How to Cut Hyalite Opal / Bubble Opal from Milford, UT скачать в хорошем качестве

How to Cut Hyalite Opal / Bubble Opal from Milford, UT

Wondering how to cut hyalite opal/bubble opal, but don’t know where to start? In this tutorial, I’ll show how I cut this material starting from how to select your rough to getting that perfectly shiny final polish. It’s best if you have a basic understanding on how to make a cabochon to start with. This kind of hyalite opal is only found in one known place: Milford, UT and currently run under the Rock Dreams Claim (as of 2021 when we visited). Mark and Pam Marriot, the wonderful owners, have opened their claim to fee digs to collect this rare and special material. You can find out more about some of the other opals they find there (like wildfire and bacon opal) on their Facebook page or contact them about collecting material:   / wildfirebubbleopalclaim   I have to make a shout-out to Kenneth Shelley, our amazing guide out at the claim, who helped put us on some spectacular material and also answered all my questions on how to cut this material since it can be a little intimidating at first! Enjoying my free lapidary tutorials and want to follow my socials and website? Consider contributing to my video fund so I can get equipment to make better quality videos for more in-depth tutorials. You can find the donation link, my socials and shop link here: https://bio.site/caitlinalbritton Chapters: 0:00 Introduction to Hyalite 0:59 Selecting Material from Rough 7:19 Sawing Hyalite Opal Rough 7:31 Analyzing Sawed Rough 16:27 Selecting Cabochon Shape 17:53 Making a Hyalite Opal Cabochon 20:51 Finished! Interested in making doublets? Check out my doublets tutorial here, featuring hyalite opal in my example piece:    • How to Make Doublet Cabochons   As for the equipment I’m using in this tutorial: -Hi-Tech Diamond 10-inch slab saw. Use coupon code “CALBRITTON” at checkout for 10% off your purchase (excludes machines, extended warranties, and gift cards): https://hitechdiamond.com/collections... or you can find on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3jgl5IT -Hi-Tech Diamond 6-inch trim saw (I did some off-camera work with this guy to split one of the thicker slabs of bubble opal in half to see if it unveiled more bubbly goodness.) (Use same code as above) https://hitechdiamond.com/collections... or you can find on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Fzq7J8 -6-inch CabKing. Use coupon code “CALBRITTON” at checkout for 10% off your purchase (excludes machines, extended warranties, and gift cards): https://cabking.com/products/cabking-... or you can find on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3eWP8n0 -Optional: head-mounted magnification for if you need additional magnification while working. This is the one I have and can be purchased on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TtVvgL -Optional: if you don’t have a flat lap attachment, this Hi-Tech Diamond Slant Cabber is a great alternative. I hear some people even make cabochons exclusively on this machine, making it a nice multi-tool for a home shop. *As an Amazon Affiliate and Cabking/Hi-Tech Diamond Ambassador, I earn from qualifying purchases Key Takeaways: 1. Go through your rough to compile pieces that have thick layers of what looks like dark gray (but is actually translucent) quartz opal. Carefully cut right at the seam between the translucent bubble opal layer and the opaque layers using a slab saw. If you’re nervous, cut further away from the seam then either use the side of the saw blade to trim a little more at a time, or take the piece over to a flat lap to slowly unveil the transparent bubble layer. 2. Once you cut the opal layer out, decide which side looks better. If the bubble opal layer looks hazy, that usually means that there is a lot of extra non-bubbly layer above it you'll want to grind with the flat lap until the bubbles appear clearer. With any cutting, make sure to carefully watch what you’re doing by inspecting to make sure you haven’t cut into you bubble. Sometimes the refractive quality is in a nice straight line, but other times the bubbles appear throughout multiple layers 3. Now you should have some nice slabettes of bubble opal to cab! I personally like making the most out of my material by making more freeform shapes instead of using templates where you end up with a lot of scrap. You’ll basically treat this like any other cabochon, but bubble opal has the best refractive quality when you cut a very low dome (for some they have been almost flat on the top). Final polish with tin oxide on felt or leather. Hope this helps in your hyalite opal cutting journey, and happy cabbing!