lapidary

Lapidary skills are taught every Tuesday and Wednesday evening from 630-830pm.  Your instructors are Eileen Moss for Tuesday evening and Dave Blair forWednesday evening.
The first evening of instruction is free, as it is a training session.  After this, shop fees of $3 an hour are charged.  All equipment necessary is provided at the club.  Students are requested to wear closed toes shoes and short sleeves.  We work with mineral oil and water spray so it is recommended to wear something you don’t mind getting dirty.
Lapidary is the process of slicing a stone with a diamond saw, then shaping and sanding the stone, to create a polished cabochon. See the attached pictures of an agate before being sliced and finished cabochons. To do this we use diamond saws and diamond grinders and sanders.  The process from start to finish takes about 1 hour, but depends on the hardness of the stone and the size of cabochon being created. The basic oval shape is taught first. After this is mastered, the student can cut, shape and polish just about any shape.  These stones can then be incorporated in stunning one of a kind jewellery pieces.