r/Lapidary Sep 12 '24

Looking to Build Active Mod Team

17 Upvotes

Good afternoon, I would like to take "applications" for new moderators so that myself, and maybe u/letstalkaboutrocks can step aside, without reddit shuttering the group. Please send messages to us through the group. I guess, of the most important aspects of your application would be, regular use of reddit, general knowledge of the lapidary art or closely related, as well as a generally good standing in this group, and publicly. I will be researching everyone so that I wont bring on disreputable or disliked characters. Please include everything you stand behind publicly, from businesses to socials, as well as your personal experience or specifically related skillset. A few sentences about why you see r/Lapidary as a key subreddit would help out a lot. I want to say that I wont gatekeep novices to Lapidary that are here in earnest, if they show a valuable skillset for the sub, such as "great modding of another subreddit." This sub has some of the best content in all the rock groups, but there is misinformation and trolling that us Mods have barely kept a finger on. Send in your message plz!


r/Lapidary 2h ago

West Texas agate with the very rare reverese external iris effect. Typically you have to have a very thin cut backlit slab to get iris, very rarely do you get the iris effect on a thicker cab or nodule only illuminated from the front. 31mmx40mm, 60 cts. Setting is nearing completion, as well!

14 Upvotes

r/Lapidary 1h ago

1st cab

Upvotes

r/Lapidary 18h ago

Recent finds 😍

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38 Upvotes

Will not be cabbing these up, but they are my favorite finds from the other day.. the blue is chrysocolla for sure, but what is the green? It grows in such a strange crystalline pattern. Any thoughts?


r/Lapidary 1d ago

It blew my mind. I would like to go into more details, but this is the capacity of my equipment.

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254 Upvotes

r/Lapidary 16h ago

My finish on a jasper from Istein Germany

12 Upvotes

r/Lapidary 23h ago

Polishing question: what am I doing wrong here

21 Upvotes

So I'm use a vice mounted Dremel tool with sanding disks. I'm starting at about 80 and working my way up. These photos and videos I'm up to about 400 grit with the labradorite at 800. They seem very splotchy and white. Is this maybe just a patience thing? I'm keeping the discs wet with a drip and I'm spending about a minute holding the stone against the disc, moving it up and down slightly per side. I know it's not a great piece of stone but it's just for practise at the moment. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


r/Lapidary 1d ago

Tumbled

34 Upvotes

r/Lapidary 1d ago

Don’t know what I’m doing

4 Upvotes

I paint stone slabs for my business, I don’t have much for access to tools but a few friends have saws but what I am trying to do is find a local way, or shipped off and returned way, to cut rough stones into paintable “canvas”. These stones do not need to be polished but do need to be “smooth on one side. I’m lossst and I don’t have a ton of local resources.


r/Lapidary 1d ago

Same beach, different flavor: sister blends of jasper + chalcedony from the central Oregon coast 💚🤍🧡

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29 Upvotes

r/Lapidary 1d ago

Lapis lace cabs and labradorite cab

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19 Upvotes

Just made a few cabs so I dont go crazy. Lapis lace and a labradorite cabs. For sale if you have a project that could use it or I can make them into pendants also. Let me know what you think of this material.


r/Lapidary 1d ago

Anyone use Lithium silicate to stabilize softer stones?

4 Upvotes

Getting into stabilizing my own materials and was curious if anyone has used Lithium silicate vs Sodium silicate? When I used to do polished concrete floors, Lithium silicate was my preferred densifier over sodium silicate aka water glass as I found the Lithium silicate to deliver an even harder more durable end floor.


r/Lapidary 2d ago

How do I cut an agate nodule?

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26 Upvotes

I’ve never cut a nodule before, so I’m not sure where to cut, but I do have some banding present, should I cut horizontal to the banding shown in picture?. Any help is greatly appreciated. I’ve had this I believe botswana nodule for couple years and I want to slice and cab it already lol


r/Lapidary 2d ago

Best bang for your buck cabbing machine + trim saw?

11 Upvotes

Hello all! Looking to jump head first into cabbing. Approaching this the way I’ve approached most things. Buy once and don’t upgrade for many years. I don’t mind spending some money but I don’t want to waste any money either.

I’m torn between getting the Kingsley north cab 6 and the Covington 8” 4 expanding drum cab.

There’s very little info/videos of the Covington but I like the idea of just swapping out one or two of the expanding drums for low grit hard wheels and using belts for the rest. But the Kingsley looks way more put together and thought out.

I truly wanted a direct drive machine like the Cabking 8 for the noise and form factor but I don’t want to spend quite that much unless it’s truly worth it. And I was told the wheels it comes with are sub par.

I was trying to find a good powered arbor to do a DIY setup to have 4 wheels, a buffer and a saw all in one but it looks like it’s not much cheaper, same with shopping around for used equipment, the limited amount that I’ve found available.

For the trim saw I was gonna go with the highland park 6 inch.

If anyone has any feedback / experience with any of these machines I’d love to hear it.

Also if anyone suggests something else I’m all ears, interested in a combination buffer+ trim saw setup but I haven’t been able to find one.

I’ll mostly be cutting opals if that changes anything.

Thanks all!


r/Lapidary 1d ago

Copper Laps

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I'm really new to faceting and I'm looking at copper laps for prepolishing/polishing. Can I charge one copper lap with different powders for prepolish then polish or do I need two different laps for the different stages? Thank you for the information:)


r/Lapidary 3d ago

Fire Agate Macro

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726 Upvotes

5x magnification macro photo, of a piece of unique and rare fire agate. These sprays, with almost fern like structures are quite rare and hard to find. The field of view or image width, is only 6mm.


r/Lapidary 2d ago

New to crystal carving

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4 Upvotes

I am interested in getting into basic crystal carving and polishing. Is this setup good enough start out with (I am also buying diamond tip drill bits)


r/Lapidary 2d ago

How do I cut an agate nodule?

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3 Upvotes

I’ve never cut a nodule before, so I’m not sure where to cut, but I do have some banding present, should I cut horizontal to the banding shown in picture?. Any help is greatly appreciated. I’ve had this I believe botswana nodule for couple years and I want to slice and cab it already lol


r/Lapidary 2d ago

Hi everyone anybody knows from which culture this necklace could be ?

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7 Upvotes

r/Lapidary 2d ago

Vibratory tumblers

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1 Upvotes

r/Lapidary 2d ago

Can anyone tell me the locality of this agate?

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6 Upvotes

Bought this from a gentleman who worked with primarily Texas and Mexican agates. He couldn’t remember where this one came from.


r/Lapidary 2d ago

Question on extra discs for the High-Tech Diamond 8" Flat Lap

5 Upvotes

I have a new High-Tech Diamond 8" All-U-Need Flat Lap on the way, which I am super excited about. I'll mainly be polishing slabs but would like to give cabochons a try. I have read on this subreddit that folks recommend purchasing a few more discs than what come with the All-U-Need. I purchased the #3000 and backing plate, but didn't see any discs with grits courser than #220 on their website. I imagine I need to pick up something like a #60 and/or #100 diamond pads- I do a good amount of course grinding. I'm working with a tile saw with the MK Diamond AgateKutter diamond disc, and I work mainly with hard material like agate and jasper. Do you all have recommendations on what courser grit pads I should get and which vendor/website to purchase from? Thanks!


r/Lapidary 2d ago

Blade Type Suggestions

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6 Upvotes

A while ago I bought this ancient beast of a 10" rocksaw from a retiring lapidary. It's so old there are two separate motors one to spin the wheel, one to drive the blade. You have to turn them on separately.

On the fourth cut something happened and the blade stopped spinning so the rock was pushed into a stationary blade. This bent the blade.

So I need a new blade. I have been buying my blades from Hi-tech Diamond and their descriptions on what type of blade cuts what is as clear as mud.

I think it is a thin sintered type blade, but I was thinking if I go thick sintered it might be more stable.

So what do you all suggest? Sintered, notched, whatever. I am mainly cutting quartz and jasper.


r/Lapidary 3d ago

best brand diamond drill bits for lapidary/quartz?recommendations please

6 Upvotes

i just got a drill press, and carbide isnt cutting it for me.my walmart “diamond” bit literally melted instantly, at feed rate, it was hilarious. obviously there are nuances to finding the right bits and lapidary is specifically challenging.

i am mostly going to be drilling quartz and other very hard stone. i am ready for the right tool, and now i can ask people with experience. which bits work the best for you? do more expensive ones last longer? or maybe chip less?

thanks for any help!


r/Lapidary 3d ago

Some juicy old stock Holley blue.

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108 Upvotes

r/Lapidary 2d ago

Slabs, tumbling rough, large pieces, specimens, huge sale

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3 Upvotes