By Don Skillman. This is the first video to watch in the series if you are interested in cutting and polishing opal.. Justin is a second generation opal cutter learning from his father Jorgen who was a master cutter and carver. The white porcelain top has to be rubbed down to expose the colour.
Once the opal cutter has sorted through the parcel and decided which pieces are worth cutting, a diamond saw is used to cut the rough opal into ‘ rubs’ (opal in the rough shape of a stone). I didn’t much care for the stone as it was, so I decided to cut it deeper. THE PROCESS. During this process, any excess material, cracks and potch (colourless opal) is cut off, and the piece of opal is cut into a basic stone shape. Mixed parcels of rough opal around $20 to $50 are good to start from Koroit, Ethiopia or Coober Pedy rough. These are some references for cutting opal. Learn from an expert how to cut an opal the old-fashioned way. Once the opal cutter has sorted through the parcel and decided which pieces are worth cutting, a diamond saw is used to cut the rough opal into ‘ rubs’ (opal in the rough shape of a stone). Posted on 02/04/2014 27/02/2020 by Ruth BT — 9 Comments How to cut opal – see a gem emerge from a rough opal.

Opal Cutting and Polishing Peter in the workshop 30 years ago.
The final step is a small bezel put on the base of the opal that I also do by holding the opal between my fingers and turning it. While cutting opals, the player will occasionally accidentally crush an uncut opal into a crushed gem and will receive only 3.8 Crafting experience. The opal rub originally weighed 50cts and it cut to a beautiful 9.10 carat N1 black opal. Cutting Virgin Valley Opal. Welo Opal Cutting Tips from Daniel Bresien: I have purchased small parcels from several vendors over the years and have used the following procedure with about 50% of the stones being cuttable. Yowah nuts are rock shaped and have strong colors, but it is said only one in a thousand has any color. I had an opal in my scrap box for years that didn’t interest me.

The same principals of cutting (as mentioned above) applies to boulder Opal, with chasing the color bar around the Opal, looking for the brighter ‘face’ of the color bar, and also sawing away the host stone with the trim saw, to save wearing down your wheels. Most opal solids I cut have a flat back and I am used to holding the opal on the end of my finger and flattening the back on the 240 sander. Often, opal – especially precious opal – is present as thin bands or veins within the rock. One day, after a close inspection, I saw a red broad flash under the pinfire. Use a trim saw with a thin blade to cut out the opal area desired on large pieces if: It cannot be used as one whole piece, or To obtain a certain size. Home / Cutting Opal / How to cut opal – see a gem emerge from a rough opal.