Hello mate I have andamooka matrix and QLD fairy opal already treated and great colours but want to know is there someone who can polish or resin them to get that High gloss finish can you put me onto someone maybe I'd happily pay to get it done
G’day Paul, I’m not too familiar with the nature of QLD fairy matrix but think resin would be the go for that if it’s anything like Andamooka concrete matrix, as for your Andamooka matrix, if it’s hard matrix it can take quite a good natural polish (no cerium oxide though). For resin treatment, I’m going to do my own, Starbond is a great product as it comes in a spray on, the low viscosity allows it to soak into the matrix, and you can build up the layers to get a final coat that should retain the polished/wet look once dry, I’ll also be trying two part epoxy. I’m not sure if there’s anyone to refer you too for the resin treatment, it’s kind of diy. 🤪👍
Ever saw a geode with crystals inside? Do geodes ever form with opal inside? That would look really cool. I did see a video on boulder opal and they looked like geodes but the had veins of opal through them. I'm wondering about hollow rocks full of opal, geodes?
No, I’ve not seen an opalised geode, that would be cool. The opal formation is the more/most recently formed of the grounds contents, so the cracks and voids filled with opal, and the pre-existing rocks and minerals play host to the opal, allowing for multiple varieties of matrix opal. Host rocks include but not limited to: ironstone, sandstone, limestone, quartz, and agate. 🤪👍
@@theopalmills , is that like seam opal when it's in the rocks, like a vein in the mine wall but smaller? Good thing I love reading, you're giving me a lot that's peaking my interest. I"ve been curious about everything and collecting stuff my whole life and I'm 68 now and I feel it starting with all this interesting geology and minerals all under our feet. I was in the Arctic for 9 yrs and spent a couple of them with a team of scientists, taking them around in small boats and helping take core samples on the tundra and specific gravity test samples of water from various sites and depths on the Beaufort Sea. I went there to do marine construction but once I met those guys, I had nothing but questions and they liked that and had the clout to pull me from my job onto theirs, it was amazing! Anyway, I also talk too much, sorry about the way it spills over into my writing, Phil
Yes, seam opal forms in splits and cracks formed by ground movement (slips and faults), as opal formed it percolated up through the ground filling the seams cracks and voids that allowed the water to seep into the ground, the “levels” are where the silica rich solution plateaued into the sedimentary levels that sometimes contain the remains of life that were going through the fossilisation process when the opal solution finished the job producing full and partial opalised fossils.
I just purchased a slab of concrete Andamooka. Thank you for the great information you provided! It's awesome you are doing a give away, I'd love to be included in that! This is my first Andamooka, I usually cut LR black. Love the way this turned out!
@theopalmills485 also I'm trying to find my second ingot- I had to make a silver setting myself. I'll get it to you when I find it. Don't be too anxious... while annealing my piece, it bled drops of metal- indicating its poorly mixed and less pure than I thought. Considering what a total noob I am, I was still able to make something nice
great out come mate acid makes a good job but as you say you should know how dangerous it is if you haven't had experience with it before keep it up mate
i tried treating white coober in olive oil. got a browness to the opal but that was just after 4 hours @ 140 degrees C. gotta do another cook in a different kind of oil. thinking grapessed as it has a hotter smoke point.
Very informative video once again Phil. Just an idea/ question , If you put them in a vacuum chamber with some sugar solution before the sulphuric acid do you think it would help it penetrate further? WoW 😳😘😍 awesome results. Can’t wait for the website 👍👍👍
I haven’t seen anyone try, but I so want to try that I’ve been thinking of getting a cheap heatable vac chamber and a way to suspend the opal over the sugar solution, remove the air and somehow then trapdoor drop the opal in and once submerged entirely then let the air back in, in my head I envision it to work better than drawing the air out once submerged. As soon as I can organise it I will try though..
@@theopalmills I used a chamber to stabilise wood in resin years ago when I was turning bowls, the air bubbles were a pain but end results were better, you could turn the slow cooker into a chamber with a 10-20mm thick piece Perspex, tap a couple holes for fittings and silicone cooking mat for a seal, that roughly how I made my chamber lasted ages until it didn’t lol
Another great video! I appreciate you taking the time to walk through the process in detail. Demystifies and informative. Congratulations on reaching 200. I'll keep an eye out for when you do parcels.
Awesome parcel! Good luck to the winner. Thanks for a better detailed video of the treatment. Appreciate the efforts you went through to show it. Especially the acid step. All other videos show it but not with fresh acid
G’day Sonu, I’ll answer as much as I can here. The matrix is cooked in a sugar/water 50/50 solution on a high setting in a slow cooker, 4 hrs minimum, then into hot sulphuric acid for atleast another 4 hrs. I have my sulphuric acid in a glass jar that sits in a pot with some water in it, this is so I don’t over heat my acid, as water has the lower boiling point, I set the temp to a simmer as I don’t want the water to boil, in turn it won’t let the acid boil as long as the pot has water in. It may take up to 2 or 3 treatments for it to take. I wouldn’t worry about the black oxide powder or Ribena, it is messy and does nothing to help. 🤪👍
@@sonuverma2796 I tried it but had the same results without it, so I can’t say it actually helped at all. It is just black oxide powder from a hardware store, it’s used to colour grout/cement.
Great video Phil , They came out Great , it got me thinking about a way we used to get fishing bait to suck up a sugar solution , and that was to freeze it , the bait contracts when it freezes and forces the air out from the pores and then when it defrosts it expands and sucks up the surrounding delicious solution , I wonder if it would be the same with the opal , looking forward to the website
Not sure, I’m thinking opal isn’t as flexible as bait meat tissue so it may contract but not shrink to force air out and in that case cold air is more dense so when reheated would expand, repelling penetration until equilibrium.
Wow the treated opals came out great.... Very nice, also I love the idea of carving dice from potch, I actually had the same idea, I've also wanted to try and make a set of domino's and chess pieces out of potch... That's my goal for this year anyway... Great video Phil, thank you 👍👍
The polish (pink) pad on my machine doesn’t lose enough grit polishing to block pores which is why I wouldn’t use cerium oxide on matrix. As for the pores, it doesn’t seem to affect the treatment either way rough or polished, the main reason you’ll see people treat then cut is to see the colour and make sure they section out the best cut, but they’d still need to bring it up to a polish and treat again as it only penetrates so far some more than others, so treated layer can be quite thin.
Thanks for the video , found a few pieces I'll try with sugar first. Love to find some of that magpie potch been looking everywhere. It's not worth anything but seems a big secret here in Andamooka lol cheers
Great question and the reason I avoided matrix to start with but now am fascinated, treating is to make the colour contrast/pop out, and will usually result in a much better looking stone, so the comparison is of the before and after, and the “after” should be aesthetically improved so the matrix price of that stone should increase, but I will always state if treated and price accordingly. 🤪👍
No, I’ve been able to bring it to a high polish then treat and it doesn’t seem to dull any or affect treating, but another touch on the polish pad after doesn’t hurt either.
Phil, after treating in sugar solution, I place the stones in a salt bed and cook them in the oven rather than use acid, sulphuric acid carbonises the sugar, cooking it out does the same thing just less risk.
I did try a few times but struggled to get temperature right and the heat was more of a risk to the opal for me, I’m a curious sort and tend to,.... let’s say dabble in danger, but am totally serious about self preservation. 🤪👍
That’s a pretty awesome beginners parcel. Amazing range of practice stuff. Love the treated stones, and congrats on 200 subs Phil, been a quick rise from 19... well done
