How To Make Jewelry From Natural Stones
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Steps
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Description
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Photos
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1
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Each necklace begins as a chunk of rock, mineral or fossil, either big or small. |
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2
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The rock is cut into slabs with the mother of all saws. |
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3
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I use a trim saw to cut the slabs into the shapes I want for pendants. |
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4
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To shape and polish the rough pieces, I use a self-contained Genie (includes a water pump system). This machine shapes and polishes the pendants in 6 steps, starting with a wheel with course diamond grit, and ending with the polish wheels, with fine polish. Leather disks can be added to the end of the shaft to give a final polish if needed. |
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5
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When the pendants are complete, I drill tiny holes in the tops with a drill press using diamond drill bits. I then glue small screw eyes into the hole and the pendant is ready for stringing. |
 Drilling Holes using Drill Press |
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6
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I use a bead board to design my necklaces, which allows me to "experiment" with the design before stringing. I have 9 boxes of natural stone, horn, bone or ivory beads, which I use to create the finished product. I use sterling silver or 14K gold filled clasps and crimp beads. Necklaces are strung on SoftFlex wire, which is flexible, yet strong. The finished product is one of a kind, created from natural jewels! |
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www.naturaljewels.com,
Gaye@naturaljewels.com