ENHANCING NATURE'S AGATE SCULPTURES-Rock Tumbling Preserves Their Original Features

摘要

Those of us with artistic inclinations appreciate the natural sculptures of Mother Nature. As a jeweler and a lapidary artist, I have been using rock-tumbling techniques for several years in an effort to produce gemstones that preserve the natural features of chalcedony agate specimens. It all started when I realized that it would take endless hours in front of my grinding wheels to remove weathered surfaces that had accumulated over eons of Earth's history. The mechanical similarity of active rock tumbling to the slow cycles of water erosion made it clear that I could save myself a lot of effort, while duplicating natures work at an accelerated rate.