New grindings, returned from Tucson...

Hey all, made it home from Tucson and the annual hajj to Gemstone Mecca! Finally settling back into the studio and breaking in some INCREDIBLE new diamond wheels, playing with new treasures, and breaking out some old treasures that were too hard for me to cut with my old worn wheels. It's such a wonderful feeling to have a really, really hard jasper or agate just melt underneath your fingers as you bring the shape out of the stone. Good diamonds are a lapidary artists best friend....

My new grindings from February 19th. First rough grind on my new, rock devouring, 60 grit, 8"x2" diamond grinding wheel, Sachi. I named her after the company from India she came from. That's Sachi on the left. She's a realllllly good girl and was a SWEET deal! She chewed up all those stones in no time and those were some hard puppies, I picked them out special to break her in and test her out. Front row, L to R, Gem Chrysocolla (not turquoise), Indonesian Purple Seam Agate, two Willow Creeks (yes, both the maroon and the ivory one came from the same mine in Idaho), Indonesian Lace Agate, Aussie Tigerye, Texas Petrified Palm Wood, Sudbury Shiny Cobalt Ore (some silver & arsenic mixed in, for sure), and the oval at the end is an Brazilian Oco Agate geode filled with sparkling drusy quartz crystals. All will be bead focal pendants. The second row is more stuff! This is just the first stage, rough cut. They need at least another grinding at 120 grit, then sandings at 120, 220, 600, 1200, 3000 grits and THEN a polish.... cutting rocks is hard.