Sunsites Gem and Mineral Club

P.O. Box 87

Pearce, AZ 85625

::: Finding and Grinding Rocks in Cochise County Arizona Since 1962 :::

Classes

Lapidary Class

Under the able leadership of Larry Strout, the Club runs Lapidary Classes for its members in our Lapidary Lab. When you are ready to learn, call Don Hammer at 384-3105 or Larry Strout at 826-3991.

Larry teaches a 14-step process that will have you making cabs by the end of the first class session:

  1. DETERMINE what direction to slab the stone
  2. SAW the rock into SLABS
  3. SELECT what part of the slab and what shape you want and mark it
  4. TRIM off the "waste" material
  5. SHAPE the preform
  6. DOP the preform
  7. ROUGH GRIND the dome
  8. SMOOTH GRIND the dome
  9. BEVEL the bottom edges
  10. SAND the dome and Girdle
  11. PRE-POLISH the dome and girdle
  12. POLISH
  13. REMOVE the dop stick
  14. MOUNT the CABOCHON

Class members discussing what they plan to do prior to going to the machines.