While this month hasn't seen alot of pieces getting finished I did get a chance to explore stonecutting. Lapidary work is really an art until itself. The batch of stones I bought was from a "trashpile" an opal mine owner was selling. Most the stones were in the $3-10 per stone pile. The lot of stones I bought:
Stone A I cut out the opal. The back still needs shaping, but the fire is pretty amazing! I reminds me of a frozen lake with moonlight highlighting the ice.
Stone B was hard to cut out. It had cleavage on both sides, I knew there was an intersting stone inside, but figuing out what it was supposed to be was the hard part. Once I saw the potential shape, cutting it went so quick and smooth!Stone C, on the otherhand, was a toughy! Its just a little sliver that is a dead grey one direction, but from the sides its an ultra-violet purple! Its been hard trying to figure out how to orient it so it gets the best light, and to cut away the matrix without cutting out the color. Now that I've cut it down further blues are starting to flash. I have no idea what i'll use this stone for, but one I figure it out it will be pretty amazing.
Then there is stone D. Its really more a royal purple, but my camera can't seem to pick up that color. this layer was sandwiched between the matrix. Pity the point on this stone ws already broken off! might make a good modernist piece anyway.
This stone I had already cut when I took the picture of the lot. Its pretty, but I'm stumped about what to do with it.
So these are my opals. I hope next time I get the chance to buy some opal in the rough, I can. I'm only using my flex shaft to cut and polish, so the polishing is taking probably longer than it would on professional lapidary equpitment. Still, not bad for a begginner. I look forward to seeing what these stone become when I set them.
