From left to right, the rocks I have shaped are amethyst, rose quartz, and obsidian. I really enjoyed shaping the rocks so I can wear them as jewelry. I came across multiple struggles with shaping the rocks but I had a lot of help from people who knew how to use the lapidary machine to educate me and help me with shaping them. The amethyst I have shaped was my first piece of rock I shaped and it didn't really turn out the way I planned it to turn out. What I wanted it to be shaped into was similar to how my rose quartz piece turned out. It turned out the way it is because I wasn't good on choosing a piece that was big enough without a lot of cracks in the rock. It was turning out pretty well until I became impatient and asked Jiapsi to cut my rock smaller to speed up the shaping process. He had warned me that It could crack because of how fragile the rock is and because there was already a crack forming but I told him to do it anyways. As he was cutting the amethyst, it had cracked in half so I was left with a small piece of it. With a small piece, I just decided to shape it into a circle so I can at least still have a piece of amethyst to wear as jewelry.
For my rose quartz, I was a little more careful on decided whether or not to cut the rock. But I was pretty impatient on shaping this rock too until we had a new wheel come in which was the 100 diamond wheel. The wheel was coarser so it grinded my rock faster than before. With both of the rocks, I had trouble on deciding when they were done with the brown, red and blue wheel so I kept bothering Jiapsi so he can check if I am done with each wheel. Faceting the rocks were pretty difficult, and this goes for my obsidian piece too, because when I shaped the pointy end, the angles didn't always match up with the straight edges. I tried my best in matching them up but the results are still crooked. For my obsidian piece, I decide to give myself a challenge and I faceted both sides.
For my rose quartz, I was a little more careful on decided whether or not to cut the rock. But I was pretty impatient on shaping this rock too until we had a new wheel come in which was the 100 diamond wheel. The wheel was coarser so it grinded my rock faster than before. With both of the rocks, I had trouble on deciding when they were done with the brown, red and blue wheel so I kept bothering Jiapsi so he can check if I am done with each wheel. Faceting the rocks were pretty difficult, and this goes for my obsidian piece too, because when I shaped the pointy end, the angles didn't always match up with the straight edges. I tried my best in matching them up but the results are still crooked. For my obsidian piece, I decide to give myself a challenge and I faceted both sides.
Amethyst
Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz. The purple color is caused because of the iron that is in it. If heated, amethyst may turn yellow-orange, yellow-brown, or dark brownish, and then resembles the quartz variety citrine. The hardness of it is similar to quartz. A lot of amethyst is produced in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil and It is usually in large geodes of volcanic rocks there. Other places amethyst could be found is in Russia, South Korea, the United States, Uruguay, Maissau, Austria, India and many more. Up until the 18th century, amethyst was included in the cardinal, or valuable gems such as diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire. It has lost it's value because a extensive amount of it was discovered in Brazil. It's crystallization habit is forming a 6-sided prism ending in 6-sided pyramid but it doesn't always for this structure. Amethyst is the birthstone of February and it is said to have power, healing, and protection energies.
Rose Quartz
Rose quartz, a silicon dioxide crystal, is one of the most common varieties of quartz. It's name comes from the color it has, which ranges from pale pink to a deep reddish-pink. It usually occurs in massive form, but it sometimes grows in clusters of small prismatic crystals. It varies in clarity from opaque to translucent to a foggy transparency. The color is usually considered as due to trace amounts of titanium, iron, or manganese. The places that contain large amounts of rose quartz are Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Russia, France, Namibia and Morocco. When it forms it typically is a 6-sided prism ending in 6-sided pyramid. Quartz (rose quartz is a type of quartz) is the second abundant mineral on the earth's crust, after the mineral feldspar.
Obsidian
Obsidian is volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock. It is formed when the lava is quickly cooled so rapidly that atoms are unable to arrange themselves into a crystalline structure. The result is a volcanic glass with a smooth texture that breaks with a conchoidal fracture. Obsidian is hard and brittle so when it breaks, there is usually very sharp edges. Pure obsidian's color is usually dark but sometimes it has different colors depending on the presence of impurities. Magnesium and iron usually give obsidian a black to brown color. In some obsidian, there are small white spots which are crystals of cristolbalite. The volcanic glass might contain gas bubbles from the lava flow and these bubbles can produce different effects like a gold sheen on the glass. An iridescent, rainbow-like sheen is caused by inclusions of magnetite nanoparticles. It is found in many place all around the world. Obsidian was used to make knives, arrowheads, spear points, scrapers, and many other weapons and tools. Thin blades of obsidian are placed in surgical scalpels used for some of the most precise surgery because obsidian can produce a cutting edge that is thinner and sharper than the best surgical steel.