Working with Turquoise I – Treatment Types

I've been doing lapidary as a hobby for a while and a few years ago I really got into turquoise. I see people sometimes being confused about what is stabilized vs natural vs backed turquoise so that's what I'll go into in this post. Natural turquoise Only a small percentage of turquoise that is dug …

Aligning platen on Facetron faceting machine

The journey I've been considering buying a faceting machine ever since taking classes at our local gem club and visiting Oregon sunstone mines. Good faceting machines are by no way cheap and since lapidary arts and jewelry making has been a hobby for me so far I've been hesitant to spend so much money. Then …

Dopping stones with super glue and nails

Some of my recent Royston turquoise haul. So first – if you’re not familiar with lapidary arts (playing with pretty rocks) you might not know what dopping a stone means. It is basically attaching a small-ish piece of pre-formed stone to a stick – wooden dowel, nail… – so that you can hold onto the …

Hi-Tech Diamond 4/5″ trim saw – first impressions

Hi-Tech Diamond 4/5" trim saw. I recently bought a used Hi-Tech Diamond 4/5" trim saw. I bough it specifically to cut thin slabs of and trim turquoise. You want to use a very thin blade (~0.018") for that to lose as little material as possible and higher speed than the 1725RPM that a lot of …

A better water system for Hi-Tech All-U-Need flat lap

All-U-Need with the Pro Flow attachment. Water everywhere and the rattling My Hi-Tech Diamond flat lap has been a second-class citizen in my shop, sitting alone and forgotten in a corner, for a while now. I bought it used to have something to finish the backs of my cabs on but found it hard to …

Smith Little Torch – so many tips, so little time

From top to bottom Smith Little Torch tips, Paige Tools tips with holder and adapter (the longer one) and ImpGen tips and adapter. Chances are if you're reading this that you already own the Little Smith Torch or are thinking about getting one - in which case check out also this article. Many jewelers happily …

Refurbishing old GRS Benchmate

GRS tools are amazing, and expensive and on the wish lists of many starting jewelers. For the longest time the Benchmate from GRS was on my "eventually, maybe, ..when I am better" wish list but it was just way too expensive for me to rationalize the purchase since jewelry is still just a hobby. Recently …

Buying Smith Little Torch

Photo courtesy of OttoFrei.com Smith Little Torch seems to be hugely popular with many jewelers nowadays. Due to COVID pandemic I didn't have a chance to test it out at another jeweler's studio so I decided to get a used one for myself and give it a try. If you are also looking for one …

Fun with torches and oxygen concentrators

Large tank setup (photo by OttoFrei.com) vs oxygen concentrator setup with portable propane tank. Until I decided to switch to Smith Little Torch and oxygen concentrator setup I've been using hand held butane torches but if you have used a "real" jewelers torch before you might be familiar with the setup with large gas tanks …