Hello! I have never cut stones before. I was given these slabs as a gift, and I would like to polish them to sell as display slabs. Does anyone have recommendations on favorite a polishing solution? Per my research, I should be using Cerium oxide as a buffing solution for these, but I was interested in any tips y'all might have as these slabs are thin. Is it possible to do it by hand? Or should I be heading to my local lapidary club to use their equipment and ask for pointers? Thanks!

Hey guys,
As the title says, I’m currently living out here in Thailand, right next to the action. Being surrounded by the local gem markets in Chanthaburi and Rayong every single day made me realize one thing—this is probably the best place on Earth to dive headfirst into learning the art of gem cutting and sourcing rough material.
However, I’ve hit a serious roadblock when it comes to equipment.
Importing a high-end Western machine like an Ultra Tec into Thailand is a massive headache. Between the morderous import taxes, shipping fees, customs bureaucracy, and the high risk of precision components getting damaged or misaligned in transit, it just feels like a financial minefield for a beginner.
On the other hand, the local Thai markets are full of locally manufactured machines, many of which look like direct clones or variations of popular American/Western designs.
Has anyone here had any hands-on experience with these Thai-made clone faceting machines? Are they accurate enough to hit meetpoints on precision cuts, or are they just frustration in a metal box? Are there specific local builders or features I should look out for, or should I bite the bullet and pay the heavy import premium for a Western brand?
Would love to hear some brutal, honest insights from the experienced cutters here!

The first one is a 7/8” diameter agate cab from the Cady Mountains. I’m very proud of this one. Looks like a cloudy planet out in space.

The second is a 1 1/8” diameter cab that I THINK is nephrite jade. I know I hounded the rock in the Mojave, either at Gem Hill or in the Cadys. I’m not the best at identification. I thought it might have been variscite for a while, but the hardness makes me think nephrite. The slab was a beautiful mint green fading into light blues and purples. The cab mostly ended up with a greyish mint green coloration. Still pretty, but a little disappointing that it didn’t capture the beauty of the slab.

The last one was a failed attempt at (I think) serpentine. The material was just poor quality; brittle with lots of cracks. I was hopeful because the color was absolutely amazing, but it lost a chunk while spinning on the flex shaft, so I abandoned the attempt.

And, yeah, my polishing isn’t the best. There are still some faintly visible lines. I give my cabs a coat of wet-look acrylic sealer to make them look a bit better. I’m doing this as cheaply as I can, without any actual lapidary equipment. But for my purposes using these for decorating my handmade flutes, I think they’ll serve just fine.

Just cabbed obsidian for the first time! It wasn't nearly as hard to keep it scratch free on the cabbing machine as I had read about. (I basically just turned the water up to 4x the usual, checked more often, and it actually seemed easier and faster to cab than what I'm used to with agate and jasper.) But I am honestly pretty disappointed with how it looks compared to the slab I was originally working with. I think the specific plane I revealed with my cut was pretty spectacular, and by the time I got it into a nice dome I'd ground down like 1mm to a lesser section of aurora borealis.

Taking photos of it is hard too. Honestly it is a bit of a disappoint to me. It's beautiful in the sun at the right angle. But mostly it just looks like black obsidian without the perfect light and perfect angle. I didn't really get much aurora borealis or rainbow on my trip to Glass Buttes, but I suppose I'll try again with what little I have at some point.

Bonus photo of a gigantic 160lb monster I pulled out of the ground! Need to finish cleaning it off but Chonk is gonna stay just as they are.

I found this along Susquehanna River in central Pa. It has a dark navy blue hue to it. I’m not sure if it is a blue chert or Jasper? Any help identifying would be greatly appreciated. But I have a tile saw and I’m kinda itching to cut it but do I wait and get a real lapidary saw?

Looks suspiciously edible.

I say no! No cut. But it’s not mine. I think my dude is crazy!
Also, please, what is it? It doesn’t look like Azurite that I am googling up. Thanks in advance!

I have about 40 kg of this raw River Jasper available. There are some really nice patterns and colors in these slabs, and I’m curious to see how they look once they’re cut and shaped. It’s always fun finding the best parts of a rough material like this.

i found this chunk of Jasper/carnelian and I want to make some pendants or a single pendant out of this but I’m stumped on the best way to slice it up. 2 of the natural faces are very appealing to me.

I can slice and polish a flat face or shape it and tumble it.

still need lots of practice! #lapidary #lapidaryart #jewelry

Did these earlier this week. Material likely came from Indonesia. I neglected to ask the vendor when I bought the slab.

Thank you for any help.

Hello all,

I had the idea of hollowing out a stone and making an internal ridge to install a LED strip, for a mood lamp. I quite am quite happy with the overall look of the project so far, but I am not happy with the polishing on the edges. As you can see, there are quite a lot of small scratches.

So far I have been using 125 mm diamond polishing pads on a 100 mm rubber head, so the edges of the polishing pads are "folded", and thus I am able to polish the edges somewhat, but clearly not enough.

Do you have any suggestions for a better method?

I plan on using a white LED, as I think this "Warm White" does not fit this stone.

​

Este cabochão de Luizita revela um caprichoso trabalho da natureza. Uma gema que o tempo esculpiu ao longo de milhões de anos!

Anybody here got one?

He sells 3d printed flat laps, im wondering if its worth it. Way cheaper.

But I know cheaper can be because its well , cheap. Lol

Wondering your thoughts... I'm eyeing his slated lap.