Post subject: opaqueish ORANGE stone/mineral needed for inlay art
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 1:14 am
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Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2019 3:45 pm Posts: 17
I am doing inlay work and have acquired roughly 300 different stones/minerals of various colors and shades but have had an incredibly difficult time finding orange material. I do small scale highly intricate inlay art work. I usually cut the stones to ~2-3mm thick and am dealing with artwork that overall is less then 10" x 10" with the individual stones being smaller then a grain of rice up to roughly 2.5"x1" for the largest. Because the pieces are cut so thin, I need them to be mostly opaque though it doesn't need to be perfect. Usually I prefer fine grain texture like a chert or jasper or common opal but it doesn't need to be perfect. I've had an incredibly difficult time finding opaque orange shades of stone with fine grain. I have Moroccan seam agate that has a small section I can slice small pieces of orange from and I also have some small opaque orange agates from China sometimes referred to as warring states agate. However, both these are very small. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on stones I could get slightly larger that are mostly opaque when cut at 2-3mm and orange? I know they exist because I have seen arrowheads knapped from an orange jasper referred to as southern Hardin found in Prentiss county Mississippi but I don't know where to get orange pieces of this material. I have also seen carvings from Manfred Wild that are of a pig that are orange from material referred to as Eosite that used to be mined in India and is now called Wulfrenite according to Manfred but I have never seen this material like what Manfred used. I have seen some mostly opaque orange fire agate from Mexico but I've never gotten my hands on it. Additionally older baltic butterscotch amber sometimes referred to as antique amber sometimes developed a nice orange patina but its usually only on the surface so I cannot slice it. If anyone has suggestions I would greatly appreciate this. Thanks
Post subject: Re: opaqueish ORANGE stone/mineral needed for inlay art
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 4:40 pm
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Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:58 pm Posts: 1424 Location: San Marcos, CA
As stated already coral is good choice, conch shell and the common opal found with the mining of Fire opal. Condor agates can have some shades of orange, but agate so translucency may be apparent based on saturation in the individual nodules. I have seen some Imperial jaspers that have swayed to the orangish side of a cream colored base, also some Arizona petrified woods, although not easily obtainable anymore. I have recently seen some videos on YouTube of a rock hunter in Indonesia that finds some very unique colored and formations of jaspers. You may reach out and see if any of it can be had. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv78izq9ksmzQVsD_-7URsg I have a contact that has direct access to like materials shown in this image, as far as in a massive form not likely, your more than welcome to contact me offsite. These are nodules of under 3/4 of an inch.
Post subject: Re: opaqueish ORANGE stone/mineral needed for inlay art
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2021 5:05 am
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Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2019 3:45 pm Posts: 17
Barbra Voltaire, FGG wrote:
Have you considered angel skin coral?
Yes I have considered angle skin coral and this this is a good suggestion for smaller pieces. I've had trouble getting my hands on angle skin though. I have other shades of coral through, pink through deep red.
Post subject: Re: opaqueish ORANGE stone/mineral needed for inlay art
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2021 5:11 am
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Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2019 3:45 pm Posts: 17
abeck wrote:
Also fire opal, sunstone, spiny oyster shell, some types of moonstone...
I have spiny oyster shell already, was not aware of orange moonstone and will certainly look into it. I would love to find the opaque common fire opal but I've been unable to get my hands on any. I know it exists as I have seen a video of them mining the gem quality fire opal and they were throwing the opaque orange stuff around with no care in the world for it.
I just went though all of my orange stones and the only ones I didn't see mentioned were hessonite, amber and Madeira citrine, but they are probably not what you want due to other post as they are primarily transparent. I have some carnelian (untreated) and jaspers that are something approaching that deep orange red you want, but it's a hit or miss proposition. Most natural untreated carnelian only has that red color on the outside; the deeper you go the paler it gets. Jasper's color will run through the stone. My red jade piece is more of a brownish red and not that vibrant, but good luck finding any. I had to look for years to find one piece of red jade.
I advise that you go to a gem and mineral show and look around. I have many peachy colored stones; quartzite-type, moonstones and of course Mexican opals. The opals are pretty small; I wouldn't want to try to slab them. I got mine as a child in Mexico at train stops to Mexico City; haven't really seen many for sale since except in Tucson a few years ago. You need to shop around.
Post subject: Re: opaqueish ORANGE stone/mineral needed for inlay art
Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2021 3:14 pm
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Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2019 3:45 pm Posts: 17
Thanks Debbie and everyone else. I was not aware of orange conch and that probably is the best option. I have used the standard pink before but had no idea there were varieties that were orange. I'm going to keep my eye out for some of the opaque orange fire common opal as well.
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