Opal Information

The Ordinary Bloke’s Guide to Opal Cutting and Polishing – Part 2

Info box: Well, really there is no such thing as an ‘ordinary’ person. we are all unique and we all have our skills that differ from someone else. However if you want to learn opal cutting and show off some of your work, or use it as money saving gifts… read on.

By Peter Brusaschi
So you are an ordinary “bloke” or “guy” or “gal” as the Americans would put it!! Maybe you’re not so ordinary. Maybe you know a lot more about the gem industry than I do. Maybe you are an expert opal cutter with years of experience. Whoever you are, it doesn’t really matter. If Len Cram reads this book, he’ll probably say to himself…”Brusaschi, ya don’t know what ya talking about!” That’s why I’m going to give it to the old expert himself to read before I publish a book. In the meantime it can stay on CD.
After cutting opals for about 30 years, one day an old bloke walked into the Opal Miner’s Hut and said: “How do you “dop” an opal?” After a lengthy description of the traditional heated sealing wax method, he said “That’s a bit of a long winded way of doing it!!” I swallowed my pride and listened to his simple suggestion. His idea revolutionized my thinking of this procedure and caused me to create new, easier, and inexpensive methods of cutting opals.
What is learned from an experience like that is that we don’t stop learning no matter how much you think we know about a subject. From my experience in life, the danger in being an “expert” is that we can become tunnel visioned in our approach to things. No matter how much experience one has had, there is always someone else who may disagree and have a better idea. If you have a better idea than I have expressed, please tell me. My ears are flapping!
Having said that, I believe what is needed to work the stone, and gain tremendous satisfaction out of producing a gem, is a little common sense and ability to work with your hands. Most of us started off without the valuable experience recorded in this book or CD, so if you read it carefully, in just a short time, you should accomplish what it took the author ten years and thousands of dollars worth of mistakes to find out.
I must also state that I have a few reasons for writing this book. First, it’s the only book I have ever written or am likely to write,. so it’s a good challenge. Secondly it will hopefully make more people aware of this magnificent stone, and get much pleasure out of either cutting it, dealing in it, or both. And thirdly it may encourage more people to buy it and help all the people including myself and the rest of the battling opal miners in Lightning Ridge and other fields to sell more opal.
I think that the more people know about opal, the more opal will be bought and sold. Then everyone will be making a better living. That is why the book or CD does not just tell you about opal itself, but later lets you know how other people feel about the stone and what you can do to turn it into a business.
You can only get a certain amount of help out of books. The rest is left up to practice. You have to experience the feeling of stones popping off dop sticks to learn how to avoid it. If you want to give yourself a kick start, why not join a lapidary club for a while. If you want to see if there is a club in your area, please check: http://www.lapidaryjournal.com/archive/clubs.cfm If you do this however, take this tip from a person who has had a lot to do with all sorts of gemstones apart from opal over the past thirty years. In my opinion it’s better to learn the art of cabochon cutting rather than facet cutting for the following reasons: [to be continued]

Resource box:

Name of author: Peter Brusaschi [ Jewelry designer name, ‘Brusacci]
Web address: www.opalmine.com
International opal authority. Unique methods of opal cutting and polishing as well as creating your own lapidary machinery at a very low cost. Agent for the only accurate computerized system of opal valuation in the world [that we know of]. If you are serious about your hobby or want to become a professional, please ask for our free report by clicking on www.opalmine.com Suppliers of rough, cut, and jewelry-set opal from the Australian opal fields, for the last 35 years.
Read other short stories by this author http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Peter_Brusaschi
Moves by the same author:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=opalmine&search_type=

Radio, or other interviews with the author, use the email address above or phone: [Australia] 614 1495 0914 [please email first as I am often out of reach at the opal mines]