opals and air travel?

[Natedizzle]

has anyone else had any issues with taking opal marbs pieces etc. on airplanes? I recently went on a month long trip to europe, and brought a dozen or so pendants with me. 6 were faceted opal pendants, fully annealed. the day I arrived one was checked thru the opal. It was the last one I made so i assumed that i messed up the annealing somehow. however over the course of the trip and many flights later, three checked by the time i made it home. now i had the pendants in my backpack carried on with me for each flight.

i can't figure out what the issue is, and if it could be an issue shipping glass overnight etc where air travel is included. in hte past i have had an opal frit mouthpiece check during a flight, but i thought it was an airbubble, and i missed it before i left as it was an older piece.

Any thoughts?

Nathan

[Brian Newman]

Opals don't mach borosilicate in COE, but they are close. Opals are always problematic.

[Swampy]

I did two nice looking pendants the week before last, they had a 3mm zircon pressed into the front face in the centre then capped over the top with a blob of clear. They still look okay, the missus is the crash test dummy but don't tell I said that okay or no dinner.

But the zircons still look good, that's what I wanted to tell you.

[mistahead]

Opals don't mach borosilicate in COE, but they are close. Opals are always problematic.

are you talking about real opals or the synthetic ones brian?? also i was wondering are all the synthetic opals people are useing in glass gilson opals or are the other ones people are useing....ive never had a problem with the 50 or so opals ive used but have never taken them on a plane either.

[WORLD FAMOUS]

Were the pendants hitting together, or getting rattled or vibrated on something else hard? Were the opals faceted, or the pendants faceted that the opals were in?

Where did you get your opals? The ONLY time I ever had problems with opals is when I got them from an anonymous source. I have been buying opals for almost 3 years from Grandpa (Profound Glass) and recently Erik (Vapor Glass - because he gets them from Grandpa). The one time I went astray from those two guys, and every opal from the anonymous source 'checked' on me over a period of three weeks or so. I was freaking out. Other than that, I've had very few 'mystery' problems with the over 250+ opals I've encased on pipes or marbles from either of those two fellas...(knocks on wood, just in case). I say "mystery" because sometimes I knew it was my own dumbass fault...lol. ie air bubbles, not enough clear encasement, pulling from the kiln a little early, etc. etc.

Opals I've taken on flights did fine, but I what has seemed to trigger a random 'checking' opal is when the piece chattered or vibrated with another over a long period of transportation, and both times those were not on a flight. Those were both on pieces with 'floating' marbles, and I had to replace the opal marble on one of those pieces three times. The last time I finally left it off and said screw it. BTW< the opal wasn't in the floating marble, it was a small welded on accessory marble.

Along with this theory, I have lost a few opal pieces when I am grinding them on the lap wheel. That is where I convinced myself it has something to do with vibration...

Anyone else have issues with 'vibrations' and opals?

[Brian Newman]

I am refering to the synthetic Gilson opals. They have a higher COE, but they are close enough to work, as long as you stick to small pieces. Vibrations could cause the cracks to form to relieve some of the stress.

[Natedizzle]

Ok... the opals are all cabs. one marquis, one round, and an oval. the pendants they were incased in were all faceted themselves. it is slightly possible they may have vibrated together, but i can't be sure. I tried shaking the box a few times and there wasn't any sound, but...

I too have lost a few opals while grinding on the wheel. mostly it is when I get closer to the opal than i intended too... like within 1/2" or so. I have taken many other flights without trouble before, except for the mouthpiece i mentioned before...

Oh and all of the opals are from grandpa... I rarely have any mystery issues myself except for a few random rounds that have gotten tiny bubble scum on the surface. I too have had issues with anonymous opals checking randomly...

Nathan

[Mark F]

I think your right about the vibration Nate, Mine crack to while grinding.