Ben
Member
Here is my latest and greatest... It is a HUGE bodied Cigar pen in Chrome, made with Lilac root burl and you guessed it OPALS! Lots of Opals to be exact.
This wood has a lot of voids in it where a colony of carpenter ants had made their home for years... I wanted to try and fill it before turning, in hopes that I'd save it without any chance of blowouts. Needless to say, after my first experience with opals(the are heck on the tools because they are so dang hard) I knew it would be a challenge.
I wanted to include some of the detail shots of the stones for y'all to see as well. As with my first attempt at opals, these ones are the ones that I mined in Virgin Valley NV.
This is a HUGE pen. I don't think that I've ever seen such a large cigar pen, but I really wanted to show off these beautiful little rainbows. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy.
These next 2 photos show off just how remarkable these little stones can be. In the first shot, you get to see the "Green Fire", and in the next shot you can see the "Blue Fire" on the same stone! It all depends on how the light it hitting it. These little things are pretty amazing!
Here is a shot of a void in the burl that was "filled" to look as much like natural "boulder opal" as possible. The flashes of fire didn't really come out in this shot, but you can get the basic idea.
And last but not least is a smaller one that has every color in the prism in it! It goes from red all the way to violet even though the pic barely shows it... There are 3 other spots on the pen that have inlays,(including the largest) but I figured this was enough to show off the general idea. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think...
Take care,
Ben
This wood has a lot of voids in it where a colony of carpenter ants had made their home for years... I wanted to try and fill it before turning, in hopes that I'd save it without any chance of blowouts. Needless to say, after my first experience with opals(the are heck on the tools because they are so dang hard) I knew it would be a challenge.
I wanted to include some of the detail shots of the stones for y'all to see as well. As with my first attempt at opals, these ones are the ones that I mined in Virgin Valley NV.
This is a HUGE pen. I don't think that I've ever seen such a large cigar pen, but I really wanted to show off these beautiful little rainbows. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy.
These next 2 photos show off just how remarkable these little stones can be. In the first shot, you get to see the "Green Fire", and in the next shot you can see the "Blue Fire" on the same stone! It all depends on how the light it hitting it. These little things are pretty amazing!
Here is a shot of a void in the burl that was "filled" to look as much like natural "boulder opal" as possible. The flashes of fire didn't really come out in this shot, but you can get the basic idea.
And last but not least is a smaller one that has every color in the prism in it! It goes from red all the way to violet even though the pic barely shows it... There are 3 other spots on the pen that have inlays,(including the largest) but I figured this was enough to show off the general idea. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think...
Take care,
Ben
] Great job and I love those opal inlays.
