Lapidary

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Requirements

1. Name four safety precautions to be taken when sawing rocks.

2. Name two types of diamond saw lubricating and cooling solutions and their purpose.

3. Explain how a diamond saw cuts rocks, how it gets dull, and how it can be sharpened.

4. Describe the five basic steps to follow in bringing a slab or a flat surface to a polish.

5. What important precaution should be taken between each stage of grinding and sanding?

6. What is a template, and how is it used?

7. What is a cabochon, and what is the usual thickness of the slab from which it is made?

8. How do you decide the best angle or position to slab a specimen?

9. Explain two methods of wet sanding while shaping and polishing the rock.

10. From what material are polishing compounds made? If a scratch appears while polishing, how is it removed?

11. Saw, trim, properly dop, and carry a cabochon through the necessary grinding, sanding, and polishing stages to a high gloss or glassy finish.

12. Mount the cabochon on some type of backing, such as a stick pin, sweater pin, key ring, etc., with cement.