diamond wheel on my CabKing to grind the extra opal off, then move over to the next wheels. I'm hardly an expert!
So I did a pretty fair sized lot of Spencer a few years ago. I also met with the owners a few years before that with some investors with the idea of actually purchasing the mine but it fell through. I found that while the color bars are very thin they can be pretty spectacular. Most of the best is made into triplets. A flat lap is mandatory. You pick the color bar you want and very carefully grind to it. Then you glue that onto your backing. I used black jade because it's tough as nails. Then come back from the other side and grind down to your color layer. I cut slabs of quartz for the top glued those on and shaped my stone. I have one stone that had a very thick color bar that came out absolutely brilliant in brightness. I keep it on hand as a grading stone for my level five. In a dark room with only a candle it will throw the color onto your fingers! It's brilliant red orange One direction and it's spectacular Green from the other! A bit more work but you end up with beautiful pieces that work very well in jewelry. I've made quite a few really nice pieces. Give it a try!
Wow makes me proud of our American opals! So pretty. Are you selling these on your etsy? I'm very interested. I would love to have my first American opal.
I wonder if you slabbed it if you wouldn't find a bunch of pockets. Edit, spoke to soon. I guess I'm just excited to see. I'm like slab it chicky slab it! 😂
Absolutely beautiful, I just love the natural look, I leave my Lake Superior Agates with the husk on the back side so they can see what it looks like in it's natural form.
Hi Kate, looks like you found some nice pieces and working hard to get the nicest result. Hope you get some more nice pieces out of your haul. Say hi to Jim for me. Keep Safe & Keep Doin, 😂😂
@@KatyDidRocks Katy, I wish I could say yes to your comment, but truth is I don’t know much about it other than what I have read and watched on various videos. I did have some as a kid but that is a story all of its own.
Great show, KatyDid! Way to bring the fire out!! It is said that Opal is a cruel mistress! And now you know why. 😳 it is also why Opal is just about the most valuable and definitely the most Beautiful. 💎 when you get it right, it can be just breathtaking!! You did GREAT! Keep on Doing! Thank You for sharing that. 💎
There are several kids of opal Opal with flash, opal with out, opal with dendritic inclusions, synthetic or lab created, black opal, lightening ridge opal, Ethiopian opal, crystal opal.. Ghost opal... I've been thinking it's really Schiller... And I'm not a pro just a enthusiastic person. Trying to pay attention I really need our ( lapidary guy who teaches opal ) Instructor to go over it with me.
SO MANY beautiful opals. :D I am trying to learn as well. I just bought some low-grade opal rough from Lightning Ridge so I can get my hands on the material, and I bought some Ethiopian opals (which I'm not too enthusiastic about, as I haven't had the color reappear yet after working on them.) Glad you have a teacher!
@@KatyDidRocks Good to know that your working on different opals. My teacher is not in very often as he is an instructor at the lapidary school in Georgia. How much grinding did you do on the Ethiopian opal? Maybe try a different angle? Ps I've heard that Ethiopian vendors are less than savory. Hope you at least get your money's worth on something. Just working with the material is a lesson.
@@rebeccaofsunnybrookefarm8469 The issue with the Ethiopian opals is that they are hydrophane, meaning they absorb water. The color disappears when they are wet, supposedly returns when they are dry - but so far it hadn't returned to its original state. Also, that lapidary school in Georgia is so cool!
@@KatyDidRocks I desire to go there a few sessions.. 580ish a week then housing is a bit steep for me.. My bucket list keeps growing. As for the drying process of the opal, be grateful that it's slow it prevents crazing.
