Coober Pedy Opal Carving Start To Finish. Unboxing to Shiny Rock.

[@drewlopez9338]

Thanks Roy for the video! I'm curious, in several videos I see you using a 600 grit sintered diamond burr and then you go to the Novas, starting with a 280 grit. For a new cutter of opal, can you help me understand how the Nova 280 is a follow up to the diamond burr that has a higher grit rating? That seems backwards for reason of the numbers. Can you help me bridge that knowledge gap?

[@RoysRocks]

Hey Drew, VERY GOOD and common question. If you look at the numbers it really doesnt make sense. The real difference is the burr composition, one metal the other a soft resin. Think of it like brushing your teeth with a toothbrush and paste. A hard toothbrush vs a soft one using the same toothpaste as abrasive gets 2 different results. Though the diamonds in the 208 nova are larger the resin gives it a much softer action as it flexes. The key is the resin hardness matching closer to the opal rather than the rigid metal forcing the diamond to scratch.

[@nancycurtis7315]

Thanks for that question. It gave me an answer to a question that I had never given a thought about!! Good one. Greetings from Dimboola, in Victoria.

[@drewlopez9338]

@@RoysRocks That really makes sense... Appreciate you taking the time to answer with such a detailed response!

[@RoysRocks]

@@drewlopez9338 No worries. Just here to help as many as I can.

[@jencapaldi420]

Great question! Great answer, too! So by the time you get to the nova points, you should be done with removing 90-95% off the unwanted material & have it completely rough shaped? It's good to know the nova points will wear much faster than the sintered diamond for when I am able to buy some. Thanks Roy!

[@jeffholmes1362]

Good job, I agree, there’s a little too much potch on the back, but it’s a really nice talking piece for someone. He did a pretty fair effort to get it to where it was, well done both of you ..

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah wonder what it looked like in full rough form? I reckon he battled the sand well.

[@nancycurtis7315]

It reminds me of the top of a molar. Nice piece.

[@RoysRocks]

Haha a lot of opals I carve make me feel like a dentist.

[@lisamiller2227]

Always fun to watch you carving 💜

[@RoysRocks]

Thanks Lisa, its even more fun to do the carving. I have a long weekend so I can really chill out and dive into finishing some projects.

[@lisamiller2227]

@@RoysRocks got to love a long weekend! My daughter gave me her cold so I won't be doing much of anything this weekend, so I'll watch others instead 💜

[@firstlast-mp1dc]

Nice carving. Thanks.

[@RoysRocks]

No worries. Hopefully helps others getting stuck at this point.

[@pkgoldopalhunting]

nice work

[@RoysRocks]

Thanks man. 👍

[@EvelynPic]

Beautiful!

[@RoysRocks]

Would be a tricky one to wrap. Actually I have a photo of a wire wrap pendant to show you I might make it a youtube community post. A shop in town has a wonderful design for a belemnite.

[@EvelynPic]

@@RoysRocks would love to see how they wrap the belemnite! My mind always goes to the, how would I wrap that? For this piece, I’d keep it simple. I’ll FB messenger you a pic of a bear claw I wrapped for a friend. It needed to be masculine and able to accommodate an odd shape.

[@bbisyy4u]

Good to see how you identify areas that need attention and how you fix each one.

[@RoysRocks]

It can be a painful process but we get it done 💪

[@dcallan812]

After watching your video talking about polishing shell fossils, I polished one of my shells and its turned out really nice nice colour and crystal clear. So please I did it. Great video 2x👍

[@RoysRocks]

Ah nice. Shell opal can be some of the best crystal opal out there! When it is clean it is hard to beat.

[@chadatchison145]

Thanks for the vide Roy. :)

[@RoysRocks]

No worries as per usual Chad. 👌

[@frostypop934]

Help me understand the peaks and valleys. When I imagine cutting a favorite stone, and I’ve never cut anything to talk about, I see what I’m going to lose. I can see drizzled gold or silver casted around and on such a beauty. How else can you display this delicate and very colorful stone? Beautiful.

[@RoysRocks]

Best way to make something out of a carving like this is with wire wrapping.

[@frostypop934]

Ahhh thank you!

[@ResortDog]

If you think you will end up sawing it; SAW it, before you reduce it so much looking, to save ct weight.

[@RoysRocks]

No sawing all one chunk and owner quite happy with it.

[@ResortDog]

@@RoysRocks I saw that. I was referring to looking at a piece for the first time. So much opal in wood needs to be lumbered first, not just rounded down, or treated even with a fracture sealer first. I figured you'd finish it off like it was started. You did good. I'd wrap that no problems as they dont come too slick for me. I don't do consignments so I dont have to replace what I break. LOL.

[@RoysRocks]

@@ResortDog Ah makes sense. I tried at all costs not to slice but if someone sent me for slicing I'd go with it for sure. I'm just happy to work on opal for people.

[@410connects]

roy your a damn good carver my man.#opalcarvers

[@RoysRocks]

KZbin hid your comment! Thanks man. Have to help out anyone I can.

[@hannagyllensten475]

Cool form. How large area do you need to re-polish, if its a tiny spot like that? Like, how do you make sure the edge around the re-polished are is not visible after? :-)

[@RoysRocks]

Like I said in the video I'll focus on the pits that were missed (5mm diameter circle area) but then I will go up the grits expanding that area so next stage 7-8mm, 10mm and so on. That avoids any noticeable patch of grinding. I'll do the final metal oxide over the whole stone no matter what because I just love doing that part.

[@hannagyllensten475]

@@RoysRocks guess I got distracted, thanks a lot!

[@jencapaldi420]

How do you decide when to add an extra polishing stage or element? Like the aluminum oxide or the nova points that go above 3,000?

[@RoysRocks]

Depends on the material you are polishing. Pure opal is easy and you dont think about it much just novas up to 3000 then cerium oxide. When there is something other than opal in the face you are polishing you need to start branching out to AlOx, higher nova grits or diamond paste.

[@TIG2MAN0]

I have a weird question, when I'm cutting (I'm new) I'm running 5ooo RPM on my Dremel 4000 flex shaft. Should I be going faster RPM?

[@RoysRocks]

5000 is okay but maybe a touch slow. I prefer 8000-10000 rpm

[@TIG2MAN0]

@@RoysRocks ok thanks, ill have to try that.

[@TIG2MAN0]

It would depend on the stone, on average how long does it take you from start to finish?