Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-08
IN ALAPIDARYs WORKSHOP.
How Quartz and Peuifae.iems are Pre-
pared FOR the Market Varied Hues Of Pc
trined Woods.

pared for the Market Varied Hues or Pc
uined Woods.
Denver Tribune Republican,
A reporter dropped into Sixteenth
street lapidary establishment recently
to look over some specimens, and as he
picked up peculiarly yariegated aud
handsome piece the lapidary remarked
"That is not genuine stone;
it is petrifaction, and nearly
all Of these specimens you see on
these shelves are the same. Come into
the shop and see how we work them
up" And he led the way behind the
partition where several operators were
busy saving, polishing, and drilling
these petrifcations, a. well as q variety
Of quartzes and Colorado jewels, which
were being worked into all shapes and
sizes and combinations, principally
for jewelry wear. Here is the
saw which cuts the chunks or Jumps
Of this stone into thick and thin slices
as may be wanted. See there is no
edge on this" and the speaker rubbed
his thumb against the swiftly-revolving
cutter. SIT is common sheet-iron
saw, but without teeth. 1t cuts be-
cause there is diamond dust rubbed
into the edge, and we can generally cut
four square inches per hour. A sharp
edge would have no effect, while SER
rated edge would be apt to tear things
or leave a rough, Jagged surface.
1--WE use a great deal Of diamond
dust in stone-cutting, which makes it
costly. In some Of our drills, as you
will see, we use seventy-fve cents
worth Of this dust per hour but on
these saws twenty-five cents worth for
four square inches Of stock is fair
average for consumption"
"How do you make the dust stay on
that saw"
We nick the edges, and force the
dust into the iron with a little chilled
iron wheel till she is primed for work.
1t may interest you to know that this
diamond dust we grind up from splints
or chips which we buy from diamond
cutters. They are mostly from the
white, with some of the finer black
diamonds. The price is all the wayup
to $3.50 per carat, and carat is half
the size Of an average pea. But the
prices fuctuate like stocks, so that what
is $3.50 to-day may be "a or s. to-
morrow"
Then there is money in studying
up the diamond market?"
Well, | should say so," was the
reply.
Now, you see,' continued the lapi-
Diary, taking up recently-sawn speci-
men, " that the freshly-sawn surface is
very smooth, but dull and not so in
yiting as it might be. We must polish
it. Here is a grindstone which we
use only for rough grinding, such
as cutting down rough edges, if
they are to be polished. But
most people prefer these larger
specimens, with uncut edges, as bet
ter offset to the highly-polished sides.
This stone beyond is an imported
Scotch sandstone, upon which we put |
the object for the first degree of polish
ing, and it i; also used for rubbing
down Jewels and stones Of all kinds
and sizes into whatever shape an order
calls for. Put your finger against it,"
The visitor did so, and found the edge
with buttery-smooth feeling, showing
remarkably fine, yet hard grain.
at would make a good whetstone,"
he ventured.
"Oh, no; it wouldn't do to touch
iron to that. 1t would spoil the stone |
for long time to put any tool to it.
The other stone is what we use for that.
Here is the wheel which puts on the
final polish, which we call the lap"
and the speaker uncovered horizontal
wheel of about sixteen inches diameter
and one inch thick, arranged to revolye
at a high rate Of speed, working pre-
cisely on the same principle as pot
teT's wheel.
This wheel is made Of block-tln,
with enough anthony and aluminium
metal in it to secure proper consls-
tency. The nicking you see all over it
is what gives the immediate polish, as
the almost instantaneous presentation
of scores of these indentatlons chip
away the small excrescences, cOIrusca-
tons, protuberances, or whatever you
call them, with marvellous rapidity, and
at the same time, the wheel being of
soft metal, all scratches are avoided.
The surface to be frightened is kept on
this wheel till the required polish is
obtained.
While we are on the polishing sub
ject let me explain an interesting fact.
See this white quartz watch-charm. 1t
has any number of sides with some of
the retroactive appearances Of the dia-
mond, and sells readily from IS to sl0.
Those sides and corners | put on by
setting it against the Scotch sandstone.
And the ability to get all those faces
alike in that circle you see, to make the
number wanted and no more, and to
turn out Systematically so complicated
a piece of work, has come to me only
after five years steady practice at the
work. But now do anything in this
line of work." The speaker then
turned to another part of the shop,
where the drilling-work was carried on.
" This doesn't look much like drill,
does it?" he said, putting thin circu-
lar metallic box, with the cap of, in
the reporters hands. "There are
cylindrical drills running up to four
inches in diameter, and even larger if
an order calls for it. Here are STEM
drills furnished with diamond points
running down to one thirty-second Of
an inch, and we drill smaller holes
if ordered. Diamond dust is used
on these also instead of points,
where the work requires it, except
on the smallest, where the dust alone
is used. We drill anything. Here
are pieces Of plate-glass with holes of
all sizes drilled in it, some of the cut
ting, as you see, being quite fantastic.
And, by the way, we cut Jumps of
glass to initiate the diamond also DIFF
ferent colored glasses are turned and
cut in all shapes so as to resemble
genuine jewels. A great deal Of this is
done in our cheap jewelry. But look
here" as he picked a set of false
teeth off of q SHELF, see these
hlue marks on the teeth? These pOints |