Anybody out there ever take a rough gemstones and hand polish it?

Question

try to find out right tools to use that online and it is so outrageous. they say a saw is needed and then sand paper and all these big machines, and I just thought a simple dremel tool would be needed but seems those things can only do for metal and wood.
so is there no way to have a lil stone hobby and take some rough stones and make them beautiful and shiny right in your own home without having to go to some factory and have it done with huge machines?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

You can do it without the big fancy machines. They just make the whole process a lot easier.
If you're very lucky you can break your stone using a chisel and hammer and then grind it to shape. The problem is this causes fractures which may weaken your stone and possibly make pieces fall off that you don't want to fall off.
We used a normal bench grinder. Take off the tool rest. Build a shelf on the wall to hold a tank of water. Attach a small tube with a valve to the tank and make it drip on the grinder wheel. Now you can grind your rock and not overheat it. Place plexiglass shields in strategic places to prevent the water from splattering on you.
You start off with a coarse grind and you change to finer and finer grinds until the stone is as fine-finished as you can get.
Next, polishing....
We used a plywood wheel attached to a motor, on the wheel was a disk of cowhide. You drip water on this also.
You will need polishing compounds to polish this way, use finer and finer until you get the high polish you are after.
The stone is held on the end of a small stick with this plastic-like stuff called "Dop". You warm the stone and the dop over a candle flame and stick some dop onto the stone. Then you warm your "dop stick" and your stone until you can stick the stone onto the dop stick. It holds pretty good and makes it much easier to work the stone.

These are just the basics of grinding/polishing gemstones, but there is quite a bit more to learn to be able to do it right.
There should be a lot of info on Google.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

choosing yours as B.A cos you wrote the most. I can't have large things like this I live 11 stories in the air in an apartment building.
I just needed to know if a dremel tool was right for the job. some ppl say it is but I can't find anything definitive online that says that.

Thanks for the help:)

Answer 2

go to wal-mart or craft store and buy a gem stone polisher. i think mine was about 20 dollars. i think this will get the results you are trying to achieve.