UGLY Opal...!

[azvinnie]

Okay. Here ya' go. Time for me to provide a little humour here... . This is the first one I actually got to a polished state. Since it survived without getting flung off the machine and killed, and still needs 1/2mm more off the top, rather than 1/2mm put back on, thought I'd post it.



Whiter base color (taken with flash) is true base color. Still need work on photography skills... . But there it is. Intended to go back and work it more, but decided to keep it this way for inspiration to continue this quest for fire. Better to have one survivor to look at then a whole pile of stuff I should've stopped while ahead on. Am still learning to handle stones on a stick, since I've never cabbaged anything before in my life.

Hope no one was hurt falling out of chair from laughter...!

[mike4bears]

azvinnie looks like a nice pendant. only laugh i got was gabbaged just wondering do you have any books on. how to do lapidary or making cabochons. i don't remember this type book being mention a lot on the posts. and really this is the type of book to start with. i started with a small book. cabochon cutting. by jack r. cox. it has things like. dopping gemstones. preparing stones for shaping. grinding gemstones. smoothing gemstones. polishing gemstones. so just say opal instated of gemstone. if you would like i can mail you this book all you have to do is pass it on. to somebody Else just starting. I'm number 98 on the members list you can email me there. if you do not hear from me. post it. I'm in the forums twice a day mike. PS what is the size of your stone

[azvinnie]

Hiya' Mike! This opal is 36.5 x 8.75 (btm) x 7 (top) x 6.5 (thick). Weighs exactly 17 ct as it is now. Also forgot to mention the picture is linked to larger one if you click on it. It really could use a little more work, but I was happy to get it to where it is now without killing it...!

Thing I was most proud of is it came from a piece of practice rough that didn't show any flash at all. Just some tiny little translucent spots on the sides of that seam opal rough. Grind a little, look a lot, right? And I sure don't have any books or such. That would be great. Found a brief how-to on Inland web site, and away I went. Blind squirrel for real...!

[mike4bears]

that is real nice. now go get a bell cap. clue it on grab a chain put it on. and wear it. if you like to mike

[azvinnie]

Okay - so maybe I was too critical of the first piece (of anything) I ever polished. All the non-cutters who've seen it said it's cool, and even my jeweler pal said he's seen people who've taken cabbing classes bring him stuff not as good as this one. Especially when I told him I had intended to go back and put a better finish on it before I saw it polished. Someday maybe I'll put it on the 3000 grit disk, then repolish, to get rid of a couple of flat spots and scratches. But until then - it's okay!

[Iceopals]

Hey Vince, I wish I could see the color better! As for the cut, I like it. It's one of my favorite shapes for pendants, so don't knock it! Go ahead and put the finishing steps on it and get it mounted somehow. It will always be your first, so it will always be special.

I'll tell you a funny story....... My first opal was from a miner/dealer who went "chumming". Yeah, like shark chumming, sent me some lower end material to get me started. Just a few stones, a friend who is a dealer put us in contact. So the miner know I might possibly turn out to be a good repeat customer. He made SURE I would come back. hehee... The "lower end material" he sent me, was to him, I am sure, not too much of a loss. He certainly got me back in multiples. Anyway, to make a long story longer, the first stone he sent me cost me $23. I cut it and had it appraised (it was sooo pretty!!). It appraised over 5 years ago for over $4500!!! You bet he has a forever customer.

[Yankee42]

No such thing as ugly opal. That pendant would look good in a spiral wrap with some gold wire.

[OpalFlash]

Hey that´s a really beatiful one! Funny cause it looks a little bit like my belemnite. I just took a photo. It was nearly white with only a hint of color before I start to grind it down. I´m not finished with it yet, but I want you to see that. My first lucky buy.




What do you think about it? I want to carve it and give it a very nice polish. Would be a stunning pendant I hope...

[opalplus]

Well have you finished the opal yet?
belimites make good pendants that guys can wear also,
we made some belemites with hole drilled in side on leather and all sold..
Its hard polish round diameter opals and get good polish.

[Yankee42]

Hard to polish round diameter opal...sheesh what a bunch of rookies

[azvinnie]

Huh. Glad this thread got pulled back up. That sure is a nice bright one you've got there OpalFlash. Congrats!

Have looked at that one (my first polished rock) a couple of times recently. Think I'll work it a bit more one of these days. Now that I've got more than the one to prove I actually do (try) to cut opal. Think it will brighten up some, now that I'm not so nervous about the whole "grinding away the color" thing. A year's time has made a big difference. Now know enough to be dangerous!

And polishing round rocks? Piece of cake! With rubber-backed flexible resin disks, that is. Those things are my best friends!

Cheers!
Vinnie.

[Yankee42]

Hope you guys don't mind, but I had to pick on Wayne in that previous post I made.

[DellieMay]

wow guys, nice opal

[dienn]

I think Wayne meant - Belemnite is stable material with good hardness and will polish up nicely, rather than being difficult to polish.