Resin treating rainbow matrix opal.

[@kennethnew3075]

My girl is doing a science class right now talking about chemical reactions and compounds. Thanks for the learning tool. And the stones look cool. Nice color. Love the green. Thanks for the great videos. Safe travels

[@grantivers720]

Works a treat..they turned out so nice, can tell your happy with them.. Fair dinkcom

[@SirRocksAlot]

Double thumbs up. And think we could all use a little vacuum, some extra sugar and good polish.

[@CooberPedyOpals]

That worked great and the shine is amazing. Another great video.👍😁

[@alan1340]

Getting some nice results there Phil and looking forward to the rest of the video's on this subject.

[@igneousmoon]

Cool to see this. My wife and I have talked about getting a vacuum chamber for ages and I have a bunch of this rough I want to work on

[@edshiner9863]

Mad scientist! I`m Loving all the experimenting and you seem to be having a lot of fun too. Having a number of stages in the process and different options at each stage, there`s plenty of ways to try out. I`m intrigued to see the results from your ongoing experiments. 😁👍

[@Nobbybuttons]

they look great, would think the thinner resin will pen better, looking forwards to seeing more of the treated stones.

[@fishwithandy]

Hi Phil , Great video , I was Amazed how much Air came out , Great finish , couple of things popped into my mind , would it be worth glueing a thin thread of nylon fishing line to one end of the stone with a loop in ,then you could hang them to dry and just snip them off flush , and an ioniser will make particles like dust, pollen , smell etc , get heavy and drop out of the air , and Congratulations to your Mum for finding that Painted Lady , I bet that was Exciting ,

[@theopalmills]

I’m thinking of pre-pouring a base they can bond to while they cure, and will cover them while they cure. 🤪👍

[@firstlast-mp1dc]

Good science lesson. Thanks Phil. The reason i first got interested in opal was as inlay for deer / elk antler's, a project that I haven't materialized yet. Ive been collecting some good bits of Andamooka and some Lighting Ridge nobby's, and hope to use a resin chamber to treat the antlers before and after adding the opal inlet. Thanks for the vacuum chamber video.

[@trishcurnow4843]

This is awesome Phil, that is the exact liquid glass I have. I dont have a vacuum machine, any ideas what to do without one? I never had any luck with the starbond. I think Sandy did though.

[@theopalmills]

I’m going to trial Starbond thin as an undercoat/primer then liquid glass to build up, I think the Starbond soaked in well and will help the resin bond/contact over the top. With no vac chamber just make sure to use a flame to get rid of bubbles, the curse there is trapped air may entice the resin to lift/separate over time . I need to pre-pour some bases so the build up on the bottom is thicker. 🤪👍

[@grantivers720]

FLASH..... Wow wow wee wow

[@prospectvic]

Good job phill, your a pioneer that's for sure buddy

[@emilyjayne77]

They’ve come up so well 😃 Great stuff!! My lad has come down with the dreaded Covid-19 🤨 It’s just like a bad cold. Loss of taste and smell. I don’t know why I’m telling you guys lol I feel you’re almost part of the family. Our Opal fam’ 🌈 🌈

[@theopalmills]

Thanks Millie, and yes the opal community is like extended family, hopefully bad cold is the worst of it. 🤪👍

[@emilyjayne77]

@@theopalmills cheers mate. Yeah he’s absolutely fine. It’s a good job it’s half term at college 😂 Me and his sister have been double jabbed so hopefully we won’t get it too. I don’t care if we do get it though cos there’s no better immunity than catching it. We should only get mild symptoms, if any. Hopefully Australia is almost covid free. 😷

[@emilyjayne77]

I’ve just had a quick look on the worldometer and yesterday alone there were a touch under 44,000 new positive cases in the U.K. We’re all bound to catch it cos everything is open & back to as it was 2019. For reference, Australia had 1,753 new cases yesterday. I hope numbers there stays low.

[@Kerrsartisticgifts]

I'm back with another probably stupid question, Phil. Have you dried them after this and then put them into your vacuum chamber in the acid to get more acid penetration, before cooking them?

[@Kerrsartisticgifts]

Could you use some coloured solution instead of sugar? I saw a video about ethiopian opal being passed off as Australian black opal on ebay. It has some sort of dark dye or something inside it. It made me wonder if the same treatment wouldn't be good on actual Australian Opal?

[@theopalmills]

There’s many ways to darken matrix opal, but, the idea is to end up with a safe and stable opal with longevity. Whether you use heat or sulphuric acid to carbonise the matrix in anything from sugar to sump oil, it’s all been done to impregnate the matrix with carbon, the carbon seems to fuse/sinter inside the pore creating a strong bond, though even this can still be bleached out. Using a dye would run the same risks clothing faces, from excess dye leaching out and absorbing/staining into the skin, to, fading over time. Also remember, Ethiopian opal is porous enabling it to be impregnated with a dye or sometimes they smoke them like meat, whereas Australian opal, excluding matrix, is nonporous and impervious. 🤪👍

[@FergusNismoLurch]

Love them OPALS how do I get a pice for myself

[@surajitsaikia4139]

Hi mate, the epoxy treatment is good but u need much lighter epoxy especially the one which is used to make jewellery. Hope u will find them in ur place, looking forward for the next video.....

[@stonefish4935]

Opticon Gem Resin

[@theopalmills]

I way to get hold of some Opticon to try. 🤪👍

[@surajitsaikia4139]

@@theopalmills great to hear that, it will absorb more and expected to fill the gaps....

[@GemPassionpl]

One advice... after releasing air into a vacum chamber, leave the stones dipped for a few hours or even longer cuz liquid solution is much more viscous than the air. Make an experiment with suringe and needle, first suck in the air and then try to do the same with water. This process requires some time or you can try to increase pressure after vacuum treatment to force in evfn more solution like in normal atm pressure couldnt be possible for egsample putting it in 5bars or 60psi pressure increase penetration 5 times more than atm pressure would :) if you like to contact me please feel free , im also interested in opals so we czn talk about treatments :)

[@theopalmills]

Thanks, I’m yet to try a method using a jam jar with sealable lid so after the vacuum chamber I’ll put the lid on tight and sit it in the cooker and try not to pop the lid off while creating some pressure. My email is [e-mail] 🤪👍

[@GemPassionpl]

@@theopalmills have you got a facebook ?:)

[@theopalmills]

@@GemPassionpl facebook.com/The-Opal-Mills-110250411130990/

[@stephenedwards3095]

I've got some boulder matrix that got white enamel that's clear when wet and cutting but drys white again with this method keep it clear and stop it turning white again ?

[@theopalmills]

I’ll be trying the Starbond thin next and it may be a better option for its ability to soak in, the liquid glass seemed to only coat the matrix and didn’t penetrate as far as I’d have liked. If what you have needs a soak in water to get it to clear up, as opposed to just a wipe over, then I think you’ll need something that will soak right in to get a result. 🤪👍

[@NMFaz786]

I do have an Opal that needs a coating

[@NMFaz786]

How do I prevent an Opal from crazing? Please kindly advice

[@theopalmills]

@NMFaz786 I don’t think there’s any way to stop an opal from crazing, it’s a stability issue. That’s why we avoid opal from certain diggings that has a reputation for cracking/crazing, there’s nothing we can do with it even before it starts to appear. 🤪👍

[@gregorybowman4638]

You have been listening

[@khesed0000]

Is resin coated lower the price of opal?

[@theopalmills]

G’day mate, if you were to resin coat a stone that didn’t need it, then yes, but these are resin coated because they either don’t take a very good polish, or, have surface issues like softer material in the matrix that may deteriorate over time from weathering, in both cases resin can give it a better finish and stability, and the value comparison is made per stone from what it was to what it now is, if the stone requires resin then it’s value was already low to nil. 🤪👍

[@khesed0000]

@@theopalmills what, i have 60USD$ per catar offer for resin coated matrix opal..

[@theopalmills]

@@khesed0000 that’s a very good price, if you have a market for it, I have quite a bit of it to process.

[@khesed0000]

@@theopalmills i mean yeah i can buy from u, like i can buy 20-30kgs like u give me cheaper price, u have any Facebook or WhatsApp ?