Summer Project Complete

 Every spring I set out with a goal to finish enough rough rock to allow me to replace the cabochons and guitar picks I have sold through the summer in the shop and on line and this year I set out with high expectations because I had beautiful agate and jasper to work with.

I set my Cab King up so that I can use the coarse wheels on the left and also access the trim saw to cut shapes etc..

This actually makes the first stage of rough shaping go much faster. The plan is to take all pieces (this year about 60) through this phase and then remove the trim saw attachment (great saw by the way) and put back the three finishing wheels and polishing pad. And the plan was going perfectly until my sciatic nerve started to really act up and I couldn't stand up long enough to use the machine. So here I was with 60+ unfinished cabs and cold weather approaching. I needed a plan "B".

My wife Vickie (A.K.A. The Real Artist) knows how to use our Lot-O-Tumbler so we decided to finish them with it. The first problem was coming up with a big enough load and we did that by adding smaller, round, polished silicate stones. We sort of picked up where the wheels had left off by going with 600 grit and using more than usual to take into account the larger surface area of the smaller rocks. Normally I go one day on this grit but this time we went two. Vickie then moved on to 1000 grit silicone carbide pre polish and then to tin oxide polish. In both steps we added more grit and went two days. Finally, she did a burnishing cycle with Ivory Soap and again, we used more than normal.

The results were more than acceptable and there was virtually no breakage or damage. Here's how the total load looked.

And here's how it looked when all the round and small stones had been removed.

Now that I look at it, there were probably more than 60 pieces. But I ended up with some great cabochons,

and awesome guitar picks!

Would I go this route again in the future? Probably not simply because I love the process and I think the Cab King finishing wheels do a slightly better job. Also, you can't finish pieces that have crystal druzy pockets this way. But this process had it's advantages. First, it was faster and second it saved the wear on the finishing wheels but most importantly it gave us a way to finish the job with me out of commission!

Gail's Rocks

 Almost weekly, someone brings me a pile of rocks they have found and wants to know if they have found "treasure" and until recently, I have had to give them bad news.

But a few weeks ago, it finally happened. After seeing my shop, The Lap of Lapidary, my neighbour Gail, from whose farm we get our eggs, brought in a small peach basket with her "collection". Apparently, she has a spot somewhere on the Neck where she finds the most amazing small agates and jasper. I literally could not believe my eyes! Here's a small sample of what she brought.

I was so impressed, and she and her husband Frank are such good neighbours, I did something I NEVER do- I offered to tumble a load for her at no charge. Since they are on the small side, they are perfect for my tumbler and the results were spectacular.

A lot of these stones are so fresh and dense they look almost chert like and take a great polish.

Like Vickie, Gail is an artist and it's obvious she has the Artists/Agate Eye!

More proof that we have some of the most beautiful silicates in the world here on Digby Neck!

A Tour of the Lap of Lapidary

Well, I have finally managed to get all the machines up and running and have decided that the shop name had to be changed. Since it now has everything I need- including a sound system- I thought it should be called "The Lap of Lapidary"!

New Sound System

To create the sound system, I had to get a signal booster so as to access the internet and now I can listen to music all day!

In order to show you everything in the shop, we created four videos and to make it realistic, I did them from the standpoint of taking a piece from a rough hunk of rock to a finished piece.

The first video takes you through the sawing of a large rock to produce a slab or slice.

Then we take the slice through the process to a finished, polished piece.

And then we take a look at a few special machines used to create specific effects in the finishing process.

And finally, I show you how I keep track of all the rock I have cut for future reference and possible use.

I hope that you have enjoyed the tour and if you have any questions about the process or a specific machine, feel free to ask. At some point I will be doing specific posts on individual machines to show them in action.

And if we ever get out from under this virus shadow, come and take the tour in person!

Am I Now in the Paint Business?

Because the weather has been so lousy of late (don't worry folks, a great summer lies ahead!) I decided to clean some of my lapidary equipment.
When I tumble or cut rock I generate a lot of "sludge" - rock dust mixed with water. The other day Vickie saw me cleaning up and asked what I do with it and when she found out I just dumped it (in an environmentally correct way of course) she said she wanted all I could give her.
As most of you know, she is a mixed media artist and apart from the solid black and white areas, this entire study was done with paint she made from my sludge!

Since seeing this, I've told her that the price of sludge has gone up- WAY up!! I'm thinking, though, that a better way to go might be to talk her into doing the cleaning for me so she could make sure that the sludge is being collected properly.Any thoughts?
Recently we have had visitors from China, Namibia, France, Austria, British Columbia and even Weymouth (inside joke) and holes are starting to appear in the displays so party's over- time to get back to work!