The Amateur Lapidary - Jerrard - 1st Ed 1969 - PB

»»»  If you buy from me, postage cost is only for what Royal Mail charge for the weight  «««
»»» I recycle all packaging to keep costs down. Weight & price are always quoted below «««
»»»» Screen-shot with postage options to overseas bidder's on receipt of e-mail address ««««
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE SEE THE COMPANION VOLUME IN MY OTHER LISTINGS

THE
AMATEUR
LAPIDARY
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO
CUTTING AND POLISHING
SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES
AND PEBBLES
R. A. JERRARD

D. BRADFORD BARTON LTD

First published 1969 by
D. BRADFORD BARTON LIMITED
FRANCES STREET . TRURO . CORNWALL

© R. A. Jerrard 1969

Printed in Great Britain by
CHAPEL RIVER PRESS • ANDOVER • HANTS

Card-backed paperback in VG condition - 80 printed pages - size: 5½" x 8½" approx
Includes black and white photographs and illustrations throughout
All pages clean and binding tight

CONTENTS
Introduction 5
The humble pebble 7
Polishing a pebble by hand 9
Polishing pebbles in quantity 13
Polishing a flat surface by hand 16
Grinding and shaping stone 18
Diamond abrasives and sawing stone 24
Mohs' scale of hardness 28
Types of stone 32
To make a cabochon 36
Lapping 40
Drilling stone 43
Faceting 45
Jewelry and jewelry making 53
Hall-marking 62
A design for a grinder-polisher 64
A design for a lapping machine 69
A design for a tumbler polisher 71
A design for a trim-saw 76
Glossary of terms 79

with forty drawings in the text by the author

INTRODUCTION
According to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, a lapidary is one who "cuts, polishes or engraves precious stones". The modern amateur lapidary is anyone who cuts, polishes or engraves semi-precious stones—although there are amateur lapidaries who work also with precious stones.
The stones, granites and marbles of the stone-mason's craft are believed by most people to be very hard materials, but compared with many of the semi-precious materials used by the lapidary, they are in fact fairly soft. Most may be cut and shaped with hardened and tempered steel tools; most of the semi-precious stones used by the lapidary require much harder and more durable cutting agents to saw, grind, smooth and polish them. Steel will not even scratch those in the hardness range of 8 and above (see Mohs' Scale of Hardness, Section 9), and even those in the hardness range of 7 and below would soon dull the edge of most steel tools. Diamonds, silicon carbide, boron carbide and others with a hardness of 9-10 are essential for lapidary work.
This book is written for the person who knows little or nothing about lapidary work and who would like to take it up as a hobby. Its purpose is to explain in non-technical language how this apparently difficult task can be simply carried out. Very hard stone may be ground and polished by hand power, using simple equipment, and it may be ground and polished with motor-driven machines which can be of British or American manufacture or home-made. All of the author's equipment is home-made and therefore cost only a fraction of the price of commercially-produced machines; there is usually only a limited amount of money available for hobbies, and by building one's own equipment the cost can be considerably reduced.
Where quantity output is a secondary consideration, hand methods are adequate. Where it is desired to produce cut and polished stones quickly, however, and with little effort a motor-driven machine is a necessity. Hand power is slow and laborious, whereas motor-driven saws, grinders and polishers provide the power to do the job easily, quickly and efficiently. In the United States the amateur lapidary is well catered for. Lapidary societies exist in most towns and cities, and "rock-shops" are plentiful.

Raw materials are readily and cheaply available, as are machines, books, magazines, maps of gemstone locations, and so on. In complete contrast, lapidary societies in Great Britain may be counted on the fingers of both hands. British equipment is at present very limited in design and variety compared with American products. Interest in the hobby is growing in this country, however, and as the demand for equipment grows also, it is to be hoped that the designs and range of British machines will improve.
Until a few years ago information on precious and semi-precious stone cutting and polishing was not available to the interested amateur. This was perhaps because insufficient interest had been shown in the subject, or because the trade preferred it to remain a secret.
This book makes available most of the information necessary to cut and polish semi-precious stones and common pebbles from the seashore. It is hoped that it will be especially useful to those unable to join a lapidary society or having no access to the American books on the subject.

210g

UK P + P = 76p - 2nd CLASS  (NOW FREE IN UK)

UK: PAYPAL - CHEQUE - BACS TRANSFER

OVERSEAS: PAYPAL - PLEASE E-MAIL FOR POSTAGE

ITEM'S WILL BE POSTED AS SOON AS PAYMENT IS RECEIVED

CHEQUES (UK ONLY) : ITEM'S WILL BE POSTED AFTER CLEARANCE

ALL ITEMS POSTED ARE ROBUSTLY PACKED FOR MAXIMUM PROTECTION USING RECYCLED MATERIALS
»»» I recycle all packing materials, (even my hand-written notes written when packed are recycled to minimise waste) «««
»»» I try and keep shipping costs down by using a 'no-frills' approach. You only pay postage as charged by Royal Mail «««

PAYPAL WELCOME BUT PLEASE DON'T PAY BY E-CHEQUE AS THIS CAN TAKE UP TO 12 DAYS TO CLEAR!

IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY IN ANY WAY AFTER BUYING PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR A RESOLUTION BEFORE LEAVING FEEDBACK
AFTER DISAPPOINTMENTS, I NOW ONLY RETURN FEEDBACK TO THOSE WHO HAVE LEFT IT FOR ME

FOR THE BENEFIT OF OTHERS, IF YOU FEEL YOU HAVE TO MARK ME DOWN ON SOME OF THE STAR-RATING ASPECTS AFTER BUYING,
I WOULD APPRECIATE YOU POINTING OUT IN WHICH AREAS I COULD IMPROVE MY SERVICE. THANKS!

No reserve - see my other listings for an interesting selection of hardbacks and paperbacks on a wide variety of subjects (including fiction) . . .