Let’s post links and descriptions of our favorite resources and vendors.
Rough and Synthetics
- Joe Henley Rough - Natural and Synthetics (US)
- Turtle’s Hoard - Synthetics (US)
- Tom’s Box of Rocks - Synthetics (US)
- Western Gem - Natural (US)
- Gems of East Africa - Natural (EU)
Lapidary Supplies
- Lightning Laps - Laps, Polishes and Tools
Designs
Ultratec
- Adjust swing alignment on platen - Does your stone cut deeper on the outside vs inside of the lap? This will help fix that.
Thanks for the references. I browsed lightning laps. My first impression is you likely have an interesting perspective on trustworthy adhesives. Can you tell me about what you really trust for holding a stone?
(I am not a complete amateur when it comes to cleaning and prep. I spent nearly a decade repairing and painting cars.)
I’ve used dental wax for years to hold the stones to the dop and it does a good job as long as you don’t use too much force when cutting. The key to using the wax is to make sure you heat both the stone and dop enough for the wax to adhere. You can tell that has done so when the wax edge no longer seems to curl under and instead seems to have a clean line with the surface.
I’ve used super glue as well depending on the situation… but the cure time and difficulty in getting it off the dop and cleaning the stone of the residue makes it not worth it in my opinion.