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Flintknapping - $26.95
Making and Understanding Stone Tools
by John C. Whittaker
Soft cover, 9" x 6", 341 pages, copyright 1994
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Sample page Flintknapping, the making of stone tools, is an ancient craft enjoying a resurgence of interest among both amateur and professional students of prehistoric cultures. This new guide offers the most detailed handbook on flintknapping currently available and the only one written from an archeological perspective of interpreting stone tools as well as making them.
Flintknapping contains detailed, practical information on making stone tools. Author John Whittaker is Professor of Anthropology at Grinell College. He has extensive experience in making and analyzing stone tools and has written many articles on the subject. He starts Flintknapping at the beginner level and progresses to discussion of a wide range of techniques. He includes information on necessary tools and materials, as well as step-by-step instructions for making several basic stone tool types. Numerous diagrams allow the reader to visualize the flintknapping process, and drawings of many stone tools illustrate the discussion and serve as models for beginning knappers.
Chapters include: 1. Introduction, 2. Flintknapping: Basic Principles, 3: A Brief History of Flintknapping, 4. Raw Materials, 5. Safety, 6. Hard-Hammer Percussion, 7. Pressure Flaking, 8. Soft-Hammer Percussion and Bifaces, 9. Blades and Fluting, 10. Using Stone Tools, and 11. Archeological Analysis of Stone Tools. An Appendix of Resources for Knappers includes Commercial Sources of Knapping Material, Knapping Newsletters and Journals, and Knapping Events ("Knap-ins"). The very comprehensive 30 page section of references included in Flintknapping reflects the author's extensive academic and research background and fans out to literally years worth of further reading on the subject of knapping and stone tools.
If you are looking for how-to to get started knapping or to improve you knapping skills and techinques, Flintknapping is the book for you!

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Gem and Lapidary Materials
For Cutters, Collectors and Jewelers
by June Culp Zeitner
Soft cover, 7" x 10", 347 pages, copyright 1996
Sample page Gem and Lapidary Materials provides a comprehensive overview of the materials used in the lapidary arts throughout history and up to the present. It is about minerals and rocks as lapidary materials. The descriptions stress how the material looks to the lapidary artist, or jeweler or connoisseur. This is not a book about mineralogy, nor a book about how to cut stones - it is about the materials of lapidary, the art of the ages.
Chapters include Introduction to Gem and Lapidary Materials, The Gems of History, Transparent Faceting Materials, Crystalline Quartz, Cryptocrystalline Quartz: The Agate Family, Quartz: Opaque But Colorful, Quartz: Strange and Wonderful Pseudomorphs, Cabochon Favorites of Yesterday and Today, Cabochon and Carving Materials, Ornamental and Decorative Gem Materials, Phenomenal Gems: Stars and Stripes, Metallic Gem Materials, Organic Gem Materials: Gems fro Life, Rare, Little Known and Unusual Gem Materials, and Gems from the Laboratory and Factory. Appendices provide information on the Refractive Index and Dispersion of Gemstones, Educational Associations, and Topical Publications. A particularly comprehensive bibliography lists several hundred related books and references.

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Gem Cutting A Lapidary's Manual
Second Edition
by John Sinkankas
Hard and Soft cover, 11" x 8.25", 297 pages, copyright 1955,1962.
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More than 50 years have passed since the first printing of John Sinkankas's Gem Cutting, A Lapidary's Manual in 1955, now long out of print in any edition. Yet to this day, this often recommended and much sought after book from the golden age of lapidary in the 1950s and 1960s remains the authoritative how-to book and reference on the hobby and art of lapidary. No other book on lapidary has since been authored with the authority, experience and knowledge of John Sinkankas that is as comprehensive in scope or as clear and thorough in its explanations and discussion of lapidary processes and techniques.
Gem Cutting, A Lapidary's Manual is written for the beginner and expert alike. It deals simply with the fundamentals and leads logically into techniques and projects which will challenge even the most advanced cutters. The contents of Gem Cutting, A Lapidary's Manual are organized into 19 chapters: 1 Gemstones - The Raw Material Of The Lapidary; 2 How To Get Started; 3 Sawing; 4 Grinding; 5 Lapping; 6 Sanding; 7 Polishing; 8 All-Purpose Units; 9 Drilling; 10 Cabochon Gems; 11 How To Cut Cabochons; 12 Faceted Gems; 13 Faceting Equipment; 14 How To Cut Faceted Gems; 15 Spheres And Beads; 16 Tumbling; 17 Carving And Engraving; 18 Mosaic And Inlay Work; 19 Treatment of Gemstones. Appendices provide Mechanical Tables of RPM Verses Pulley Diameter and Rim Speeds For Saws And Wheels; Weights And Measures Useful To The Gem Cutter; Tables Of Angles For Faceted Gems; Magazines And Books. A comprehensive Index is included.
Advice is provided on selecting and buying rough gemstones, and how to examine them for best results. An important section on the description and treatment of gemstones was enlarged in the second edition to include more species.

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Gem Tumbling and Baroque Jewelry Making
A Guide for Amatuer Tumblers includes Agate, Obsidians, Garnets, etc.
by Arthur Earl Victor and Lila Mae Victor
Soft cover, 6" x 9", 58 pages, copyright 1984
Sample page Gem Tumbling and Baroque Jewelry Making is an excellent primer and guide for the rockhound who plans to tumble-polish their own stones. Features step-by-step practical and includes instructions on building your own tumbler
The book is organized into two major sections, Tumbling - Part One and Baroque Jewelry Making - Part 2. Topics covered in the Tumbling section include: General Instructions, Coarse Grind, Flat Sided Stones, Grinding Time, Intermittent Operation, Find Grind, Polish Operation, Little Tumblers, Vibrating Tumblers, Gas Pressure, Grits for Tumbling, Preforms, Montana Agate, Hard Plume, Jasper, etc., Common Opal - Moonstone - Zeolites, Tiger Eye, Quartz - Amethyst - Tourmaline - Aquamarine - Citrine, Agatized and Opalized Wood, Thunder Eggs and Geodes, Beach Agates and Water Worn Material, Junkite, Obsidian and Apache Tears, North Idaho Garnets, How to Build a Tumbler, Tumbler Speed, Size and Design, How to Figure Pulley Size, Tin Cans and Glass Jars, Fillers and Linings, Breaking and Cleaving, Storing Grinding Compounds and Polish, Storage of Agates, Waste Disposal, Hardness of Stones, Table of Speeds and Grit Quantities and Conclusion.
Topics covered in the Baroque Jewelry Making Section include: Introduction, Selecting Stones, Slicing Baroques, Epoxy - The Miracle Adhesive, Other Adhesives, Caps, Upeyes and Rings, Other Uses of Epoxy, Baroque Bracelets, Keyrings, etc., Sliced Baroques and Miscellaneous, Agates Are Forever and Helpful Hints for Shop.
Gem Tumbling and Baroque Jewelry Making is concise and well illustrated with numerous photographs and drawings. The gemstone tumbling techniques presented are tried and proven and have withstood the test of time. This highly recommended book presents a great deal of valuable how-to information for a very modest price and belongs in the library of every lapidary hobbyist.

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Handbook of Gemstone Carving
A Complete Guide To The Materials, Equipment And Techniques For Carving Gemstones
by Ed and Leola Wertz
Soft cover, 5.5" x 8.5", 47 pages, copyright 1986
Sample page The Handbook of Gemstone Carving is an easy to follow book and primer on carving gemstones with a special emphasis on the tools and techniqes employed by gemstone carvers. Detailed instructions are provided for carving flat work, carvings in the round, and portraits.
Chapters include: A Review of Gemstone Carving, Gemstones Used for Carving, Ideas for Subjects to Carve, Equipment and Its Use, Tools and How to Use Them, Carving Forms and Finishes, How to Carve a Leaf, Carving in the Round, Portraits in Stone, and Some Notes About Display. Step by step illustrations are provided for carving several projects including a leaf, a mother and babe, a jade vase and a portrait. Handbook of Gemstone Carving is concise and well illustrated with numerous photographs and drawings. The carving techniques presented are tried and proven and have withstood the test of time. This highly recommended book presents a great deal of valuable how-to information for a very modest price and belongs in the library of every lapidary hobbyist.

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How to Tumble Polish Gemstones
and Make Tumbled Gem Jewelry
by Jerome Wexler
Soft cover, 8.5" 11", 31 pages, copyright 1995 How To Tumble Polish Gemstones has all the information you need to get excellent results when tumbling rocks. Covers both vibratory and rotating tumblers, polishing tips and more.

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How To Tumble Polish Rocks Into Gems
Secrets Of The Pros Revealed
by Edward E. Smith
Soft cover, 5.5" x 8.5", 102 pages, copyright 2005
Sample page How To Tumble Polish Rocks Into Gems provides comprehensive information on how to use both rotary and vibratory type rock tumblers to tumble polish gemstones. Everything from tumbling Apache Tears to Zebra Agate, Jewelry Castings to Brass Shell Casings, Fossils to Sea Shells and Carvings to Cabochons is covered in this book.
How To Tumble Polish Rocks Into Gems is organized into 41 topical sections which include: 1 Introduction to Tumbling, 2 Collecting, What to Look for and Where, 3 The Beginning, 4 Selecting Tumbling Materials, 5 Media: Plastic, Ceramic, Natural Organic, 6 Abrasives: Silicon Carbide, Boron Carbide, Aluminum Oxides, Grit Sizes and Their Uses, 7 Compounds: Polishing Wet and Dry, 8 Loading the Rotary Tumbler, 9 Loading the Vibratory Tumbler, 10 Loading: Gem Materials, Fossils, Ivory, Shell, Coral, Bone, 11 Loading: Vibratory Materials, Mixing Materials, 12 Recap: Rotary Gemstones, 13 Recap: Vibratory Loading, Gems, Organics, Metals, Bone, Coral, 14 Tumbling Records, 15 Grinding, Selecting Abrasives, 16 Grinding, Abrasives, Rotary, 17 Grinding, Abrasives, Vibratory, 18 Hardness, Toughness, Charts, 19 Cleaning, Intermediate Treatment, 20 Sanding Cycle, Rotary, Vibratory, 21 Sanding-2, Gem Materials, Rotary Tips, 22 Sanding-2, Gem Materials, Vibratory Tips, 23 Sanding 2-, Rotary, Vibratory, 24 Cleaning, Before Pre-Polish, Polish, Intermediate Treatment, 25 Pre-Polish, Rotary, Vibratory, 26 Polishing, Rotary, 27 Polishing Gem Materials, Vibratory Wet Method, 28 Polishing Gem Materials, Vibratory Dry Method, 29 Polishing Gem Materials, Rotary, 30 Polishing Gem Stones, Vibratory, 31 Polishing Gem Materials Re-Cap, 32 Polishing, Vibratory Dry Method, 33 Burnishing, Rotary, Vibratory, 34 Shapes--Pre-Forms--Cabs, Rotary, 35 Polishing, Vibratory Wet and Dry, 36 General Information, Flat Surfaces, Rotary, Vibratory, 37 Sanding-Polishing Flat Surfaces, Rotary, 38 Metals, Gold, Silver, Preparing Machine Types, Pre-Finishing, 39 Burnishing, Metals, 40 The Author, Edward E. Smith, 41 Book Objectives, Content.

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How to Use Diamond Abrasives
to Cut Gemstones
by Arthur L. Riggle
Soft cover, 9" x 11", 30 pages, copyright 1996
Sample page Whether you are an experienced gem cutter or are a beginner interested in getting into the fascinating hobby (or profession) of lapidary, important considerations are the convenience and efficiency of the abrasives you use. These attributes are found in the use of diamond abrasives for the sawing, grinding, sanding, smoothing and polishing of gemstones. The "diamond way" is fast, clean and cool. Diamond lapidary equipment is compact, an important consideration for those with limited space. Not so long ago few of these abrasives were available to gem cutters and lapidary hobbyists, but modern technology has blessed lapidaries with a wide variety of diamond machinery, accessories and supplies.
How To Use Diamond Abrasives shows you how to use diamond abrasives and equipment to cut cabochons and flat stones. Several methods are covered so you may select from those which best fit your needs and work for you. This book will show you how to use the various types of diamond abrasives to cut beautiful gemstones and display pieces with a maximum of enjoyment, convenience and cleanliness.
Chapters include: Why Diamond?, Sawing Gemstones, Dopping, Grinding with Diamond, Smoothing and Polishing, Equipment, Accessories and Supplies, and Special Techniques. How To Use Diamond Abrasives To Cut Gemstones is concise and well illustrated with numerous photographs and drawings. The cabochon making techniques presented are tried and proven and have withstood the test of time. This highly recommended book presents a great deal of valuable how-to information for a very modest price and belongs in the library of every lapidary hobbyist.

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How You Can Cut and Polish Gems Into Valuable Jewels - $16.95
The 411 Information Guide
by Edward E. Smith
Soft cover, 8.5" x 5.5", 99 pages, copyright 2004 How You Can Cut and Polish Gems Into Valuable Jewels is a new style of book beginning with sections about locating and collecting, but is written primarily to serve as a source and valuable guide to the basic steps in the lapidary processes of sawing, grinding, sanding and polishing. Included are choices for the selection of discs, pads, wheels and polishing compounds for over 80 gem materials.
The author's many years of hands on experience in gem cutting, designing, developing, demonstrating and marketing gem cutting equipment have resulted in this information guide book about "How You Can Cut and Polish Gems Into Valuable Jewels", from start to finish. Over 125 graphic illustrations and photos about cabochons, carving, faceting, cabinet specimens plus jewelers guide charts, for the beginner and the professional as well, revealing secrets of the pros.
Topics covered under the Locating - Collecting section include: Getting Started - Locating & Collecting, Close to Home - Streams, Rivers - Natural Lakes, Geologic Timeline - Deserts Sands, Oceans - Costal Areas, and Gems of the Desert - On Location Mountains - Gems. Topics covered under the Preparation section include: Selecting, Sawing and Slabbing.
Topics covered under the Cabochons section include: Templates - Shaping - The Girdle, Dopping - Pre-Shaping - Grinding - Sanding, Polishing - Pads - Wheels, and Almost Polished - Recap. Topics covered under the Carving - Speciems section include Carving Basics - Cabinet - Display Specimens.
Topics covered under the Faceting section include: Faceting - Light - Angles - Proportions, Orientation - Gem shapes - Standard Brilliant, Machine Types - The Basic Steps, Dopping - Preshaping - Heads - Angles - Laps, and Tips, Pavilion, Transfer - Crown - Laps - Polish.

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Introduction to Lapidary
by Pansy D. Kraus
Soft cover, 7" x 9", 196 pages, copyright 1987
Sample page Introduction To Lapidary provides an authoritative introduction to all aspects of lapidary, describing processes, tools, and equipment of each branch of this fascinating hobby. This book will help the reader choose a technique, get started right away, and determine which tools will work best to achieve specific results.
Author Pansy Kraus, editor of the Lapidary Journal magazine for 21 years, describes the processes and considerable rewards of tumbling rocks, making cabochons, carving gem materials, lapping, cutting spheres, making beads and faceting. She provides a coherent overview of a vast and complex field, from the elementals of getting started to studio visits with lapidary artists, where we discover what may be possible.
Chapters include History of Lapidary, Rock Tumbling, Equipment for Rock Tumbling, Cabochon Grinding and Polishing, Equipment for Cabochon Cutting, Lapping Gem Materials, Sphere and Bead Making and Drilling, Inlay, Mosaics and Intarsias, Gem Carving, Faceting Gemstones, and Faceting Equipment. Useful Tables includes Names for Agates, Scales of Hardness, Grit-Size Numbering and Grading, Calculated Critical Angle Based on Refractive Index, Conversion Table: Length, Temperature, Volume, Weight, Suggested Diamond Saw Speeds and RPM Speed Table. Appendices include Gem and Mineral Magazines, Ivory Importing Restrictions, References, and Suggested Reading.

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Lapidary Carving for Creative Jewelry
Basic Techniques For Carving Ringstones and Pendants
by Henry Hunt
Soft cover, 7" x 9", 195 pages, copyright 2003
Sample page Profusely illustrated with photographs, Lapidary Carving for Creative Jewelry clearly describes the carving of small transparent gemstones into ring and pendant forms. Methods for carving basic shapes are explained. Techniques for making special tools are summarized, including detailed instructions on how to kiln fire miniature grinding wheels. Drilling and forming methods as well as the important finishing processes of smoothing and polishing are painstakingly developed. Entire chapters are devoted to detailed descriptions of carving techniques and problems encountered with each of the major gemstones popular with gemstone carvers. Chapters include: Optical Properties of Transparent Gemstones, Transparent Gemstones suitable for Carving, The General Process of Carving, Tool Making, Drilling, Reaming and Frosting, Carving Grooved and Twisted Forms, Carving Flat Forms, Carving Intaglios and Relief, Carving Fluted Forms, Carving Plaque and disc shapes, Quartz: Carving Characteristics, Cherry Opal: Carving Characteristics, Sunstone: Carving Characteristics, Peridot: Carving Characteristics, Garnet: Carving Characteristics, Tourmaline: Carving Characteristics, Aquamarine and Morganite: Carving Characteristics, Topaz: Carving Characteristics, Fluorite: Carving Characteristics, and Synthetic Crystals: Carving Characteristics. Highly recommended. Soft cover, 8" x 9", 193 pages.

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Master Gem Cutting Tips
A Comprehensive Selection of Practical Gemcutting Tips and Techniques For Immediate Use By Anyone Seeking To Excel in Gemstone Faceting, Carving or Cabochon Cutting
by Gerald L. Wykoff
Soft cover, 6" x 9", 166 pages, copyright 1992
Sample page Master Gem Cutting Tips unveils tips, techniques, methods and procedures used or originated by master gem cutters who are willing to share their expertise with others.
Articles and tips include: Make Diamond Paste, What Every Gemcutter Should Know About Abrasives, Breaking the Superglue Bond, Effective Method to Remove CA, Use of Epoxy, Using Syringes For Fast Epoxy, Ridding a Buff of Contamination, Making Interesting Cabochons, Special Techniques for Cabochons, Cutting Grooves and Channels, Bill Horton's "Drunken Oval", For Brilliance Cut a Sunflower, A Dopping Technique, Different Approaches to Dopping, Dopping Method Relies on Shellac, Drilling Small Holes in Gemstones, Tips on Faceting, A Way to Cut Even Break Facets, For Good Results Use Tangents, Faceting With "Ticks", Cut Table First, Then Relax and Cut, Some Comments of Serpentine, Heat Treating, Suggestions For Best Universal Faceting Angles, Interpreting Imperfections, Troy vs. Avoirdupois, Technique for Scratch Identification, "Running the Wheel" is Important Cab Technique, Cleaning Pelletized Resin Laps, Resurfacing Laps, Lap Tips From Experts, Thin Polishing Laps Gain Acceptance, Laps: Cast Iron Laps are Useful, Making Your Own Laps, Cliff Jackson's Wax Lap, Which Shape Sells Best, The 7 Points of Payoff Profits, Consistent Polish Requires a System, Oxalic Acid Polish, Techniques on Ceramic Polishing, Channel Polisher? Tray a Toothbrush, Polishing Buffs and Polishes, Ceramic Laps, Solving Difficult Polishing Problems, Colloidal Silica Proves Very Effective Gemstone Polish, Use Baby Shampoo With Diamond, Tips on Repair Work, Special Dopstick For Ring Repairs, Cutter Prepares Release Form, A Sawing Technique, Carving Techniques With a Saw, Quick Sawing, Paua Shells Beautiful-But Dangerous, Techniques For Cutting Sunstones, Tips in Corundum Polishing, Star Sapphire Height is Optional, Opal Cutting/Polishing, Marking Girdles, Avoiding a Shower When Girdling, A Trick For Even Girdles, Proper Lighting is Important, Papier-Mache For Unique Jewelry, Do You Really Need Angle Splitters, Good Holder For Printing, Saving Contents, Construction of a 1/10 Vernier, Good Use For Ceramic Laps, How to Make a Polariscope, Removing Oil, and The Big Fight Against Rust.

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Modern Lithic Artists Journal V1
Volume 1 - January 2005
Lithic Artists Guild edited by T.J. Onken
Soft cover, 12" x 9", 110 pages, copyright 2005.
Sample page Modern Lithic Artists Journal Volume 1 is a full sized, full color, coffee table art book showcasing and documenting reproduction artifacts as well as contemporary axes, points, knives, daggers, jewelry, pipes, eccentric art pieces and more, crafted by 100 of the most accomplished and talented modern knappers and lithic artists in the world.

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Modern Lithic Artists Journal V2
Volume 2 - September 2005
Lithic Artists Guild edited by T.J. Onken
Soft cover, 12" x 9", 80 pages, copyright 2005.
Sample page Modern Lithic Artists Journal Volume 2 is a full sized, full color, coffee table art book showcasing and documenting reproduction artifacts as well as contemporary axes, points, knives, daggers, jewelry, pipes, eccentric art pieces and more, crafted by 60 of the most accomplished and talented modern knappers and lithic artists in the world..

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Opal Advanced Cutting and Setting
by Paul B. Downing
Soft cover, 6" x 9", 144 pages, copyright 1999
Sample page Opal Advanced Cutting And Setting continues on where Opal Cutting Made Easy leaves off. Using the author's proven step-by-step techniques, you will learn how to sneak up on an opal to get the best from it, how to deal with imperfections, how to properly dome an opal cabochon, how to make doublets from problem stones, how to carve boulder opal seams, how to design and assemble intarsia, how it make inlay opal jewelry, how to use opal chips in innovative ways, how to treat cracked opals and stabilize matrix, how to protect your opal in a setting, how to design jewelry using the author's unique "dribble" technique, how to finish a design project step-by-step, how to set an opal safely, how to find new jewelry ideas and more.
This book is divided into nine major subjects pertaining to cutting including: Cutting Challenging Opals, Imperfections, To Dome or Not to Dome, Doublets, Carving Boulder and Other Opal, Intarsia, Inlay, Using Chips, and Treating Cracks and Stabilizing Matrix. Also presented in this book are techniques for setting opals and making opal jewelry using the lost wax casting technique and the author's unique "dribble" technique for making waxes. Six major subjects are presented on setting opals and making jewelry for opals including: Basic Setting Technique, Dribble Design Technique, Design Procedure, Design Tricks, Setting the Opal and Sources for Design Ideas.
Opal Advanced Cutting And Setting is a book rich in how-to for opal cutters authored by an authority in the field and a must have reference in the book collection of any opal cutter.