A channel to cover all things opal carving to help anyone get into a great hobby or just to entertain people interested to learn more about opal and the process of getting from rough to gem.
I post a video every 2-3 days at the moment which can be:
* Rough parcel reviews to assess various sellers online.
* Equipment reviews so people can avoid wasting money on useless products.
* Opal carvings.
* Educational videos on the process of carving various opal types.
* Testing various methods and equipment suggested by viewers.
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Wow, very beautiful opal 🤩🌈. I wondered how deep the sand/mud will go and how you will exactly treat it. Well, the 140 grit would not be my choice. I would have spend hours over hours with the 600 or 320. Good to know that some very hard opals could be carved with a 140 grit. Thanks for the video.
No worries. This chunky boy ended up sliced and cabbed into a bunch of gem grade stones. I just helped them draw up the cuts with some Dremel investigations.
Woo hoo 🙌 thank you so much Roy ❤ love the channel and your turorials. 😊 I’ll reach out via email.
Well done! No need to thank me the program pulled you name out of the hat. Just good luck!
Great option at an affordable price. Thanks for sharing.
No worries. Yeah you can get a lot for $200 it turns out. I'm not sure why I didn't scoop one up earlier.
One of the best vids on stone/gemstone carving basics I've seen. Thank you for putting this presentation together.
No worries I'm happy if it can help someone out there get started. It seems daunting before you work out it really isn't so bad and the tools are pretty basic.
Very good video I bought 2 boulders at a show and I'm researching what to do with them or HOW to do with them. I've access to a Kingsley and flat laps of such. thanks again.
Oh cool. Boulder opal has always been my number 1 when it comes to opal. I do love a Lightning Ridge black opal but Boulder always seems to have more character and variety.
I pulled the water catcher off my tile saw and turned the saw around so the water sprays away from me while i pull the piece towards me, also keeps the rock from flying at you if it catches the blade lol
I dont think I have ever cut pulling a stone towards me. You can still see the cut okay?
Hey Roy, I've definitely got the oal bug now,I cant seem to stop looking at it,buying it,going to lives. I'm down the rabbit hole and can't get back up. And I've learnt so much from your channel so thanks
👏👏👏
Congrats on your win, Nicole! Enjoy the prize! 😀 Nearly lost it to the host of the channel. Haha 😆 Thanks Roy, for the giveaway. Wish i hadn't been so busy, might have remembered to enter it. 🙄 And I'm pretty sure the channel will keep growing, maybe slowly, maybe quickly, but definitely steadily. 👌
Congrats to the winner!!.
Congrats Nicole.. and thank's Roy for your generosity.
Congrats Nic. Thanks for putting it out there Roy. Good on ya
Congratulations.👍
Well done Nicole, congratulations!
Congratulations Nicole
Very interesting reading, I learned a lot!
No worries and have fun with it. Chasing tiny lines can result in nothing most of the time but when it works it is incredible.
theres no other solution? you use the dremel keyless or a chinese copy? my chienese copy were working perfect until yesterday it started wobling, same with the collets the same amount of off center turns
You can prevent it a bit by using a protective lubricant to avoid any corrosion.
@@RoysRocks that dam thing is technically brand new, same with the dremel, the collets are the OG ones and still have wobble ive dissasembled it today and the treaded shaft is off center by 0.5 mm so wwhen you attach a bit it goes 1mm and dremel/bosch wont take it up for a repair at first used some graphite locksmith lubricant but didnt workedeiter
Congratulations
CrowdStrike sounds diabolical. Congrats Nicole!
Epic congratulations and appreciate the info
Congrats! 🎈🎉
Congrats Nicole. Wonderful to know you reach so many countries.
GRATZ!
Congratulations Nichole. You will get much enjoyment from your opals, I'm sure. Thanks Roy for doing the give aways. They make many, very happy. Bit wet, your way, I see. Not much here.
Most stores around here have man-made Opal with real opal prices... I had to order an opal necklace for my niece...that's how I fell in love with opal...
Congratulations Nicole...🎉
Congratulations to the lucky winner. 2x👍 I have some opals from Bohemia its not got much colour (but thats super rare)
Congrats winner
Nice video. Congrats on the new saw! I mostly use the cheapest blades and change them often. (They are only about $8 USD). I do have some sintered ones, but I tend to leave them on the saw (with the water in) and they rust. I treat my saws and the blades very poorly. I should be arrested for abuse - lucky saws don't have fingers ... or phones!
Haha I'm the type of guy to fully clean and disassemble an entire unit each use even if it is only $1. 😂
I've got a few pieces of that stuff, it was clean when I got it in some chips I bought. I've been wondering about it, because it looks like light purple coloured bits of glass. It doesn't have any flash in it at all. Doesn't that make it potch, Roy? I didn't know if it was opal for sure. I have a few mystery stones that people chipped in with the chips I bought. You can tell that they were trying to shape them and then stopped, but they don't look like opal either. Do you know why that opal is purplish? I wonder if it all comes from the same location and if it's all shell pieces? I love these videos! I'm turning 70 shortly and I'm loving this new interest of mine. I haven't had so many questions since I was a kid in primary school, sorry about writing you a book length comment every time I write to you Roy. My doctor says I have ADHD can you imagine that? 😀
I always describe this stuff as purple jelly (much of it can be shell). Its always got a bit of colour to it and it can actually make crazy purple flash doublets (which is about all you can do with it). There are a few mines around Coober Pedy that produce it but certainly some more than others. Haha questions are not a bad thing. Can shorten the time to learn things by a huge amount.
This is fantastic Roy, thanks for sharing your experience, I can't believe how affordable it is. Definitely something I'd consider buying now that I've seen it in action.
Yeah I can recommend them strongly especially for matrix slabbing. I just became reliant on the kindness of others letting me borrow their saws every few months.
have you experienced any problem with the keyless? suddenly all of my bits started wiggling with the keyless or the collets
Hi. Not sure why my replies are not getting through... youtube issues. I use a protective lubricant like WD-40 to make mine last much longer. The springs can corrode quickly due to the water.
@@RoysRocks no water is no problem i dont do anything with stone or glass usually PCB and some light metal work and wood work
Your video. Is too dark to see detail. Am I the only one not able to see this video due to it being too dark?
The entire unit is black or metal. The only parts you need to see are pretty easy to see as they contrast heavily to the black.
Honeycomb wow
It is a little. A strange pattern but pretty interesting.
At 7 minute mark kinda looks like the Matrix
Haha matrix opal straight from The Matrix.
Gday Roy - thanks for this great review of our trim saw. Just to clarify on the blade situation - the thick blade in the package is the original tile blade. We leave it in and you can essentially regard it as a freebie. Keep it to use when you are doing a bathroom or kitchen reno. They will cut stone but with a lot of wastage and the blade is quite coarse. The two blades in the white sleeves are the electroplated and continuous rim blades - both suitable for lapidary work. Re the blade guard - one of your commenters suggested reversing the bolt. As you note, that wont work straight out but if you grind off two edges of the bolt to fit into the recess, then you would be able to reverse it and have the wing nut on opposite side where it doesnt obstruct the reservoir lid. Thank you for your feedback - we appreciate it.
Hi AussieSapphire, I didn't realise you had a youtube channel I'll have to link it in the description. Probably wont use the electroplated like I said in the video but your sintered blade cuts smooth as. I'll have to pick up a few more bits of gear in the future.
Great review. 👍
Thanks man. Lets hope it lasts a while.
Thanks for another great video roy.Was just wondering if you have tried pulsar diamond resin burrs? i only found them online they look good and are a little bit cheaper than nova points.Looking forward trying your ones.
No I only came across them on facebook the other day. Seem to be very similar so probably out of the same factory.
interesting video 2x👍 very handy.
And even better cheap as!
On your first test cut there, I notice it pushes back at you at a high frequency, indicating the outside diameter is not concentric to the spindle. It's not necessarily the case with all cheaper machines, but they can have runout, and the arbor tolerances usually arent that tight. It's possible it's also a balance issue. As a machinist and toolmaker I have a few thoughts on this to share. The more concentric you can get it the better your cuts will be and you'll be less likely to blow chips out on the edge of the cut. If you're like me and this small amount of runout would annoy you (if it doesn't, disregard the rest of this comment :D), there's a few things you can try to reduce or eliminate it . After fitting, run the blade and bring in a workpiece so it just touches. You can mark the high spot, back the nut of slightly, and tap the blade very lightly with a plastic or hide hammer. The lightest of taps. You dont need to move it much. You only want to overcome the friction between the flange and blade and not tap so hard the blade hits the spindle. Another option can be to find something harder than the blade and dress it to concentricity, not an easy option as that usually requires something specialist. You can also just experiment with backing the nut off, rotating the blade a few degrees, and testing it again. Probably the easiest and least risky way of truing it up. I have dial indicators in my kit so that's what I'll use. Probably overkill but thats me. Like I said, I'm a toolmaker, its in my blood to be picky about it. I like taking budget machinery and touching it up to perform better in general as well. Cheaper tooling can be extremely viable with a bit more knowledge and I love to share it.
Good eye. The flange is just slightly off and I can machine another at work if I can be bothered. For all the fairy opal I have to slab up it isn't going to be a problem though.
0.032" = ~0.80mm
Yeah just under a mm
Might have to pick one of these up I think. Their $2100 cabber is also on sale, been dying to get that and do a review video. And they have pay in 4 option. Ugh. Moving house sucks ass. I was meant to be doing all this right now with my tax return but have to move on Monday and move again in 6 months. Cant set up a workshop. Ugggghhhhhhhh it kills me so bad. I just wanna cut and polish my opals.
Life is a pain. Always hindering the opal cutting dreams. One day I hope to set up a proper workshop and maybe get to do this full time.
Good info but I am afraid I can't see much it s all black a bit dark the whole video .I even upped my light to the highest .
Yeah I thought that while editing it but the entire unit is black so not much can be done about it.
I have a wet tile saw but was afraid to use it because I’d heard the speed made it too dangerous. This video has made me feel a lot better about trying it out. Thanks for the demonstration. I’m glad you mentioned water level. I would have likely made a huge mess.
Yeah I prefer 1400rpm but the 3000 really isnt too bad it you take it slow in terms of feeding the stone.
@@RoysRocks kind of like working with a chain saw. Don’t force it, let the blade do the work.
Congrats on the new tool. Having a trim saw makes like soooooo much easier! My first arbor was pretty ancient, but was great because it could be set up with a trim saw on one side and an expandable drum on the other (which is how I had it configured). Was also variable speed, so I could crank up the RPMs when using saw.
I've seen those and they seem like smart units. Variable speed is a nice feature.
Can you reverse the wing nut to the other side so you can open that side of the top you want? Can't tell from video but could be a solution - do it all the time with gold sluices
Nah the guard clip only has the nut retention on one side. With a washer and a longer bolt it could be done but would look a tad odd.
if youcan turn the wing nut/bolt around that may give you the the gap you need to open the cover?....Best of all to you and yours.....Be well and be safe...........🦜
Nah the guard clip only has the nut retention on one side. With a washer and a longer bolt it could be done but would look a tad odd.
Definitely looks good for those smaller required cuts in shaping.
It'll be much faster than doing it with the dremel disc thats for sure.
Thanks Roy. Where did you purchase it from? I'm really interested in learning more about them all. Greetings to all opalites, out there. 😊
Aussie Sapphire, I forgot to put a link in the description. They seem like a good company.
I really enjoyed this one because I have been thinking about getting a wet tile saw and I wasn't sure if they're good enough to cut stones. I had a weird question come into my head as I watched you with the blade. I have seen videos where people somehow used the side of their saw blade to grind stones into ovals after they cut them. But I am wondering if you could adapt the trim saw into a flat lap? With different discs and even a polishing pad?
Yes and no. It can be done with some adjustment if there is enough room to get a master lap on the arbor and the arbor + motor is strong enough to handle the grinding. For a vertical flat lap you are better off mounting a motor and designing a shroud to contain the lap. Also better to be a bit slower like 1400 rpm.