Rockwerks Lapidary Forum

Here are three crosses I made from material Rich sent me.
The first two pics are the same cross:


The second one is about the same size, a little over an inch tall:


The last one is three inches tall!


Thanx for lookin'!

Nice pieces. How did you make the holes?

Thanks Ken! The holes were all drilled with my Dremel. The bits are 2mm but by the time I get a hole drilled it's um, somewhat larger than 2mm. But I'm learnin'!

Very nice. I really like the pattern in the stone of the first one. That last one is pretty big for how narrow it is, nice work.

Joe,

Wow, you have a lot of patience! What was your method for shaping them? Cutting with a saw and tumbling or some other way? I like the shade of green in the third photo.

Thanx, I've rarely been accused of patience! These are pretty easy to cut out on a saw then take the rest of the way with the grinder. Leaving the belt hang about a quarter inch over the edge of the drum helps to get those angled spaces clean.

Very nice,
good shapes to. About how long per cross does it take you? Looking good,
Dan

Thanx Dan, since I do them in batches along with other cabs I'm not sure how much time I have in each piece. Maybe 90 min.

Best job I have seen on crosses. You mastered one of the hardest one's next to hearts. Great job and your a master craftsman.

Thank you! I've done MANY crosses but I still can't do a heart! That's the "Holy Grail" of shapes for me. Maybe someday!

I wish Photobucket still worked for me. I'd show you many more crosses. I suffer from old computer syndrome... sigh... All my money goes for files and sandpaper and all kinds of hobby related stuff. Again... maybe someday!!

Hey Joe, those are great! I love the Happy Camp Jade, but it's a little tough to polish. Yours have a nice shine, excellent work.

Those are so neat.

Thank you! I enjoy doing these and am still doing more.

Oh, cool, I have some Happy Camp Jade. I guess I should get to cutting and polishing it. I do crosses too and it is hard to get the corners. I seem to do ok on hearts. Better than the crosses.

Of course you should!!!! I like HC Jade and I work a lot of it.
The cross corners are the worst part. I can do 'em but I still can't do a heart!! For the corners I try to leave the sanding belts about 1/16''~maybe a bit more, off the side of the drum. Then there's a sort of sweeping motion from the front of the cross while turning the cross 90 degrees forward to end the sweep on the top of the arm of the cross. This may take a bit of practice and be careful the long end of the cross doesn't hit the inside of the expando drum! That can be nasty. I suppose I ruined a few crosses learning this!
Now I use files and a Dremel to make the corners better!

I just finished 7 Grossular Garnet crosses. I have some pics of them I need to get off my camera and resize and then maybe Weesh will be kind enough to post 'em for me after I get my act together. ( I lost the ability to post pics a long time ago! )