How To Make Your Own Lapidary Stones
Lapidary is the art of stone cutting and polishing. Lately it has made something of a comeback, as people start to make their own jewelry. Traditionally, flint and obsidian were considered lapidary stones - stones that were fashioned into cutting implements and weapons back in ancient times. In more modern times stones are used more for decorative purposes than for practical ones.
Whereas back in ancient times they cut the stone on rock, these days artists use machines to do their cutting and polishing. The machines are fairly small electronic devices that operate using a pulley system. The purpose of them is to operate a small plastic drum in which the stone is placed. The process is called tumbling and it polishes the rocks and grinds them.
If some rocks are too big to put into the drums they are broken up with a hammer. This can cause problems with splinters flying off and is rather dangerous. If you wrap the stone in cloth you'll get around this problem. The difficulty with this is the lack of control the artist has over the final shape of the rock. The material can also crack and splinter, which spoils the finished look.
Prior to the tumbling and polishing process the stone has to be cut. The methods for this varies depending on the artist. A circular saw is about as good a tool as any, preferably one with diamond tips. Try and purchase one with a reservoir. The reservoir is usually filled with water and prior to cutting. The blades of the saw pass through the water and help to lubricate the blades as well as acting as a coolant.
Grinding is the process of shaping the stone. This takes up to ten weeks but is markedly quicker when you use a cutting tool. It's a job that needs to be approached with precision, hence the length of time it takes. The advantage of using a cutter is that you should be able to shape small stones, down to about 1/2 an inch in size.
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.
Lapidary stones used to be shaped into weapons back in ancient times. These days they are shaped and cut by artists for cosmetic purposes. The machinery has changed and so has the process by which the stones are polished and cut, but the quality is as good as ever.
Whereas back in ancient times they cut the stone on rock, these days artists use machines to do their cutting and polishing. The machines are fairly small electronic devices that operate using a pulley system. The purpose of them is to operate a small plastic drum in which the stone is placed. The process is called tumbling and it polishes the rocks and grinds them.
If some rocks are too big to put into the drums they are broken up with a hammer. This can cause problems with splinters flying off and is rather dangerous. If you wrap the stone in cloth you'll get around this problem. The difficulty with this is the lack of control the artist has over the final shape of the rock. The material can also crack and splinter, which spoils the finished look.
Prior to the tumbling and polishing process the stone has to be cut. The methods for this varies depending on the artist. A circular saw is about as good a tool as any, preferably one with diamond tips. Try and purchase one with a reservoir. The reservoir is usually filled with water and prior to cutting. The blades of the saw pass through the water and help to lubricate the blades as well as acting as a coolant.
Grinding is the process of shaping the stone. This takes up to ten weeks but is markedly quicker when you use a cutting tool. It's a job that needs to be approached with precision, hence the length of time it takes. The advantage of using a cutter is that you should be able to shape small stones, down to about 1/2 an inch in size.
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.
Lapidary stones used to be shaped into weapons back in ancient times. These days they are shaped and cut by artists for cosmetic purposes. The machinery has changed and so has the process by which the stones are polished and cut, but the quality is as good as ever.
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