How to Cut and Polish a Lightning Ridge Opal Cabochon... Dremel Style (Part 2: Nova Points)

[@dublime420]

It’s nice to see another opal cutter who uses a dremel!

[@RoysRocks]

Plenty of us out there. I'm glad the channel has got me in contact with many others. Soo much fun to be had.

[@JasonNichols-w8r]

Thanks Roy great job

[@RoysRocks]

Looks super similar to another stone I just finished. Gotta love some LR crystal.

[@nancycurtis3230]

Morning Roy. It is a nice little ring stone. It will look way different, when set. Have a great day, all those Opalites out there.

[@RoysRocks]

True a bezel setting can change the appearance of any stone significantly.

[@jeffholmes1362]

Nice job Roy

[@RoysRocks]

Thanks Jeff. Always fun to do an occasional oval.

[@opalonly]

So easy :) love to see this and to learn! Thanks

[@RoysRocks]

Is not very difficult at all once you get used to the process. Why I like to help people get in to it. Nothing better than turning a stone into a colourful gem.

[@opalonly]

@@RoysRocks thats true, and I mean "easy" :) but its always nice to find some colorful if we are a bit lucky.

[@joshuablack2446]

That is a very pretty stone

[@RoysRocks]

Thanks man. Was a fun one to cut.

[@MsPixi66]

Nice result Roy

[@RoysRocks]

Deffinetly not the worst result. Always wish it came out slightly better...

[@MsPixi66]

@@RoysRocks That must be your ocd Roy I saw the video of your dremel it looks like it's just left the shop lol

[@RoysRocks]

@@MsPixi66 Haha there are a few cerium oxide stains on it now but I do give it a regular clean. Trying to get 5 years out of it now 😂

[@M44411]

very good turned into a lovely little stone, nice handywork, good info 👍👍🎩🇬🇧

[@RoysRocks]

It's alright. Probably spent more time on it than it deserved but I had already committed to making the vid. 😂

[@deerwithnoeyes1417]

Awesome results Roy, thanks again for the great tips. Looking forward to seeing you reveal the precious inside that next piece 👍👍👍

[@RoysRocks]

Looking forward to the next as always.

[@mackie_p]

This is the perfect video for me today as I have received my diamond pacific nova points! Still a very nice gem! I feel like the next one will be a doosie!!

[@RoysRocks]

I reckon the real stunner will be #2, the bright crystal, but fingers crossed for #4 up next.

[@mackie_p]

@@RoysRocks hahaha That was my guess so I'm hoping so!!

[@RoysRocks]

I saw it last night again and it looks clean as. #2 will be a gem doublet at the very least.

[@mackie_p]

@@RoysRocks Hahah I re-watched the video as well! Cheers! Thanks for always responding!

[@RoysRocks]

@@mackie_p No worries. No point trying to build a community if you are not going to interact with it is there?

[@HonourEtVeritas]

Nice cutting mate, good to see you advancing in leaps and bounds! Next step is to get yourself some cabbing wheels, it makes things so much quicker 😁

[@RoysRocks]

Maybe one day but I'd need to move out of build a shed for the space I think. I may try to set up a portable recording set up and do some cabbing videos of friends machines.

[@thechristiancarpenter]

👍

[@RoysRocks]

👍 As always 😁

[@MrStewcall]

When you're soothing edges and top what bit are you using? Cheers 🍻

[@RoysRocks]

The pre-polishing stages are done with Nova resin points.

[@redeyestones3738]

Just ordered my Nova tips from Chad, at Suva Lapidary. Thanks for the direction. I'm curious, Is there a reason that nobody uses gloves, when cutting stones?

[@RoysRocks]

Chad is a good lad. Gloves make it more difficult to grip the stone and get a feel for it. If I am sawing for a long time I do tend to glove up to avoid wrinkly fingers but thats about it.

[@redeyestones3738]

That square-ish blue flash is pretty cool. Was that the Blacklighters secret potion you polished that with? Been curious how that worked out since you received it. Haven't seen any videos about, but I'm sure I'll come across one sooner or later

[@RoysRocks]

If the polish was white rather than pink it would have been the secret polish.

[@V27RV]

Hey mate Thought I might share with you what I’m using instead of wax glue etc.. I tried double sided tape and man it works..obviously you can’t push hardcore hard on the sides with it,even tho it still holds but it gets the job done.and best of all to remove the stone from the dop stick with double sided tape is easy and no damage or scratches I the stone

[@RoysRocks]

That must be some strong double sided tape. I haven't seen any that would handle the friction or water enough for this kind of work. What brand do you use?

[@EdWolfram]

It's a shame the center is so directional very nice piece though. Saw the secret powder on the final polish did it cut better than expected on a new stone?

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah a bit of potch throughout the stone especially where the potch lines meet. The polish powder is interesting, deffinetly will take some time to get used to. It will get better results once I get the hang of it and I reckon it needs a different felt point.

[@tinarankin55]

Hi Roy I was going to ask how the apoxy comes off but saw at the end of the video to just stick it in warm water ! So this gets all of it off the opal So you don't polish the back of the stone ?

[@RoysRocks]

Hi Tina, it doesn't even have to be warm water cold will do fine. Most of the time just that and a fingernail will get all of it off. You don't really need to polish the backside of a singe sided stone.

[@datrooster4112]

Out of curiosity, why do you prefer glue to wax? Sure it can be a pain in the but but it is far faster to dop with wax in my opinion. I guess im to impatient for glue lol.

[@RoysRocks]

If i am in a rush I use superglue which is even faster than wax. Wax I have to order online whereas both superglue and 5 min epoxy is just around the corner. Resin also bonds stronger and will never come off unless you want it to even on smoother surfaces and metal. I switched after talking with the opal jewelers in the city who all used the epoxy to my surprise.

[@TIG2MAN0]

How much do you think you could sell that one for?

[@RoysRocks]

I'd have to go dig it out and have a look but not a lot.

[@tonyvandijk4339]

Well done. Just curious, how long dit it take you to get from the rough to a finished stone?

[@RoysRocks]

It's a good point I should include it in a future video. It does take a while a couple hours from rough to polish. Rub doesn't take long but the polishing stages and fine shaping can take a lot of time.

[@missanna208802]

your stone will probably fall out of a bezel unless the bezel is really high because you didn't really make a setting edge. Either way, any imperfection in the dome will show up tenfold when a bezel is on it. If one side is slightly higher or steeper, for example, a bezel will show that horribly. You can have all kinds of wonky things in the face or sides of the stone as long as the setting edge is at the same level relative to the base of the stone, and at the same angle all around.

[@RoysRocks]

I plan on very high bezels on all opal setting because I think it provides just a little protection to the stone if the top sits just below the edge of the metal. I know a lot of stones will need tweaks before setting since this is before I had stated learning from the opal mills.

[@napaextend951]

Hi again bro.🥰🥰🥰 first one to see and comment 🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩(@Tanzil)

[@RoysRocks]

Hello all the way to Bangladesh. 🇧🇩👋

[@napaextend951]

@@RoysRocks 🥰🥰

[@ManMountainMetals]

guess all lightning ridge opal is doomed to ovalblivion...

[@RoysRocks]

Lol next piece I'll go back to freeform I am sure. 😁 This can just be a one of example for a standard shape with a rotary tool. Much easier to do on a cabbing machine. Which is what I would recommend when it comes to cabs... The hint is in the name 😂

[@emilis173]

im wondering for how much would you sell this stone? im not saying i will 100 percent buy it, but....

[@RoysRocks]

A stone like this is not worth very much at all. Great to practice setting but not really a gem I would consider selling.

[@emilis173]

@Roys Rocks Well the thing is im not a jeweler. And im not rich enough to buy those 1000 dollar per carat stones. So a decent opal stone under 85 dollars would be prety nice. And your name isn't writen on the stone so you would defenently not loose any reputation or whatever... Unless its about time... If your time is to valueable for stuff like this, then oh well... Sorry for a long message, hopefully you will read it all.

[@RoysRocks]

Long message ain't a problem at all. Stones like this I think are destined to be giveaway items in the future. Honestly a stone like this I would not have worked on for so long if I didn't commit to it being in a video. I don't really value my time when it comes to opal just a hobby.

[@shoeking37]

Giving bunion

[@RoysRocks]

Gem bunion?