Making your own lapidary stones is not hard. Nowadays the art of polishing and cutting stone can be taken up by anyone with the right equipment. Once upon a time, obsidian and flint were classed as lapidary stone and were used to make tools and weapons. Times have changed and the stone is used these days to make jewelry and ornaments.
Artists use machines these days to do their cutting. These are machines with simple pulleys that are driven by small electric motors. The pulley is turned by a roller sitting atop the machine. A small rubber or plastic drum is loaded with stones and placed on the machine. Once in the drum the rocks are spun around, and it is this process that grinds and polishes them.
Rocks are inserted into drums, which are used to help polish the rocks. If certain stones are too large then they'll have to be broken. This can be done with a hammer but there are drawbacks. Hammering a rock can create splinters, and there's no guarantee that the rock will end up being the same you want it to be. If you do hammer rocks then be sure to use a piece of cloth, so that splinters stay confined to the cloth.
Before it is polished and tumbled, the rock needs to be cut. Different artists use different methods. Depending on what material you're cutting, it may be a good idea to use a circular saw, one that is diamond-tipped. These usually have a small reservoir filled with water, which the blade passes through as it spins. The water acts as a lubricant and a coolant for the blade and is a very powerful tool for grinding and for cutting.
The grinding process involves shaping stone. By using a cutter you can shave weeks off the time it normally takes. For instance, it can take around 10 weeks if you do not using a cutting tool, but with a cutting tool it can take around three. This is a task that does take a lot of precision, which is why it takes such a long time to accomplish the task.
Each part of the procedure is important. The grinding and tumbling procedure, if done correctly, will provide you with smooth stones that are rounded at the edges. You start by put the rocks inside a rubber drum and adding an abrasive called silicon carbide grit. Then you add water and turn on the machine and let it spin round. Be careful not to put too few rocks in the drum, they'll clash against each other and will not grind properly. Too many and they will not grind at all because they are too tightly packed.
Once the tumbling stage is done the rocks can be put into the polishing drum. The polishing stage requires the rocks to be washed and dried beforehand. The better artists will have separate drums for polishing and tumbling, so as to reduce cross-contamination with the grit. The actual polish is named cerium oxide, a fine pink powder. It's quite pricey but it can be used more than once.
These days lapidary stones are used more for decoration than for weapons or tools. The process has come a long way since ancient times, what with electronic machinery and cutting tools. However, the end result is just as stunning as it's always been.
Artists use machines these days to do their cutting. These are machines with simple pulleys that are driven by small electric motors. The pulley is turned by a roller sitting atop the machine. A small rubber or plastic drum is loaded with stones and placed on the machine. Once in the drum the rocks are spun around, and it is this process that grinds and polishes them.
Rocks are inserted into drums, which are used to help polish the rocks. If certain stones are too large then they'll have to be broken. This can be done with a hammer but there are drawbacks. Hammering a rock can create splinters, and there's no guarantee that the rock will end up being the same you want it to be. If you do hammer rocks then be sure to use a piece of cloth, so that splinters stay confined to the cloth.
Before it is polished and tumbled, the rock needs to be cut. Different artists use different methods. Depending on what material you're cutting, it may be a good idea to use a circular saw, one that is diamond-tipped. These usually have a small reservoir filled with water, which the blade passes through as it spins. The water acts as a lubricant and a coolant for the blade and is a very powerful tool for grinding and for cutting.
The grinding process involves shaping stone. By using a cutter you can shave weeks off the time it normally takes. For instance, it can take around 10 weeks if you do not using a cutting tool, but with a cutting tool it can take around three. This is a task that does take a lot of precision, which is why it takes such a long time to accomplish the task.
Each part of the procedure is important. The grinding and tumbling procedure, if done correctly, will provide you with smooth stones that are rounded at the edges. You start by put the rocks inside a rubber drum and adding an abrasive called silicon carbide grit. Then you add water and turn on the machine and let it spin round. Be careful not to put too few rocks in the drum, they'll clash against each other and will not grind properly. Too many and they will not grind at all because they are too tightly packed.
Once the tumbling stage is done the rocks can be put into the polishing drum. The polishing stage requires the rocks to be washed and dried beforehand. The better artists will have separate drums for polishing and tumbling, so as to reduce cross-contamination with the grit. The actual polish is named cerium oxide, a fine pink powder. It's quite pricey but it can be used more than once.
These days lapidary stones are used more for decoration than for weapons or tools. The process has come a long way since ancient times, what with electronic machinery and cutting tools. However, the end result is just as stunning as it's always been.
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