Can you match it...???

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robutacion

robutacion

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Joined
Aug 6, 2009
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Hi Peoples,

I've just received an email from a good friend asking me if I could make a PR casting batch of pen blanks, to match the Opal stone pic he sent me.

As soon as I open the pic, I knew straight away, no way jose, I don't think that is even doable. I don't like to say impossible, I prefer to say, things sometimes will require a greater degree of difficulty, as there are no impossibles. Well, that has been a very fine line I've balanced myself on, most times but this time, my answer was, sorry no way...!:frown:

I know that many of you, like myself, like a challenge so, my question to you is, can you match the opal in the pic with any casting resin, into pen blanks...???

There will be no payment for trials, only successful matches will be considered...!

So, what do you're reckon...!:biggrin:

Good luck, seriously...!:)

Cheers
George
 

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Looks like a fourteen color mix....awesome, can't wait for the entries to be shown. Pretty sure the 'failures' would be A+ anyway!!



Scott (watching this one) B
 
I could probably match it for color but, certainly not pattern. I've done many blanks that were very similar for a gentleman that wanted the brightest blank possible.
If I had some resin... I would attempt it.
 
Black opal? Many colors.
I dont cast but the only way I see that being made it to cast a couple blanks with 2-3 colors then smashing them up and putting them back in the mold with another 2-3 color mix as the main color.
Could look really nice. I know a few people that have Opal as their birth stone.
 
That is a fantastic stone! I've rockhounded and done some polishing before, and hung around with people that did a lot more than me, but I've never seen anything remotely like that. Is it from Coober Pedy? I've always heard that the very best stuff doesn't make it out of the local area, and that makes me suspect that it is true.

You MIGHT find somebody that can duplicate the static mix of colors that are in a pic of the cab, but I'm willing to bet nothing on earth will match the movement and degree of color shift that you get if you actually hold that stone and move it a little in direct light.
 
Since you would want a relatively transparent blank anyway,
what if you did some kind of camouflage interior paint job.

That might let you use fewer colors in your pour but create the impression of lots of colors - and it would help make the colors shift as you changed the light.

I'm thinking "drill hole, put a color on small paint brush, randomly smear around part of inside of blank. Repeat until entire inside of blank is painted. Glue in tube." If you really thinned your paint and did semi-translucent layers you might end up with a wild effect.
 
I've thought of trying a pen out of imitation opal ...... The best looking imitation opal I've seen is from Kyocera Corporation in Japan. They only sell through distributors. My company got some samples through Sanwa Pearl ..... My boss came home from a trip to Asia several years ago with a hunk of it about 4 x 6 x 1" that I thought would make wonderful pens. Cost is still about $2 a gram. Check out the pictures (which of course don't show the fire in the opals.)
Sanwa Pearl & Gems Ltd in Hong Kong is one of the world's largest dealers of synthetic opal:
http://www.sanwapearl.com.hk/category.php?mid=1-7-23
 
Hi everyone,

Great ideas, great suggestions and certainly some good links...!:wink:

I think those Buzz's blanks aren't that bad either...!:biggrin:

I cannot say from where this stone come from, as I don't know, I need to ask but, I don't doubt for a second that some of the nicest opals are "snatched" before they go far from the mine...!:mad:

I will pass on this Forum link to my friend so that he can see its progress and suggestion/links/etc...!

Keep those ideas coming/suggestions, the more the better...!

Thanks.

Cheers
George
 
Dawn is working with Dicrotic (SP) glass. It has some of similar properties to the color shift. Check with her. Using some very small pieces suspended in say a transparent blue pr just might come close. Just an idea. Dawn?
Charles
 
George,

To use language you would understand I think your whistling Dixie sunshine if you think others should bust their boiler for small reward simply to satisfy a friends request.

An Opal like that could cost thousands (my experience every black opal of that fiery quality) they dont grow on trees you know. Stone the Crows how much does he value the stone at?

Now letting my fingers do the walking have a gander at the site Opals on black.com. Where they make inlays of normal and rock opal with fire in them encapsulate these in small pieces in crystal clear cast and you could get complimentary cast pens.Look at John U,s Pau shell creations using shell from Toni in NZ. Settle for practical or be a devil and request chips of black fire opal to cast a batch of pens, perhaps settling for a fiery piece in each pen. Cut your cloth to suit the occasion.

Have a yarn with Simomatra who successfully placed opal in the top of a pen then told us how to photograph it to give back the colour.

Examine boulder opal, do the exercise, the hard yards, scratch the surface of the gem industry then the precious stone industry for tiny reject pieces, offcuts. Cast a pen I know you cast mutts right now, show us what your made of he is your friend, make him a friend for life sharing true costs as you go.

Have fun mate I know you love a challenge.

Kind regards Peter.
 
The opal cabachon in your picture is probably a doublet. There are probably two matching cabs with a piece of reflective mylar between them. Good opal is transparent and it only looks good with light passing through it. If it were a simple single cab there would be no back source of light. What jewelers do is to sandwich highly reflective mylar between the cabs so it picks up and reflects light as if it were back lit.

I would try a similar approach. Wrap the tube in mylar and cast it in a resin saver, or whatever method you use for tube castings. For the resin I would chop up small piecs of multiple bright colored transparent scraps, put them in a tumbler for a few hours to round off the edges, and mix them with some fresh resin that is dark but transparent to serve as the matrix, put some pearl mica in the fresh resin as well.

I haven't done it, and it will be a while before I have time to give it a try, but with a few experiments I think it has a fair chance of working out.

BTW: Real opal scraps and smalls are cheap, you could do the same thing with tumbled real opal scraps if you were careful to pick out nice colors. However, real opal has about the same moisture content as poorely dried wood. I would be concerned that it would shrink over time. Even though it is light weight and full of moisture it doesn't tool easily, it would be a challenge to turn the real opal scraps without having them pop out of the matrix.
 
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pwhay said:
George,

To use language you would understand I think your whistling Dixie sunshine if you think others should bust their boiler for small reward simply to satisfy a friends request.

An Opal like that could cost thousands (my experience every black opal of that fiery quality) they dont grow on trees you know. Stone the Crows how much does he value the stone at?

Now letting my fingers do the walking have a gander at the site Opals on black.com. Where they make inlays of normal and rock opal with fire in them encapsulate these in small pieces in crystal clear cast and you could get complimentary cast pens.Look at John U,s Pau shell creations using shell from Toni in NZ. Settle for practical or be a devil and request chips of black fire opal to cast a batch of pens, perhaps settling for a fiery piece in each pen. Cut your cloth to suit the occasion.

Have a yarn with Simomatra who successfully placed opal in the top of a pen then told us how to photograph it to give back the colour.

Examine boulder opal, do the exercise, the hard yards, scratch the surface of the gem industry then the precious stone industry for tiny reject pieces, offcuts. Cast a pen I know you cast mutts right now, show us what your made of he is your friend, make him a friend for life sharing true costs as you go.

Have fun mate I know you love a challenge.

Kind regards Peter.
Click to expand...

G'day Peter,

My "whistling Dixie sunshine" has been a little over casted lately, no boilers need to burst, definition of reward is a little problematic, and I do "anything" for a friend...!:wink::biggrin:

I don't really know much about Opals, nor I had the chance yet to find out if he owns the stone, where it come from and its value, which in this case is totally irrelevant, really...!:)

Actually, my "gems" do grow in trees, you know...???:wink:

Hahahahah, I suppose the best way I have, to cut my cloth to suit the occasion, is to do exactly that, bring the subject/issue/request to those with a better knowledge and techniques on acrylics/resins, than myself...!:rolleyes:

Interestingly, my first reaction/response I had to my friends' request was to reply, saying that, the request/possibility is beyond me as I don't really want to enter too deep into opals, synthetic replicas/imitations and casting products/techniques that could, satisfy my friend's request. In fact, he didn't ask me to ask anyone else, I was the one to say to him that I knew of a place where he could have better results, reason why I asked the question in here.

My modest nature, does have no problems to admit/accept that, in the resin casting world, there are a "few" among us that, are a lot more capable/experience/talented than me.

And you are so right, I don't really mind a challenge, and I rarely turn them down, or "pass on the buck" to someone else, if is anything I've learn as I get older is, one doesn't have to accept/act/react-upon/follow through every challenge sent your way, particularly if you feel that, you don't need to prove anything to anyone, anymore...!:wink::biggrin:

That my friend, was a lesson that I didn't take kindly but, by doing so, I feel a lot better about myself.:)

As a friend, I disappointed my friend but, I'm giving my friend the best possible chances to get his request fulfilled. Offering the opportunity to our members, I'm not only sharing the challenge, as I'm of no greedy nature, but also acknowledging publicly that I believe, some here are better at it (resin mixing effects) than myself, that is what I call, modesty and honesty or in another words, being truthful to myself.

Once upon a time, my response/reaction would be a lot "different", even tough, the "fire" still burning but, I learn the tame it, (sometimes)...! :wink::):biggrin:

Hahahah, I wonder what my friend is thinking if is reading this thread link I sent him yesterday, I haven't heard from him today, nor I have the answer to some of the questions I put to him myself but, I wonder if, to my friend this issue is that important to him, or is me, trying my best to satisfy a friends' request...!, I wonder...!:confused:

We learn and live, I've already learn something new in this thread, you can actually buy legally synthetic imitation stones, great stuff to expand ideas without dealing with the real and expansive stuff, thanks...!:wink:

Best regards
George
 
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Hi George,

I have a friend here in my area who makes 10,000 to 20,000 dollar value document boxes who has used different Opals ie Rock and others in his boxes. Sometimes he uses gold that he finds himself in one box he carved a nugget of gold to hold the key entry into a box. If I may include one or two pics my other thought you have such outstanding timbers you could consider boxes to display his opals. Trust you also followed up on my pm re Pen Cast Blanks from Australia that reflect the colours of different Opal. Thanks for your explanation of your desire to help a mate, I can understand that more clearly now, especially your ideas of people showing you synthetic Opal products etc. The box pic taken some years ago of a box made from 150 yr old wardrobe door in Australian Red cedar with the lock entry a nugget of gold. The interior lined with Egyptian Leather. I can introduce you to the maker who has used both Rock and Boulder Opal.

Have success.

Kind regards Peter.
 

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Thanks for your reply Peter...!

There is one thing that I believe, you haven't yet understood, in regards to the opals/stones issues, something that I have already mentioned a couple of times, and the primary reason why I didn't take the challenge, of creating (or close to) what my friend required and inquired about, there is, I don't have any interest in precious stones, apart from liking to look at some pretty ones.

The stone issue has never sucked me in, and I worked in remote areas known to be rich of them and gold (nuggets), that's one of those things that you either interested in or you not, I'm in the later category.

I may would have reacted differently if the request was to come up with a mix that would match a particular rare species of wood. The problems I would confront with the resin mixing, techniques and colour variations, would be very identical as those for the Opal/stone synthetic matching but, I may have seen it with a different interest and enthusiasm, something that I don't have with stones of any kind...! sorry.:frown:

Who ever made that box, knows a few things about woodwork and fine decorations, no doubt, even tough I can't imagine who would pay such amount for document boxes or boxes of any nature but, what do I know...???

Long time ago, I did antique furniture restoration and true replicas of pieces that were no longer in any condition for restoration or salvaging in any way shape or form some pieces were stored in under ground cellars, and discovered when they were a pile of dust but in certain families, pictures or drawing did exist of those pieces, and that was what I used to restore badly damaged pieces or replicated the ones that were sawdust.

One of the things that I asked to do all the time was, chest boxes, all sort of game boxes, boxes to protect antique and fragile items, jewelery boxes, and all sorts of other very "Porsche" wooden boxes, made with rare, unique and very expensive woods. These had to be finished, the timber normally in French polish and the insides with all sorts of materials such as lather, animal skin (furs), velvet, Oriental Satin, etc., etc. Some had inlays of elephant ivory and other stuff from Africa, I do not recall many that sold for more than $2.000 and 1 I recall that reached close to $5.000, ok that was so, years back tough...!:)

I don't do them any more nor I have the equipment now to do it but, I have always though of the box makers when I'm cutting my woods and as a result I make little bundles and list them on my eBay store, all the time and every so often I sell a pack.
Your friend is most welcome to have a look and see if is anything there that fancy him, or ask for anything in particular...!:wink::biggrin:

You mention about me, following your PM re Pen Cast Blanks from Australia but, I have not received such PM so I can't comment...!

Cheers
George
 
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George and Ken,

The same reference bloke one of the best also a mate of mine, honest as the day is long has impeccable tastes in timber as well as everything he is involved in.

Regards to you both Peter.
 
Peter and Ken,

Thank you, I have bought from this shop before but I didn't realize of his acrylic blanks collection, just amazing stuff.

Peter, do you know if he makes the blanks himself or someone else...???

My friend will be looking at this link, for sure...!

Cheers
George
 
George,

Last time Bruce and I were together his display was stock of several hundreds of different blanks arranged in groups my understanding he does them himself, remarkable all named ones of the same name ie look alike to me with small variations, best give him a call to confirm. I fell for the milk opal one and several others, perfectly poured and I freely confess to preferring timber as a norm.

Have success mate.

Peter.
 
Hi peoples,

I've decided to check-out on this thread and see it anyone has tried to cast a few pen blanks samples to imitate/replicate the Opal.

The interesting thing is that since I received that first email from my friend, I did send him this thread link and some other updates but, I never did have any reply...!:eek:

A few more emails and some attempts to call him didn't succeed so I waited and waited and than forgot all about it...!:redface: Last week when I finally got my new supply of PR, powders, etc., I though in try an idea that did form in my head when all this started but then I realize that I would need something else, and was too late to order and get until all the Easter holiday days, were over and up here, that meant until the 27/4:mad:.

Anyway, not that would make much difference as last 21/4, when I got the new PR batch (5 gallon drum) I manage to make some pours but than I got sick which I though was something new they added in the PR but turned out to be coincidental as what I got what the mother of all Flues, that has been knocking my socks off since and I'm not any better still a week after it all started. I saw the doctor yesterday and I'm now on antibiotics, feeling like sh..! seriously:mad: My wife Merissa is now also infected but not as bad as me so far...!(touch wood...!:wink:)

I've got what I needed today and obviously, all this issue comeback to me so I have been trying to locate this friend of mine that is really a "free bird", one minute here the next is gone...! Is not the first time he disappear without trace until he returns as anything has ever happened and say, "Oh, I just felt like going for a trip overseas...!!!:eek:" He is not married so, he's free as a bird...!

I betchya, he done it again, he will be somewhere on the other side of the planet, enjoying himself and do what he always does, tell nothing to no one and become uncontactable...!:biggrin: Oh well, no surprises there...!:wink::)

So, and while this friend is running-a-muck, I will be trying something as soon as I feel like moving out of this chair. Is it going to work...??? maybe yes :), maybe not :frown:, will see...!

In the mean time, if any of you has something to show us, please don't be shy...!

Cheers
George
 
Hi everyone,

Even feeling sick as a dog with this nasty Flue I caught, I just had to do something about my idea, now that I had all the materials I needed, so I though...!

Anyway, the process itself is not new, in fact, very used in recent times by many other people, so nothing exciting there. The idea/execution was what I had to try and see if it had any chances to produce a pen blank identical to the opal.

It did work OK, but there is lots of room for improvement, something that will make the process even easier and more accurate for sure. I have identified a couple of these improvements very early on, I just didn't have what I needed but I know they are readily available in most hardware stores.

My intention was to do a single test, only, regardless of the results, and note any problems/situations that could be easily voided/improved. I've done that and without making more tests I wont be able to use the improved materials and systems to get a much better match to the Opal.

However, the poor results from this test, could be already usable no doubt but a lot better is possible.

I wasn't going to get too involved with castings, that could reproduce the Opal look/effect but, If I had to skin this cat, this is how I would do it...!

Put the barrel on a Sierra EB - Plat/Blk Tinanium, just for the pics, I will have it dismantle, and get a new tube for it later...!

So, what do you thing...???

If there is any interest, I can detail the steps, the suggestions for improvement and possible materials to use, as the principal would apply for a endless numbers of other designs...! Let me know...!

Cheers
George
 

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