[Jewelry making - Article 00390] - Re: [Orchid] [Source] Green amber cabs

[Judy Hoch]

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    The copal amber that you saw is a disaster for carving.  It's called
    copal because it isn't amber yet. True amber is supposedly 40
    million years old - who knows if that is exactly right. True amber,
    and that includes the natural baltic amber has lost most of the
    volitile oil components of the original tree sap. It is pleasant to
    carve, it smells like a pine forest. It is cut and polished at a
    relatively slow speed.

    Copal is gummy and will craze after even the most careful polishing.
    You can't even saw it without it gumming up and gluing the saw to the
    cut. It's cheap because it isn't worth much. 

    In my experience, baltic amber in larger chunks for carving costs
    the same per gram as finished cabs, in the range of $1 to $3 per
    gram. 

Judy  Hoch, G.G.

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