Cutting large opals takes some time and effort. In this video Justin goes through the process once the stone has been rubbed into a rough shape.
He starts on the 360 grit diamond wheel and then progresses to a 600 grit soft nova wheel then a 1200 grit until he ends up on the felt wheel with cerium oxide.
Along the way he shares some tips and tricks when cutting such a large stone.
It’s a long video at over 20 minutes but an excellent one to sit down and really study as you get to see exactly what Justin does when cutting. How he moves the stone around the wheels and the intricacies of shaping and doming such a large stone can surely translate to cutting smaller gems as well.
So grab a cup of tea, coffee – even a beer and enjoy the video!
Watching you cut this stone, How difficult is it to bead these stones. It would seem it would take a very long time and the cost would be great due to the time involved.