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Author Topic: Removing a silver bail glued to opal.  (Read 314 times)

col

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Removing a silver bail glued to opal.
« on: February 24, 2021, 09:09:23 PM »
Hi All,
          Been a long time since I have posted on here!
I bought a beautiful opal today at a pawn shop and it has a silver bail glued to it that I wish to remove so I can get it set in a nice pendant. What is the best way to remove this without damaging the Opal?
Thanks
Col
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Pete49

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Re: Removing a silver bail glued to opal.
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2021, 01:32:08 PM »
Hammer and chisel ;D but seriously it depends on the glue type. Superglue needs a little bit of acetone or maybe a bit of freezer time same with epoxy. Other than that no clue other than the first mentioned.
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MakkyBrown

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Re: Removing a silver bail glued to opal.
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2021, 02:55:00 PM »
You could grind it off on your cabbing machine or lap. I wouldn't be keen to put opal in acetone. If glued with super glue you could soak in water for a week or so as super glue is not waterproof.

MB
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col

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Re: Removing a silver bail glued to opal.
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2021, 08:10:43 AM »
Hi guys,
Thanks for the advice and tips, much appreciated. A mate of mine ended up putting the Opal into some thinners and the silver bail came off after an hour, the Opal was also coated in some kind of lacquer which also pealed off. ( Very dodgy job). the good news is the Opal is all good now and it just needs a bit of work on the cab machines to polish it up, which I will do this week at the club.
Thanks
Col
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