How To Cut And Polish Ethiopian Opal? Gem Ethiopian Opal Carving And Polish.

[@N0013Scientist]

🎉 yaay! made my night! Really love these Ethiopian opals and you did a great job! Thanks Roy for sharing 🙏

[@RoysRocks]

It's a good change up every now and then from the usual.

[@annakeye]

Same here. The play of colour is fascinating to me. You can see the divisions like cells in honeycomb and the depth of colour is phenomenal.

[@dougbarton4531]

Hi there Roy. Beautiful job on the free form Sir. I love how you preserved the natural lines and curves just as Mother Nature intended. I cut on my CabKing most often, but the freeform definitely brings out more color play and liveliness in the stone. Simply stunning. I've cut hundreds of Welo cabs and absolutely love the stuff. Oh btw, I have a great tip for you which not many reading this may know as I only figured it out purely by chance. You can cut your drying time for Welo in 1/2 by simply placing it in your front jeans pocket. The cotton from your pocket combined with the moist heat from your leg makes for a super stable temperature controlled wicking environment. Gems that would normally take 2-3 days to dry left out are done in a day. Plus you can haul it out anytime (lol), inspect it as it cures and also have the extra added bonus of having a rainbow in your pocket. It does wonders for your mental health. I mean who can't help but smile inside whenever they see a rainbow. Hope that helps 😉 Long may your big jib draw. Dougie in Newfoundland

[@RoysRocks]

Thanks Doug. I'll be sure to do a bunch of cabs with ethiopian material when I can. I want to try setting and testing a bunch of stones. The drying idea is cool. I might go a tad more scientific and use a thermal incubator but not a bad idea to speed it up. It did take quite a while.

[@chadatchison145]

Great piece Roy, thanks for the video.

[@RoysRocks]

Its actually gotten even better with over a week of drying.

[@V27RV]

Roy You outdone yourself once again Meistro👏🏽

[@RoysRocks]

It was good fun. Took 10 times as long as my standard stones but a good change.

[@bbisyy4u]

That was really neat watching the stone turn clear. Truly fascinating.

[@RoysRocks]

I'm going to work out a way to do a time-lapse video for it. The wet and dry.

[@bbisyy4u]

That sounds very interesting. How did you say you stored it before you started working on it?

[@ElinHaugan]

Really nice piece, and glad it did'nt crack/craze after drying post 600 😊 After 24 hours, that semi transparent colour on colour was absolutely amazing ❤️

[@RoysRocks]

I thought I had killed it with that accidental dry. No idea how it survived. The drying is soo strange. I want to do a 48 hour time lapse recording.

[@JhonDiamond2021]

opal gems are very beautiful, I like men with beautiful colors.

[@RoysRocks]

It is hard to beat opal. I'll probably never work another type of gem seriously.

[@hannagyllensten475]

Awesome stone, so fun to see how it turned out (beautiful!)!

[@RoysRocks]

Very lucky in the end after accidentally letting it dry mid cut. Something I always try to avoid with Ethiopian opal.

[@DarkenShroud]

Awesome I knew it would be a killer piece when I sent them to you. Risky leaving it out to open air dry, but it was your birthday present to do with as you pleased lol. Yeah told ya the 50k grit was an excellent finish on the Ethiopian, just need to take your time really since not using a liquid polish. You really want to ensure the stages get done properly since not hiding anything with the cerium or etc. All in all super excited for ya. That's an amazing piece.

[@RoysRocks]

It was even riskier letting it run dry mid cut post 600 sintered! I was sure the heat and dry would have killed it but luckily it's the most stable Ethiopian opal I've ever cut.

[@nancycurtis7315]

Lovely opal. Roy's a beaut bloke. Good on you. Greetings from Dimboola, in Victoria, Australia.

[@ResortDog]

Hiya DS. Good on ya!

[@nancycurtis7315]

Finished viewing video. Very pretty stone. I just hope that people that buy jewellery made of it are made aware of its quirks. I can imagine someone going right off if they didn't know.... inevitably going to happen somewhere! Have a great day everyone. Thank for a really interesting video.

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah I see that happen on Facebook all the time. Same with matrix opal being called black opal and people getting really upset that the value is no where near what they thought.

[@nancycurtis7315]

@@RoysRocks I've seen some really nice matrix opal. Was given one by an opal miner/cutter/jeweller, when I bought some souvenirs for friends as I went through Coober Pedy. He explained exactly what it was. I had asked about it for curiosity. He just handed to me as I left the premises. The people were lovely there, in town. I'm going back when I can.

[@anthonymcclain6475]

Turned out great...I'm a huge fan of freeform shapes...

[@RoysRocks]

Now to try and find a way to set it in a clever design...

[@anthonymcclain6475]

@@RoysRocks I'm sure you will...I use a guy here in the States for setting my gems... Austin Moore @earthartgems ...he has a KZbin channel as well,which is how I discovered him(he was faceting a pebble that he found in his driveway I think and I thought to myself here's a guy after my own heart 😂) like your videos made me start cutting opal his videos have me wanting to silversmith as well 😂😂😂 I have a piece of Ethiopian I cut a while back that my wife calls "the 👻" because of the white base and shape that I would love to have set...I'll upload a video to the site later so you can see the similarities (and differences)

[@offyarocka]

That was really cool watching it hydrate 😊😊😊 Awesome video, thanks for sharing

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah I think I will slab a few pieces and do some time-lapse videos. No talking just some music and hydration. Looks cool slightly sped up.

[@ieatcaribou7852]

#1 tip, try to take off as much host as you can before wetting to minimize cracking which is exactly what you did, great job! I really like Welo, it’s hard to beat for the money.

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah since doing that not a single stone has cracked from the start. I'll be working more Ethiopian at this rate. Its a good change up every now and then.

[@OscarsEditing]

Any tips for buying Ethiopian opal rough? Thanks

[@RoysRocks]

I'm still hunting for a good supplier. Id say if you want to buy Ethiopian rough stick to stones that are fully dry. No water and no oil some call it jewellery grade online. It's more pricey but worth it because you can cut, polish and use the final stone.

[@V27RV]

EBay..just search for rough Ethiopian opal..I just bought/won a auction at 40 euros for a massive parcel from a buyer from the UK. I was super sceptic about EBay,but all my bids I won so far came super through and as promised

[@yougoattube]

Thanks so much for this and all the other info you've posted! I bought some Ethiopian opal rough in Tucson last week. No idea how to properly select rough, so i'm definitely going out on a limb. Hopefully at least some of it turns out OK... I'll be thrilled if I get anything even close to what you're showing here. If it's all junk hopefully I'll at least learn something from it. Thanks again, I hope you keep going with these videos! PS - 50 deg C! Holy cow! I live in the Phoenix area, and that's crazy hot even for this part of the world! (I think the record high for Phx was 122F, which is 50C...) Try to stay cool...

[@jacquiegoosetree7865]

Hi Roy I do like watching your shows lol

[@RoysRocks]

Well more interesting stones to come. Some I have never even worked on.

[@bhutjolokia6990]

Looks awesome Roy!! Most of the opal I cut is this type of Welo. I like it, it is lighter and softer and some pieces are harder to get the small flat areas rounded on the flat lap. Carving tends to be easier with the softer pieces. I have only had one shatter on me and it was after it popped off the dob stick and reheated it a bit too much lol. I just put them on a counter and let them dry and never had one crack. Ethiopian chocolate opal is extremely hard to cut a stone with no cracks. I just finished one and will share on Facebook. That 4.3ct Mexican opal in shared had a crack and now have 3 pieces one is still 2.6ct and will attempt to cut that one. Mexican opal is also prone to cracking.😢😢 Thanks for sharing, this is a great freeform and would be great for wire wrapping.👍👍😁

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah I haven't had any cracking issues with Mexican fire opal yet but haven't done much with it and only smaller pieces.

[@bhutjolokia6990]

@@RoysRocks yeah I thought this Mexican I had was stable, not sure what happened.

[@jasonb2648]

Finally! A start to finish tutorial on Welo Opal! This cleared up so many questions. Just one question.. instead of using the Nova's up to 50K, would going to 3k or 5k Nova's and Cerium Oxide provide similar results and protect against water in the future? Thank you Roy 💯💯💯!!!

[@RoysRocks]

No worries Jason, I will do some testing with my standard metal oxide process but I have heard horror stories of the stone absorbing the CeOx so people prefer diamond paste but I reckon it should be okay. I am sure I have seen people use CeOx for Ethiopian opal without issues but only one way to find out for sure... I'll run the test on a poor quality piece.

[@leonardherrell7278]

​@@RoysRocks , I have a related question my friend. Where can I buy the complete set of Nova grinding tips you showed in your video? Thanks

[@dcallan812]

Some of the more stable rough can cut very nice gems just as this one did. Great video 2x👍 I have a couple of Ethiopian opals with "egg" like inclusions. You need to keep the wet of bit just flake off.

[@RoysRocks]

I have some of that kind that I am playing with as well. I'll be able to show the difference soon.

[@dcallan812]

@@RoysRocks that will be useful 😀

[@Resin-it]

Is there a way to treat welo after polishing to stabilise it and stop absorbtion etc

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah there are many ways to treat it but it will lose a lot of value as a treated stone.

[@TIG2MAN0]

That is the arkenstone from the hobbit. Do you need to leave a side flat no matter what for mounting?

[@RoysRocks]

Nah I have seen some very creative ways of making pendants that dont require a flat base. A good setting edge does make it a whole lot easier though.

[@tedjones1545]

Who makes the pen light? where can I purchase one? Thank you for the great video.

[@RoysRocks]

That gem light was sent to me by the great Riley Gunn. You can find him on youtube (www.youtube.com/@nnOpals). But his sales are through opalauctions.com under the name 53Frogs.

[@ThatOpalGuy]

Watching this in tuscon, finally! Gonna go bug Justin tomorrow and get his input on some of my stones. I want his valuation so I can get a baseline. I'm basically clueless on the values of opals. I don't want to rip anyone off if I sell them but I also don't want to leave too much on the table either. It is a very beautiful stone. Love all the colors. I hope it stays crack free.

[@RoysRocks]

Congrats on being able to hit up Tuscon and tell Justin I said hi. Pricing opals id quite a mysterious art. I always browse for similar stones online and go from there. Hope it stays crack free as well.

[@Native_Wind]

You should try some Shewa Ethiopian Opal, Its fun to purchase because sometimes if your lucky you make come a cross some non- hydrophane Black or Chocolate opal and this material can be just as stable as Australian opal and the best part is this material also produces honeycomb patterns and there's not a lot of risk because this material is not terribly expensive and if you get lucky and you get a non hydrophane peace it can be worth quite a bit, So it's a fun Gamble.😊

[@RoysRocks]

I have worked a few and so far have been pretty unlucky with that variety. I can always go for more gambles though. Especially since the financial risk is not huge.

[@حسينشمس-ع9خ]

أجمل احجار الاوبال هو الابيض الناري

[@kaynef6637]

Cool

[@RoysRocks]

Its good fun.

[@kyross12]

Great video. New to your channel. Can you link the gem light you used in this video?

[@RoysRocks]

That was the Riley gunn one. You can find it here: www.opalauctions.com/stores/53frogs/lapidary/opal-light

[@kyross12]

@RoysRocks Thank you for the informatiom. I bought one a few minutes ago.

[@densyy_o]

What grit were you using on the dry sintered bit?

[@RoysRocks]

For Ethiopian I only use 600 because it is very gentle and Ethiopian opal carves away VERY quickly.

[@ThatOpalGuy]

Will it absorb the oils from your skin as well?

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah I'm sure it will absorb anything you let it get near. I will test it in the future.

[@evasacchi6439]

May you please give me a link for nova products?

[@RoysRocks]

I dont sell them anymore but if you are in the USA try suva lapidary

[@davidlowrie579]

Where do we get that penlight?

[@RoysRocks]

53Frogs store on opal auctions.com

[@ResortDog]

"Volcanic" opal is special, and that is usually said like a curse, instead of a blessing. For the price, quite nice.

[@RoysRocks]

Bang for buck really is there for this level of brightness. Sure it has its drawbacks but for the same price you could get a pretty low return coober pedy.

[@bamibalschijf]

Quick question, i keep hearing about nova points but what are they made of? Ps : nice video 🤙🏻

[@RoysRocks]

I can't say the exact resin and filter mix but in essence it is a resin bur with cutting diamonds suspended throughout.

[@frostypop934]

I’ve collected near 50 lbs of welo and Shewa over the past 7 years. Living originally in a moderate rain forest, Shewa cracked on its own. Now I live in high desert and nothing cracks…ever!

[@RoysRocks]

Nice. 50lbs is quite a bit of work to get through. Hope you end up with plenty of gems from it!

[@ResortDog]

The Shewa egg beds are in a lava flow and the Wolo is from Layers in mesas, District does matter. A guy from Reno helped Shewa get on the map for the locals, before he was shot, by the business.

[@nancycurtis7315]

Oh wow. I am fascinated by the way the water affects the opal. Go out and flash your opal on a wet day? I'd be too scared to wear it. I'd forget and have a shower wearing it. The drying out would drive me sane!!! LOL.

[@RoysRocks]

Oh it would freak out someone that didn't expect it for sure. Especially the drying where it takes so long and goes through that strange white stage.

[@suemccoy7539]

Do you sell those so I can cut and polish some let me know I want to buy some ?

[@RoysRocks]

No I dont sell any stones currently just the tools to do the cutting/carving and polishing. I have thought about it though but... I like to carve them too much myself.

[@Yetireacts419]

If you get the honey comb what is the price per kt??

[@RoysRocks]

Still depends a lot on body tone and brightness. Its not an overly rare pattern in Ethiopian opal just very cool looking.

[@Yetireacts419]

@@RoysRocks I just almost finished a piece that the big flat side is all the honey comb. Also I have only polished like 15 or so pieces of opal I just got a 6” 6 wheel lapidary

[@soozieq697]

Very nice free-form opal! Have you tried to cut any of the non-hydrophane Ethiopian opal yet?

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah but haven't had great results though the rough was poor quality.

[@soozieq697]

@@RoysRocks was your main issues with this type? Where,in the carving process, did you start to experience issues? I have a large piece of rough that is translucent dark brown with strong green, red, and blue pin fire. It's a beautiful piece. I've tried to cut some smaller ones before and they always end up cracking in the process. I would love to know more about carving this type before I attempt the nice one.

[@RoysRocks]

@@soozieq697 Any that were shipped wet or oiled have almost always failed. Some call it "specimen grade" or "water opal" Where it is incredibly unstable and self destructs. I am working on a process to dry them without treatment and it is surprisingly good so far. Biggest key is to keep the stone wet until fully polished. A rough outer surface just begs for cracking.

[@ResortDog]

Around here we say Opal is honest. (Virgin Valley "Volcanic" Field) you dry it out after finding it and what it does when dried grades itself. If it crazes, it needed to be gone. If it didnt, you have dried cutting rough. But each individual opal is unto itself with its properties despite what mine it came out of. Variety is the spice of life.

[@pigeonbloodruby5330]

@@RoysRocks Looking forward to learning more about your 'process to dry Welo opal without treatment'. I don't know what 'without treatment' means. Looking forward to learning more about your process. I'm finding sellers pictures of opals with a transparent water soaked rim. They don't give you a clue what the opal looks like dry. I really don't like the sellers that never show a picture of how thin the opal is. Or they cover the opal with their fingers, no ruler for scale, no video showing 360 views, no closeups to see existing cracks. It's obvious to me that it's a stone with issues and the seller is on my 'Do not buy' list.

[@AyenewFrew]

opal en zeh etiopia erswerse ayenew ferw col

[@kanaijuin]

Excellent workmanship! I have cut Ethiopian opals several times and all of them always crack and break into multiple pieces. Just getting them wet with water already cracks them I can't even keep them wet the whole time I'm cutting them. And when it dries, it turns completely white and the same color never comes back... Where's the trick to make it perfect without cracking like yours?

[@RoysRocks]

Key steps in this video are: 1/ Remove the "crust" or anything not opal BEFORE wetting. The differing expansion responses seems to be a common path to cracks. 2/ Never let the stone dry during the process. It should be fully polished BEFORE any drying. 3/ Dry very slowly. I use the ziplock bag and tissue method then eventually desiccant and open air.

[@kanaijuin]

@@RoysRocks Thank you for the very informative information! It’s OK up to the point of removing the sand from the Opal. The problem is after wetting. Perhaps the wetting process is incomplete and the surface dries out quickly and cracks. I'll try to keep it completely wet until I'm done polishing!

[@frostypop934]

You should be wearing gloves. I’ve gotten rashes from Ethiopian dirt. Cleaning them of excess dirt is the first order of business when a new parcel arrives! Beautiful piece. Great job carving. Many thanks for sharing. I love your videos!!!😊

[@RoysRocks]

I've never had any skin issues from Ethiopian and I never wear gloves when working with spinning tools. Maybe during the picking stage I could do it but sounds uncomfortable?

[@frostypop934]

Itchy. But it went away after a couple benedryls!!

[@Kerrsartisticgifts]

I looked at a website that sells opal and they sell opals like that by the kg bag. That website had a video about cleaning that opal with pliers. They just crushed the dirt, I thought it was a spoof at first.

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah pliers actually do work really well! I did it a couple times but then I accidentally broke one so stick to picking now.

[@anthonymcclain6475]

I'm only a third in but those color fingers look like possible honey comb!

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah the side that is flatter than the other shows clear honeycomb so you are on the money.

[@Crumbed304]

why didnt it crack?

[@RoysRocks]

They are surprisingly good if you process them correctly. I havent had one crack in a long time since using my method. If I summarize it: 1/ Remove crust before wetting. 2/ Cut and polish fully without drying. 3/ slow dry in a ziplock bag. 4/ crack free final stone.

[@Crumbed304]

@@RoysRocks Thx for explaining it :)

[@RoysRocks]

@@Crumbed304 No worries hope it helps.

[@Marita777]

​@@RoysRocks Do you recommend drying the opal completely before removing the crust?

[@RoysRocks]

@@Marita777 No if the opal is already wet you have to just go with it. Drying a stone that was already wet with crust tends to fracture it.

[@rachelruggieri5491]

I’m glad the 50,000 works great with Ethiopian (And boulder) opal. I’ve found recently through experience that the 50,000 nova works great on coober pedy opal as well. Some lightning ridge material or very strong coober pedy might need a swap to cerium though but not all opal needs the same treatment as I’ve found. It’s nice to have both methods under your belt and see which one the opal favors.

[@RoysRocks]

Yeah I think if a stone is mostly opal you can't beat a metal oxide but if there are any pores or non opal in the face the 50,000 nova really shines.

[@berndontour3273]

Wo bitte hast du die verschiedenen dremmel tools mit zb.5000 grit.......gekaft LG.BERND

[@RoysRocks]

Guten morgen LG Bernd. Mein Deutsch ist schlecht. Ich verwende "Diamond Pacific Nova Points" aus den USA.

[@berndontour3273]

Dankeschön dein Deutsch ist perfekt LG.BERND inm net gefunden werde mir die bestellen Verfolgen weiterhin dene Kunstvolle Arbeit

[@AyenewFrew]

etyyuopia ersuores ein opalse welo