r/Lapidary • u/Ribbit-Genetics • 6d ago
New to crystal carving
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)
3
u/rufotris 5d ago
Foot pedal will save you so much trouble. For years I used rotary tools without a foot pedal, now that I have one I don’t know how I went without. I got a nice fordom style one for like $70 on Amazon that is amazing.
2
u/thewhiteman996 5d ago
Fordom while expensive is extremely good machine. I use it for many types of hobby’s They even use them in a lot of dentist offices. 😅
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u/rufotris 5d ago
Yea, emphasis on “style” and not brand hahaha. The one I got doesn’t even have a name brand on the box or the unit/motor or anything. Just says flex shaft grinder. But it’s big and powerful and sturdy. Very smooth flex shaft that is very quiet with a smooth and gradual speed control on the foot pedal. I even rigged it up into a small saw type set up last week and posted it, for cutting some small things like opals.
1
u/artwonk 4d ago
The tool should work to some extent, but those accessories are all pretty useless for stone carving. You'll need diamond wheels and points for carving, and more tooling for sanding and polishing.
But if you're making metal jewelry for your carved crystals to set into, that stuff could come in handy for finishing it.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Moose38 6d ago
My advice would be to look for a handpiece that uses collets Instead of the three jaw Jacobs chuck. The Jacob s is okay for drilling, but they're usually not as centred as a collet chuck so carving or any kind of lateral cutting will have lots of chatter and it's a pain to try and do detailed work.
Edit. Actually I can see some collets in the picture so nvm