Silversmithing: setting opal ain’t always easy.

[@jeffholmes1362]

Love the fossil material, be keen to look at some if and when you are ready to post.

[@scarlettardis2018]

I've broken a few stone's during setting as well mate, gutted me each time 😝 I started because of you and Roy and Justin. Love every moment of it.

[@Famo59]

Thanks for sharing you making those two rings from silver plates and silver rods to wonderful Silver and Opal rings. Cheers Tony 👍

[@grantivers9091]

Cheers buddy, The Opal Mills Rocks

[@kaynef6637]

Great work

[@billiehydrick6417]

That looks great polished and treated 😀

[@alan1340]

Hi Phil, That dark blue ring is gorgeous. Wouldnt mind adding that to the ring you have already made for me :) I plan over time to have a few rings made by you.

[@bentationfunkiloglio]

Learned some new stuff today. Loved the opalized wood!

[@drfill9210]

Hey mate, the technical term for the holes in the wood is "xylem". Fun fact. It's not a tree, in trees the xylem is in a circle on the outside. For grass (palms) the xylem runs in spots through the middle. That's why you can ring bark most trees but not palm trees

[@theopalmills]

That’s good to know, especially when looking at fossils, it’s these details that help to understand what you’re looking at. Cheers Dr Fill. 🤪👍

[@lisamiller2227]

I started with wire wrapping, now moved onto opal cutting on the side.... Both lead onto silver smithing when I can afford it 😅

[@waynegutschmidt7586]

Keep the videos coming. Pity about that crack. New Subscriber tonight.

[@scarlettardis2018]

Great episode mate

[@sunlight93339]

Stunning!!💙

[@fishwithandy]

Great Video Mate ,

[@jakemikolajczyk9729]

Love it and have not Evan started watching it lol. Lad

[@matthewbailey5541]

We found some white cliffs wood showing no colour but didn't think to slice it and look inside. Also didn't know it was palm wood.

[@Dawgzihk]

thanks for the detailed video mate, appreciate it!

[@kaynef6637]

Gday Phil , I just got a notification to this video that I’d allready watched 😂 over a year ago . Which is cool cause it’s a awesome video 👍

[@theopalmills]

🤣👍

[@andreameigs1261]

To avoid breaking stones, use a chopstick or the eraser on the end of a pencil and 30g 999 silver. If you slip with a chopstick, you won't scratch the stone. There is grit in the pencil eraser that may scratch the stone, so cover it with scotch tape or put your fingernail against the metal. Also, I think you could have gone a bit shorter on the bezels. They only need to come up about...I want to say 2/3rds of the way up the setting edge, but I will look it up if you want. Of course, if the stone cutter didn't make a good setting edge on the stone, the bezel will have to be higher to hold it in, but that's when you run into problems with the metal not wanting to hug the stone. Now, I am no professional and it has been years since I took classes, but I've kept my books and have made pieces now and again and I often continue to educate myself. I am just reporting on issues I've had...the second stone I set was a REALLY nice opal (dad owned a jewelry company) and I knew I didn't want to use steel tools to set it. I've used the wood/eraser on a few and have had pretty good luck with it so far and I highly recommend it.

[@redeyestones3738]

So cool! I've always been drawn to opalized wood fossils, since I was a little kid. My uncle used to have quite the rock collection back in the day. I'd sit in his collection room for hours sometimes, drooling over some of the stuff he had in there. Opalized wood fossils amongst them all. Strangely enough, he went full blown bible beater, and donated all is valuable possessions to the church, because he believes Jesus is coming back any day now. Whatever makes ya happy, I guess. But I have to admit, I am a little salty about it, because he also donated the arrowhead collections he had as well. I found quite a few of those myself, and never got to get any, before he decided to donate everything to the church So weird

[@warrenkhan2169]

Nice wood looks alot like the stuff I have found in the past 🙂

[@theopalmills]

Id love to find a fossil, even if it’s not opalised. Some can be cut and treated like the one that was sent in, but I think the fossil side of it is intrinsic to any opal specimen collection. 🤪👍

[@dmarco9166]

Just subscribed! Really cool stuff, I'm new to this art and you've helped me a lot with your tips. So thank you!! Plus your voice is soothing af :'D

[@theopalmills]

🤪👍

[@firstlast-mp1dc]

Nice recut.

[@slavaglinovv6329]

You can put cardboard, say from a postal card, or photocamera paper, as a stone base when setting it - it will serve as a cushion to soften the applied pressure, when bezelling, not to allow cracking. No need to remove the cardboard afterwards.

[@theopalmills]

True, I’m not keen on the idea though.

[@yubz1496]

TY MATE NICE VIDEO#!!!

[@Starbuckin]

Amazing!!!

[@redeyestones3738]

The title is a big ol chunk of straight truth. 😆

[@theopalmills]

🤣👍

[@Nobbybuttons]

i dropped an 16ct emerald cab just handling (just got it from the cutter) it cracked in half was mine..made me sad..i have set a few stones and broken or chipped a few, so i know how it feels..just happens..cheers

[@jeffholmes1362]

I’ve broken a stone before, devastating probably worse because it s not yours, but it was a lovely stone. Do you sand the rings using your split mandrel and sand paper method? Thanks for sharing. Nice job Phil.

[@theopalmills]

I haven’t broken a stone while setting in a long time, then when I do, it’s someone else’s 🤦‍♂️. He was really good about it. Yes, split mandrel for sanding. 🤪👍

[@jay8353]

Hey phil,is it a hard solder your using or a different solder for different stages and what size bezel strip are you using.

[@judygofton1896]

What do they treat the fossil with?

[@DrowningB]

I had a local jeweler set my black opal into my necklace but she glued it down.. I can see the glue on the back of my opal 😭 The back used to be a beautiful black. Now its a shiny plastic looking cloudy black from the glue How bad is that?

[@theopalmills]

G’day mate, a lot of jewellers aren’t confident when it comes to opal, they fear breaking the stone when setting, so opt for glue so as not to put too much pressure on the stone. It’s unfortunate. 🤪👍

[@jonmaegdlin4278]

I love the non american pronunciation of solder. Us Americans omit the *L* and say sahh der. =P

[@theopalmills]

Same, I hear many subtle differences like with aluminium we pronounce both i’s, caramel we pronounce both a’s, and when driving you say right and we say left. 🤣👍

[@samanthasimental3788]

you need a finger protector. you have very little nail left.