The black swirl def looked awesome. Really illustrative of why Opal cutters are so insistent upon the “black body tone” which is why lightning ridge black opals are worth so much more than clear crystal Opals
I have a good bit of...well bits and spare crystal opal. Doublet material and jars full of Crystal bits (andamooka, LR, and Queensland), Coober Pedy bits (white), dark crystal lightning ridge bits, very bright and sits very well over treated andamooka matrix bits, sandstoney type (fairy opal) and also dark iron colored body tone koroit (yowah) opal bits with plenty rainbow lightning bolts running through them 🌈 😬 this paired with the bright crystal opal bits inside a floating opal is a eye pleaser! I also have tons of other material to play with. To name a few. Gulf oyster, I'm from louisiana and shucked oysters for a period and kept a few shells that stuck out. Not your typical white shell. They have great dark tones, reds purples and golds and a id say with a digital army camo mother of pearl pattern along with tons of pearls. Various shells. Abalone and what not. Right now I'm working on a pendant sliced spiral snail shell inlayed with some top grade welo I had collecting dust. The backing is purple heart, which I have a variety of nice slices of around 12 different exotic woods, which I use for various projects, built my dad a lamp and charging station for his phone came out better than expected. nice cheap bid on eBay. Score! This gave me an idea between using a piece of solid opal crystal or perhaps a thick doublet joined to a piece of boulder rough. Veiny koroit should do, via epoxy resin with some crushed glow in the dark phosphorus mixed in. Then cut (rectangle) or carved and inlayed into a slice of inlayed wood for a border then set in a pendant mount. Nice little process but should make a nice gift for someone. Enough rambling. Time to eat me a bit 😬 of food, then back to the opals.
@@Roboboy17 I haven't actually had a chance to. XD Things got hard last yera so didn't get a chance to buy as much in the way of resin supplies. Though I did make a cute set of dice for my SIL for her druid with dried lavender in from my garden :)
Such a great idea. As a guitar maker I will definitely be trying this for inlay work. Love the idea of potentially pouring it directly into the CNC cut inlay recesses on a fretboard.
I've been playing with this over a year in my paintings. I finally have a really good opal effect. The trick is not to mix it in the resin (or paint for me) but to have multiple layers of textured surfaces that you rub the powder onto. You also need the gold interference and a good colorshift powder. I use Riddler from Didspade (teal green to purple shift). You might also want to try a gold to red shift from there too. Good luck!
@@YesItsTom2U I'd also like to see your finished product if you don't mind! I'm trying to plan a cast and I'd love any ideas to make it better. I'll msg you my email
Hi Zac. Boy you got close to capturing the real Opal. I am a retired Manufacturing jeweler and have set many Opals. I might suggest after watching you in your great artistic talents maybe add a little very small white flake and a littler less interference for a different look. Some common Opal is slightly transparent. Thanks for all you hard work.
Has been talking about doing a project for my wife lately. She has asked me to produce a custom home theater speaker set. I've been dabbling with the idea of coating the sheet of wood that I make the boxes out of in epoxy and doing a stone effect, but then I seen this. Initially my wife stated that she wanted a white marble effect on the speakers, but having seen this and knowing how much she loves mother-of-pearl you've just enabled me to surprise my wife thank you.
Your original cast was attractive and I'm sure it would accent some projects nicely. I will say though, the last one you showed with the black makes it go from good to great. That contrast makes everything pop in such a bold but elegant way. Nicely done 👍
I cannot thank you enough for this video! I have SO many ideas! Ill be making my disabled mother a opal lap tray as a gift for xmas foremost. Thanks again!
That's awesome. Exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to do mother of pearl inlays in my home made pool table. Now I can just chisel the diamonds about 3/16" deep and pour your recipe right into the cavities. With this information, I may just do some abalone mix inlay around the table perimeter like the fretboard inlays on my guitar. Thanks for sharing.
OMG! The color matches my true pearl earrings. I'm a little hesitant on the red maybe a lighter shade or not as much red then I think it would probably be more true. That's just my opinion. All the pearls that I've seen on line are not Pearl you have hit the nail on the head. You are the only one I've seen use a pressure cooker. I guess I need to watch more of your videos. I need this pearl color as a base and I need some Coral Orange veins and some ocean color veins on a seashell sink. You have given me the colors to do it with. Thank you! it's beautiful.
Those would be beautiful after being all polished up. The ones with the black in it look like the pau shell jewellery I picked up in New Zealand. It’s gorgeous.
Wow!! I'm thinking small projects, being a beginner. I fancy trying bookmarks and pendulums in opal/abalone. The black you added made it even more beautiful!!
Thank you so much for this! I'm trying to do a faux inlay for a carved wooden piece and this looks very promising. I'm trying to get a watered silk effect by lightly carving the woodgrain out and filling it with epoxy. What you've created is beautiful. I wonder if this would work with a black base and deeper colors, like simulated black opal or abalone.
This is absolutely beautiful! I exceptionally love the black in it. A lot of us do not have a pressure pot. I so want at least a small one but I know they are expensive. I so want to try this. 💖
Thank you, I've been playing around with these colors and have made so many fails. I have been playing around with resin and dichonic films with some really cool results :-) Love your videos, Thank you for sharing your knowledge and time, it's greatly appreciated
AWESOME! I bet I can do some cool looking Aurora borealis cabochons with this technique. Tried to figure out how to do that for a quite long time now. Thanks a bunch 😘👍
Those are stunning! I wonder how it would look on tumblers. I'm new to resin and found this very interesting and really love the black in it! Thanks for sharing!
Oh man! I’m immediately thinking of inside resin liners on my rings in this style, with darker woods for a really beautiful contrast effect... I also want to experiment with darker or black pearl like colors to flip the idea! 🤔
could you make a cutting board and then just put a coupe of clear epoxy coats on it ( food grade, tho i am told all epoxy is food grade??) this would make it more durable no?
This is awesome. I love the ones with the black. It really reminds me of abalone shells. This is going into my next batch of pins! I already have all those powders too!
Zac have you ever considered collaborating with other TH-camrs? The reason I ask is I also follow Stone Coat Countertops, who also do a lot of work with epoxy resin, except they do custom countertop work (mostly simulated marble & granite). I've suggested to them that they dive into other, more rare types of stone to attempt emulating (opal, labradorite etc). I think they've recently started to try, but I think you may have a head start here. Good work!
I am so happy to came across this video!!! Can’t wait to try this recipe out for my next project!!! Thank you so much for sharing this and making a such informative video!!!❤️❤️❤️
@@ZacHiggins why didn't I see your reply? I just watched this again so I can give it a try today myself, gonna add the black I think, and maybe some of that honeycomb.
@@ZacHiggins I will just add them in as a regular color makes awesome effects if you have darker colors close to them it will blend with those for some really cool pours thanks
Question : when you sanded and polished did it dramatically change the appearance of the side that was originally the top? I love how the black added substantial depth and even subtle color variation (I see green next to the black now). Very striking, thank you for sharing!
Hi! I was wondering how dependant on the outcome the pressure pot is - or is the pressure just to make the air bubbles go out? Love the outcome of this!
Thanks for the idea. I’m going to add this to my countertops sqweeeee 😁😁😁 online sources can be Jerry’s, Dick Blick, and Cheap Joes. Adding the black is genius. New subscriber. I’ll share my countertops 😁
These are gorgeous!! Is the black a sparkle mica or flat black and did you swirl in the same way as you did the interference colors? Thanks and love your channel!
The black makes it look like shell, so pretty!
Soooo true ^^
Yes like real abalone!
The black swirl def looked awesome. Really illustrative of why Opal cutters are so insistent upon the “black body tone” which is why lightning ridge black opals are worth so much more than clear crystal Opals
I have a good bit of...well bits and spare crystal opal. Doublet material and jars full of Crystal bits (andamooka, LR, and Queensland), Coober Pedy bits (white), dark crystal lightning ridge bits, very bright and sits very well over treated andamooka matrix bits, sandstoney type (fairy opal) and also dark iron colored body tone koroit (yowah) opal bits with plenty rainbow lightning bolts running through them 🌈 😬 this paired with the bright crystal opal bits inside a floating opal is a eye pleaser!
I also have tons of other material to play with. To name a few. Gulf oyster, I'm from louisiana and shucked oysters for a period and kept a few shells that stuck out. Not your typical white shell. They have great dark tones, reds purples and golds and a id say with a digital army camo mother of pearl pattern along with tons of pearls. Various shells. Abalone and what not. Right now I'm working on a pendant sliced spiral snail shell inlayed with some top grade welo I had collecting dust. The backing is purple heart, which I have a variety of nice slices of around 12 different exotic woods, which I use for various projects, built my dad a lamp and charging station for his phone came out better than expected. nice cheap bid on eBay. Score!
This gave me an idea between using a piece of solid opal crystal or perhaps a thick doublet joined to a piece of boulder rough. Veiny koroit should do, via epoxy resin with some crushed glow in the dark phosphorus mixed in. Then cut (rectangle) or carved and inlayed into a slice of inlayed wood for a border then set in a pendant mount. Nice little process but should make a nice gift for someone. Enough rambling. Time to eat me a bit 😬 of food, then back to the opals.
Well I know what one of my dice projects is gonna be.
How did they turn out?
@@Roboboy17 I haven't actually had a chance to. XD Things got hard last yera so didn't get a chance to buy as much in the way of resin supplies. Though I did make a cute set of dice for my SIL for her druid with dried lavender in from my garden :)
Such a great idea. As a guitar maker I will definitely be trying this for inlay work. Love the idea of potentially pouring it directly into the CNC cut inlay recesses on a fretboard.
I've been playing with this over a year in my paintings. I finally have a really good opal effect. The trick is not to mix it in the resin (or paint for me) but to have multiple layers of textured surfaces that you rub the powder onto. You also need the gold interference and a good colorshift powder. I use Riddler from Didspade (teal green to purple shift). You might also want to try a gold to red shift from there too. Good luck!
Those are some great tips!! I'll have to try that out, thank you for sharing =D
Great video, while watching I was thinking of trying in my paintings . Thank you also for the tips 👍😊
YesItsTom2U do you have any TH-cam videos or pics? I'd like to see what you're describing!
Mark Brouhard I’m not a TH-cam video person, however if you give me an email address I can send you some pics of what I’m talking about.
@@YesItsTom2U I'd also like to see your finished product if you don't mind! I'm trying to plan a cast and I'd love any ideas to make it better. I'll msg you my email
Absolutely loved the black added to the pearls!!! They would make for VERY FUN AND FUNKY PIECES FOR AN EARRING, NECKLACE AND RING SET!!!
Hi Zac. Boy you got close to capturing the real Opal. I am a retired Manufacturing jeweler and have set many Opals. I might suggest after watching you in your great artistic talents maybe add a little very small white flake and a littler less interference for a different look. Some common Opal is slightly transparent. Thanks for all you hard work.
Thanks for the ideas Terry!! I'll have to give those a shot and see how it works =D
Tdkrei or maybe a swirl of clear would do it
Has been talking about doing a project for my wife lately. She has asked me to produce a custom home theater speaker set. I've been dabbling with the idea of coating the sheet of wood that I make the boxes out of in epoxy and doing a stone effect, but then I seen this. Initially my wife stated that she wanted a white marble effect on the speakers, but having seen this and knowing how much she loves mother-of-pearl you've just enabled me to surprise my wife thank you.
Your original cast was attractive and I'm sure it would accent some projects nicely. I will say though, the last one you showed with the black makes it go from good to great. That contrast makes everything pop in such a bold but elegant way. Nicely done 👍
I cannot thank you enough for this video! I have SO many ideas! Ill be making my disabled mother a opal lap tray as a gift for xmas foremost. Thanks again!
OMG I would love to see that when you are done.
Hello from mumbai india. Just saw this video and made myself a resin clock. It looks great-cant wait to unmold and see other side. Thank you🙏
This would make a gorgeous counter top or table top especially with the black swirl! Thanks for sharing!
I love this! The color combo with the smidgen of black in it really gives me an idea for a clock design😍
That's awesome. Exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to do mother of pearl inlays in my home made pool table. Now I can just chisel the diamonds about 3/16" deep and pour your recipe right into the cavities. With this information, I may just do some abalone mix inlay around the table perimeter like the fretboard inlays on my guitar. Thanks for sharing.
OMG! The color matches my true pearl earrings. I'm a little hesitant on the red maybe a lighter shade or not as much red then I think it would probably be more true. That's just my opinion. All the pearls that I've seen on line are not Pearl you have hit the nail on the head. You are the only one I've seen use a pressure cooker. I guess I need to watch more of your videos. I need this pearl color as a base and I need some Coral Orange veins and some ocean color veins on a seashell sink. You have given me the colors to do it with. Thank you! it's beautiful.
That black swirl was freaking awesome!!!!
OMG, I love it, especially with the black swirled in!
Thanks Molly! Yeah, that black really makes it pop!
I simply loved it!!! I've been searching for a technique like yours to make a little project I've been thinking of...
The black one is amazing and it be amazing in a river table
My daughters birthstone is opal, I’m going to try and make her some special things with this technique! Thank you for making and sharing!!! 😃
Oh dang, the ones with the black streaks are exceptionally gorgeous! Thanks for sharing this!
Oh damn, I thought you’d show the show the whole process! Oh well, back to my other powders and resin video!
Those would be beautiful after being all polished up. The ones with the black in it look like the pau shell jewellery I picked up in New Zealand. It’s gorgeous.
Yes! I was going to say a swirl of black would pop this, and voila! You had done it! First time watching you, very clever!
The one with the black is amazing! You did beautifully! 💖
Thanks Amy!!
Love the black in with the pearl💞
Wow!! I'm thinking small projects, being a beginner. I fancy trying bookmarks and pendulums in opal/abalone. The black you added made it even more beautiful!!
Making faux pearls as we speak. Thanks for the inspo. Beautiful pieces.
Cool idea. Really liked the combination of black swirls with it !
Good grief the black one looks like our paua shell here in NZ (Abalone) really interesting...thanks Laurie
I was blown away when I tried the black in there, worked better than I could have ever expected =D
The ones with the black are so cool
That interference powder with the black resin looks good ,thanks for the upload
Hope you have fun with it =D
Going to make some black opal type scales. Great tips Zac! Thank you!
Awesome!! That will look wicked!!
Definitely sparked a thought to make Faux MOP banjo tuner buttons. I will let you know how it turns out!
Yes!! That would be awesome!! I can't wait to hear how it goes =D
I would love coasters in the pearl wow gorgeous.
This is a gorgeous method !
Especially the ones with black ! Wow !
Thank you so much for this! I'm trying to do a faux inlay for a carved wooden piece and this looks very promising. I'm trying to get a watered silk effect by lightly carving the woodgrain out and filling it with epoxy. What you've created is beautiful. I wonder if this would work with a black base and deeper colors, like simulated black opal or abalone.
OOOH the black addition!!!!!!!
They’re beautiful oh my goodness thank you for this video
I use the exact same powders in my Dr. Martin's inks....fountain pens, dip pens, quills, etc. Also works well in water colours.
Just cast some today Zac....in pressure pot now......love the ones with the black vein too....
I would like to know how the black was added to give such fine lines. Fabulous video!!
This is one of my favorites so far, definitely want to make dice like this! Thank you!
I might try powdered salt and gypsum/limonite
This is the most epic find for me - thank you so much!
oh wow that black made it pop love it!!!
Your experiment turned out beautiful. Great idea for resin jewelry and any project. Thanks for sharing.
This is absolutely beautiful! I exceptionally love the black in it. A lot of us do not have a pressure pot. I so want at least a small one but I know they are expensive. I so want to try this. 💖
Perfect for fishing lures
Thank you, I've been playing around with these colors and have made so many fails.
I have been playing around with resin and dichonic films with some really cool results :-)
Love your videos, Thank you for sharing your knowledge and time, it's greatly appreciated
AWESOME! I bet I can do some cool looking Aurora borealis cabochons with this technique. Tried to figure out how to do that for a quite long time now. Thanks a bunch 😘👍
Very cool....I really like that look. Love the black as well, it gave it a bit of a splated wood look.
Yeah, it does look like spalting lines, didn't think of that before!
You are doing an outstanding job with your videos.
Wow! Thank you, for sharing your tutorial. Many beautiful castings are now possible thanks to you! Many blessings to you and yours!
🤗👍💖
They are great results and look really easy. Definitely one I will be trying. Many thanks xx
Thanks Zac. Real cool blanks you made. Love the colors. Look forward to another video. As always take care
Thanks Val =D
Thanks for sharing! Beautiful work!
Those are stunning! I wonder how it would look on tumblers. I'm new to resin and found this very interesting and really love the black in it! Thanks for sharing!
I think it would be awesome on tumblers, especially with the black =D
Zac Higgins I’m having trouble deciding on colors and wish I could find a pack that had different colors as a sampler! I really love the effect... 💋💋
Stunning blanks Zac
Oh man! I’m immediately thinking of inside resin liners on my rings in this style, with darker woods for a really beautiful contrast effect...
I also want to experiment with darker or black pearl like colors to flip the idea! 🤔
Nice!! That'll look so cool on rings!!
This gave me lots of ideas!
Awesome!! that's always my hope! Have fun bringing those ideas to life 😀
Cool idea...I’d probably use that for jewelry of some kind. Or maybe just a painting piece. TFS
I think it would be awesome on a resin art piece, you could make some really amazing looking jewelry with it too!
At first I thought you mustn't know what Opal looks like but you did get there. Not spot on but a damn fine.......finished blank!!!
I think I will do some cutting boards with this so thanks!
could you make a cutting board and then just put a coupe of clear epoxy coats on it ( food grade, tho i am told all epoxy is food grade??) this would make it more durable no?
I’d love to see more of this! I’m trying so hard to make opal!
Beautiful blanks Zac,I'll have to have a practice with this! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks Alan!! I hope you do, let me know how it goes!!
yay! i'll be trying to create a mother of pearl/ rose gold river table as my new desk. i'm so excited!
~~AWESOME~~
I would love my counter tops to look like or maybe a back splash?
Very Pretty Stuff!!!
This is awesome. I love the ones with the black. It really reminds me of abalone shells. This is going into my next batch of pins! I already have all those powders too!
First time watcher, cool show loved it
The black added is stunning!!!
Would be perfect for fishing lures!
Beautiful results! thanks for sharing
I ACTUALLY JUST did an ashtray w interface before I saw this video
But thank u - good to kno I was on the right track! Will post on my Instagram
Awesome!! I can't wait to see it!!
Zac Higgins it’s a little darker bcuz I did a base black
As soon as my power goes back on will post
We decorate fabergie style eggs and I am going to cast some bases just like your wonderful abalone shell
They look really effective! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for checking it out brother!! Hope you can use it or a modified version sometime =D
Really cool effect! Thanks for sharing.
Zac have you ever considered collaborating with other TH-camrs? The reason I ask is I also follow Stone Coat Countertops, who also do a lot of work with epoxy resin, except they do custom countertop work (mostly simulated marble & granite). I've suggested to them that they dive into other, more rare types of stone to attempt emulating (opal, labradorite etc). I think they've recently started to try, but I think you may have a head start here. Good work!
I’ll definitely use this to make custom plugs and tunnels for my ears!
I am so happy to came across this video!!! Can’t wait to try this recipe out for my next project!!! Thank you so much for sharing this and making a such informative video!!!❤️❤️❤️
very cool zac . resin sure is fun to play with .
That's for sure!! Hope this technique sparks some cool ideas for you, got any projects in mind?
They look great! I have to get me some of that interference powder. Thanks for the video!
Thanks Ted! Can't wait to see what you make =D
Looks awesome Zac, blanks came out really good, thanks man!
Thanks Jordan!!
wow these color look awesome, thanks for the video
Thanks Bobby! Hope you can use it in a project =D
Love this will use it on table tops and carved jewelry
I really wish you would have shown how you did the black, if you just drizzled that in a little and swirled it a little of what. That was beautiful
Hi Zac ,do you have a vid on making faux ivery? If not that would be a cool project vid thanks
WOW, That's gorgeous, Thank you
Thanks, I was looking for tips on creating this effect for cast in place, subtle, organic shaped guitar fretboard position markings.
good stuff Zac !
Thanks Doug! Got any ideas sparking for future projects?
@@ZacHiggins why didn't I see your reply? I just watched this again so I can give it a try today myself, gonna add the black I think, and maybe some of that honeycomb.
GORGEOUS. Thank you for sharing. Can I ask how much black you added && how you stirred it in? (Or can we have the vid??) Cheers ~
Would be great with the black in it as a bowl or other type of object,looks really cool.
Thanks for this video, I’ve been trying to figure out where to use the interference colors. I think I have and idea now!
They have eluded me a bit too, glad I could find a good use for them =D
@@ZacHiggins I will just add them in as a regular color makes awesome effects if you have darker colors close to them it will blend with those for some really cool pours thanks
Question : when you sanded and polished did it dramatically change the appearance of the side that was originally the top? I love how the black added substantial depth and even subtle color variation (I see green next to the black now). Very striking, thank you for sharing!
Absolutely beautiful, thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks Elisa 😀
Those black streaks are just what I am looking for!! How did you do the swirls? Just put black on your stick and dragged it around??
They looked pretty sweet! i will have to try this on one of my future projects 👏
Nice!! Any projects in mind that you would like to use it on?
@@ZacHiggins probably a ring
Hi! I was wondering how dependant on the outcome the pressure pot is - or is the pressure just to make the air bubbles go out? Love the outcome of this!
Thanks for the idea. I’m going to add this to my countertops sqweeeee 😁😁😁 online sources can be Jerry’s, Dick Blick, and Cheap Joes. Adding the black is genius. New subscriber. I’ll share my countertops 😁
I've just poured a round coaster and added some gold and copper leaf swirled in.
These are gorgeous!! Is the black a sparkle mica or flat black and did you swirl in the same way as you did the interference colors? Thanks and love your channel!