Alan Morrison
Member
I was sent a couple of samples of lab opal and have been seeing how to incorporate it into a pen. Here's a couple of tries. One of the samples was only 1mm thick which can be spotted sandwiched between some ebony.
A new medium for me
- Thread starter Alan Morrison
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Humongous
Member
Love the blue Alan. Very nice material and turning of course.
Woodchipper
Member
Elegant! Where did you get the lab opal? How was it to turn?
Alan Morrison
Member
The opal comes from a lab in Germany.
Alan Morrison
Member
I turned it with carbide with no problems.
JGordon
Member
So you bought the block and crushed it yourself, or did you buy it pre-crushed? How expensive did it become once you factored in exchange and shipping?
The pens look fantastic!
The pens look fantastic!
Alan Morrison
Member
John, I cut a couple of slices off the block and laminated them into a slice of timber to make a blank, glued them, squared the blank and turned as normal. No crushing required.
The material I used were samples so no cost to me, however if you check their website you will find that it's not cheap.
I believe that the vendor also sells on Etsy under 'Aurora Opals'.
Alan
sorcerertd
Member
Sparkly! I like it!
For those asking, EB has sold this for a while now. Turner's Warehouse has it, too. It's not cheap no matter where you get it, though. I've been wanting to do some inlay, but have so many other projects and ideas that I can't justify making the investment until I clear some stuff out. Now if the supplier wants to give me some samples...
For those asking, EB has sold this for a while now. Turner's Warehouse has it, too. It's not cheap no matter where you get it, though. I've been wanting to do some inlay, but have so many other projects and ideas that I can't justify making the investment until I clear some stuff out. Now if the supplier wants to give me some samples...
KateHarrow
Member
I've been considering ordering some for the last several weeks. You may have convinced me
Alan Morrison
Member
I am only aware of EB or TW selling crushed opal, not in block form. I have seen entire pens made from the block.
sorcerertd
Member
That would definitely be a pricey pen. @ed4copies had/has a cast blank with the crushed opal. Pretty sure that's what it was. Maybe we'll get to see that eventually?