Cooking a Large Quantity of Queensland Fairy Opals! No cracks from the cook!

Hey guys,
Matt here from Queensland Opal Cutters. Here's just the process I use to cook large amounts of Fairy / Galaxy Opal in a 1:1 sugar and water mixture. Once done just layer the Opals in Aluminum foil properly and cook on the fire!
If you have any questions just comment below or shoot me a message anytime!
We sell little parcels of QLD Fairy Opal from around $50 to $250 which are great for lapidary clubs or if you want to give treating some opals a shot! It's pretty fun and satisfying albeit one of the more difficult opals to finish. Check out queenslandopalcutters.com.au or qldopalcutters... for wholesale opals straight from the fields!
For larger parcels in the Kilograms contact Nathan or Liz from Get Stoned by Queensland Boulder Opal, Great bunch of mates that will 100% look after you well - / getstonedbyqbo

[@fishwithandy]

Great Video, they look Great.

[@freetorideforlife]

Good job man. One of the more detailed videos I’ve seen on this process. I’ve got my first batch in the slow cooker on day 4 now, would love to ask you some questions if you’re open to it?

[@muffyart]

Sorry for the super slow reply mate! It never popped up for me. How did that first batch go in the end? Feel free to shoot me questions anytime and I promise I'll reply on time haha

[@raptor0040]

A much easier way to treat fairy opal is cook it in used Diesel oil overnight, just as black and a lot less mucking around.

[@muffyart]

@@raptor0040 Never thought of that but sounds genius!

[@iepHa-kz9sn]

Bạn có thể nói với tôi không.tại sao lại bỏ đá opa vào cái chất lỏng đen đen kia làm gì vậy ?? Tôi thực sự không hiểu❤

[@Lovopale-ou9yt]

Hi what is the mix. Sugar water and what is Black?

[@Lovopale-ou9yt]

Hi again. You make 2 cook in sugar mix and a fire? How stabilize it. With epoxy? Best regards

[@muffyart]

Hey buddy! I just use 50%water and 50%sugar. Don't stress too much about the portions but after cooking for a few days it should turn to a thickish black sludge. I use the cactus juice stabilization method. A lot of people get cactus juice and a vacuum chamber then let them soak for at least 8 hours. I would recommend watching some of the better KZbin videos of how to stabilize with cactus juice. Hope that helps mate!

[@Lovopale-ou9yt]

@@muffyart OK thank you so much!!. So you cut and polish before cook right. And you cook and burn 2 times? And finish with cactus resin right. I write cause i am french and it s difficult to understand cause speaking is so quick for me. Best regards

[@muffyart]

@@Lovopale-ou9yt No problem buddy! I usually just Shape the opals with a 600 grit before the sugar water. I cook for about 3 days then put them in the aluminum on the fire for 2 to 3 hours. Then you grind all the carbon/black sugar coating. You keep shaping them up and then do the cactus juice. Once stabilized you have to grind all the excess cactus juice off and try and bring it to a polish. There's a lot of different techniques and this one still isn't perfect. If the stone still doesn't get a polish I usually finish it with a resin coating but once stabilized, it should get a decent polish. Good luck mate and let me know how you go! Feel free to message me anytime. I'm not the best with it but it's a fun process :)

[@Lovopale-ou9yt]

@@muffyart i wait to receive my rough sandstones and i will try your process. Final polish with only grit 3000 and 8000 but no cerium oxyde exact? Really thanks for your explain.👍

[@muffyart]

@@Lovopale-ou9yt yep that's right! Now the only reason we don't use cerium oxide is because it gets stuck in the pores of the opal and its easy to see. I have used cerium oxide then used a toothbrush, dishwasher liquid and warm water to get it out but it's not perfect. I have heard people use an ultrasonic cleaner to get it out. Best idea would be to use a high grit diamond paste to finish the polish.