Rockwerks Lapidary Forum

Hello, I am new to this board and just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I have been watching your board as well as a few others for some time. I found that I like this one because of the diversity of the posts, i.e. wire wrap, settings, etc. I have been cabbing for about two years, after a trip to Franklin, NC got me into it and still find that I am learning new things about it all the time. I tend to prefer working with more of the precious stones, but I will try cabbing anything that will look nice. As soon as I can get some photos up, I would love for you to view them and comment.

Anyways, I just got a small slab of Andamooka Opal, and was wondering if anyone has any advice. I have never worked with opal but I tried one cab and it turned out very pitted. I didn't want to keep grinding and polishing for fear of polishing it down to nothing. In one of the polishing stages I think the piece may have gotten too hot... any ideas?? I only polished this one up to the 14K and used a water bath after each swipe on the pad to try to keep the piece cool.

I am using a Slant Cabber with the following stages:
180, 300, 600, 1200 mesh, and a final polish pad from Kingsley-all wet
and diamond compound 14K on a Tech-10 pad, 50K on a leather pad, and 100K on a Tech-10 pad, all dry.

hello lawrence welcome. i moved youre post i felt it belonged in the intro section being it is youre first post and had an intro in it. dont worry you came to the right place and i am sure someone will have some help for you soon.

Hi Lawrence,
Welcome aboard!
It does sound as though you got the opal too hot, and/or dry. Never let it get dry for even a second, opal will craze, and pit when ground dry. If possible slow the speed of the cabber down to about 30% and keep wet and go slow. When working opal the best rule is grind a little, look alot, slow is a must with opal. Other than that it's easy to work.
Let us know if this helps,
Again welcome, look forward to chatting with you,
Dan

Thanks, I will give it another try and see how it works.

I spray on extender oil to lubricate the polishing pads. If the pad is really dry, it is more likely to burn.