Cutting Gems?

G'day all I would like to learn about cutting my stones if anyone could tell me what polish to use is an electric saw all I need for cutting what way I could go about doing my first stone I would like to learn alot about it before trying cheers

I was also wondering if theres a diamond disc or masory type disc i could wack on a grinder to have a crack at cutting a few bombs and spinal

Depends what you mean by 'cutting' pocketbuster.

Theres a few forms of cuts and techniques in the art of Lapidary. Faceting is giving a rock many edges or faces like a diamond set in a ring. Slabbing is when you cut the rock into thin slices (mostly agate), and Cabbing is using machinery like a diamond stone wheel and rounding or shaping a rock into a 'cab' or other shapes. I highly recommend you check out some youtube on 'lapidary', and also seek out your nearest gem club, lapidary club etc.

Cheap slabs can roughly be done of small size with a wet tile saw. Unless you can find a 9" wet tile saw, a rock may only fit around 2" in size ( half the blade height ) I probably wouldnt reccomend using a diamond blade to cut rock as it all neds to be fixed. The blade will vibrate or shatter.. The rock will fling away or into an irisCheap slabs can roughly be done of small size with a wet tile saw. Unless you can find a 9" wet tile saw, a rock may only fit around 2" in size ( half the blade height ) I probably wouldnt reccomend using a diamond blade to cut rock as it all neds to be fixed. The blade will vibrate or shatter.. The rock will fling away or into an iris. The vibration of the blade can break the slice, and.also as a wet tile saw generally only has a small outer ring of diamond, the cut can take a long time. Its not the best..but can suffice for small jobs. Watch out as hard rocks will get caught sometimes still and flick up. So like all lapidary, wear glasses. ( also a small risk of silicosis from constant exposure) Large concrete drop saw may work but i havnt tried yet

As Ar said it would depend on what you want to do and expect to get back out. If you have a lapidary club locally, it would be worth trying to pop in and get an idea of what equipment is used.

Depending on what size stone you want to cut will depend on what size saw you will need, but if you have smaller stone you may not even need to cut them.
The most basic way to start polishing rocks is with a tumbler. You can get these in different sizes (or make them) depending on size of rocks wanting to be polished.

For cabbing it is easier to use a wet grinder or sander with diamond wheels, though for the early rough grinds silicon carbide wheels will get you by, but they must be wet grinders. I did start doing a bit of cabbing on a flat lap (spinning diamond disk with water dropped on it) but had some issues with flat spots and grinding my fingers down. Buying new lapidary grinders are not cheap, but good bargins can be found if you are persistant and patient.
You can do some basic cabbing with just wet and dry sand paper, but it is a tedious and slow process.
A dremel can also be used to carve/shape and polish rocks, but again you will need an assortment of bits in varying grits.

Faceting seems to be one of the more expensive parts of cutting (from my point of view) whilst cheap machines can be found, you cant expect great results and new machines come in from about 3k upwards.

Be careful though.... I started out getting a wet tile saw to cut open a few rocks and ended up with a backyard full of equipment, its good fun when you get started.

aussiefarmer if you are anywhere near Nowra you would be welcome to use my gear to have a play with your bombs.

Thanks alot guy I was hoping to just do some basic work with a grinder I think would be best in my case I am only 16 and I love finding really nice gems Ive tried to learn as much as I can about faceting Im noot looking to do anything serious yet just hoping to make my stones look a little nicer thanks heaps for the offer shivan it would be a great knowledge to learn but Im from tassie Im going on a 2 year trip around the mainland in there camper in may Im hoping to find a fair few nice gems and it would be amazing to do abit of work on some myself.

cheers chris

Pocketbuster - heres some safe options:

- get a stone tumbler. They take a few weeks, but.you will have polished stone
- go to the hardware and get some wet use diamond sandpaper sheets of various grit. Get a small rectangle of glass like a kitchen chopping board, and apply a dab of water before laying a sheet of grit down. With some practice you can polish up some stuff. ( youtube TESlap )
- look up 'flat laps' as they can be made rather simple (you prob will need help) with any old 240v pulley motor 1200-3400rpm. ( variable speed better )
If you get onto a flat lap, you can then get onto cabbing, even 'peg faceting' jigs.

You will need to google or youtube these terms mate, if you need help finding some just ask

Sorry shivan, it seems I duplicated what you said there doh!

cheers Atom Ill check this out on youtube and Ill see what I can do with some sand paper as well thanks heaps guys