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Author Topic: Open Crack In Opal?  (Read 1791 times)

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John Robinson

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Open Crack In Opal?
« on: October 06, 2017, 08:31:04 AM »

I have a nice little opal with one glaring flaw, a crack that was barely visible until it got some cerium oxide in it while polishing, can it be fixed or do I have to trash the stone?
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rocks2dust

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Re: Open Crack In Opal?
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2017, 10:56:49 AM »

You'll have to get the cerium oxide out before deciding whether to do anything else. If you have an old "Waterpic" or similar pulsing tooth cleaning spray (or can pick one up cheap at a thrift store), that can often get out polish from cracks (use warm water with a bit of hand dishwashing detergent in the reservoir).
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ileney

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Re: Open Crack In Opal?
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2017, 10:45:27 AM »

That's what I use, a waterpick, and I thought I was the only one! Everyone I know seems to have an ultrasonic.
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irockhound

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Re: Open Crack In Opal?
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2017, 10:53:00 AM »

I have also used a simple hose with a sprayer throttled down to a forceful mist, up against the stone this has a lot of power to remove the debris if you don't have a waterpic.  I have used Hxtal on opal as a fracture sealer with good results.
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Open Crack In Opal?
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2017, 01:02:56 PM »

Ultrasonics and opal are a big no-no.   :nono:

Don't want the opal to explode!
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Robin

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Re: Open Crack In Opal?
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2017, 10:18:07 AM »

But you get a bunch of clean stones instead of just one. Win win right?
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Open Crack In Opal?
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2017, 12:12:04 PM »

Depends.  If there were cracks already, probably.  If there are no cracks in it, because of the small water content in opal, the ultrasonic would vibrate that water as well the water it was in and it could literally explode when it was a perfectly fine stone before it went it.  No so sure that's a win-win.
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Robin

John Robinson

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Re: Open Crack In Opal?
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2017, 02:54:04 PM »

Thanks all!
I just cut the opal at the crack. I  could have sworn it was not an open crack when I started polishing, but the heat could have had something to do with it opening up?
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Open Crack In Opal?
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2017, 03:55:24 PM »

Totally possible.  A crack is a weak spot in the stone.  Heat, the vibration from your wheel, the stars aligning the wrong way ....
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Robin
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