Opal Inlay

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Kenny Durrant

Kenny Durrant

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Joined
Sep 11, 2012
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Sachse Tx. 75048
This was double cast and double turned. I picked up the inlay material from Woodcraft. It says that the Opal is cultured. I played with some crushed turquoise and this is just as hard. I cast a pearl white blank for another project that didn't work out so I thought I'd try this. I painted the tube white and cast with Alumilite Clear Slow using a white pearl powder. I turned the blank close to the bushings and cut out the center of the blank. I then painted the bare tube black. I used epoxy to glue the opal then put it back in the mold and cast with the same resin only keeping it clear. When turning it the second time I started hitting the opal. That's when I noticed it was pretty hard. I put the tools aside and started using 80 grit sandpaper. I was able to sand to the bushings and shape it with ease. I have enough of this color to make another one but want to think about some changes. Although I'm pleased with this first go round there's a few things I don't like. There's too much black showing under the opal. When gluing it up I made a point to cover it all. I guess the stone was coarse enough that when I turned it down to size it opened up the tube. I also don't like the black ring the paint left. I have some white opal that I'll cast a black blank and paint the base for the opal white. Maybe the ring and tube won't be so noticeable. Also casting the opal made it super easy to finish. With the turquoise I used CA. When finishing it there were several voids I had to fill to get a smooth finish. Since I cast the opal there were no bubbles or voids to fill. I'm not sure what plating I want so this is just a finished barrel. Questions and Comments Welcome.
 

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Love the look. Again another technique that is different. Have to love seeing things like this. So many things we can do to enhance our pens. Thanks for showing.
 
It may not have been your intent, but looking at the end result I think it's pretty strong. I like the contrast of the black against the white and it appears that the black really helps the opal pop.

I wonder how it would pair with a black titantiam/chrome kit
 
Lew said:
I love what you've done with the opal. I've worked with it before and it really adds a lot of color. Nice job. It will be interesting to see the end result.
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Thanks Lew. A friend gave me some turquoise to play with and it opened up a new world for me. The first turquoise was a powder and by the time I was done you couldn't really tell it was stone. I had some coarser stone and really liked the looks of it. After that I got to looking around and there's a ton of different types and colors of this inlay material. Not too sure if turning and casting twice is less work than filling the voids with CA but doing it this way seemed to be easier for me. A big positive was not having to worry about cleaning out the sanding dust before adding CA to fill a void. I'm pretty good at missing some and ending up with a white spot in the blank.
 
Kenny Durrant said:
Thanks Lew. A friend gave me some turquoise to play with and it opened up a new world for me. The first turquoise was a powder and by the time I was done you couldn't really tell it was stone. I had some coarser stone and really liked the looks of it. After that I got to looking around and there's a ton of different types and colors of this inlay material. Not too sure if turning and casting twice is less work than filling the voids with CA but doing it this way seemed to be easier for me. A big positive was not having to worry about cleaning out the sanding dust before adding CA to fill a void. I'm pretty good at missing some and ending up with a white spot in the blank.
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Do you have a source for different stones you would care to share? Thanks.
 
I wouldn't say I have a source. I saw the one used at Woodcraft and there's several different ones on EBay. I was just looking to see what's all available and not a cheaper or better deal.
 
derekdd said:
Really beautiful work, Kenny.

Your work never fails to impress and always makes me smile.

I hope all is well in N TX.
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Thank You Derek. Sometimes I even amaze myself! Ha Ha. It's all good here as of now. The high today is 68 with high tomorrow of 70!!! The lows are in the high 30s to low 40s. We've had a couple of cold days and one 2 day period of snow and ice. Not bad for winter. I'm expecting another cold snap. It usually happens the first of February. I don't know why you guys up north can't keep it up there. The only bad thing about mild winters means a great year for all the bugs/ pests. Enough rambling and Take Care. Thanks Again for all the kind words.
 
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