Polishing The Stone

Stone polishing is a process which takes sometime. Stones vary in hardness and so the time it takes to polish them varies as well. Some take a shine quite easy and others . . . well, they become a labor of love.

The process of polishing a stone starts with raw stone material (called "rough") and then cutting an approximately sized piece, remembering to leave room for polishing which is the slow removal layers of stone. After this one can take the stone to a lapidary arbor which is a wheel or a seriese of wheels of varying grit from coarse stone wheels to soft padded wheels covered with belts embedded with fixed polishing grit all the way down to fluffy buffing wheels which are designed to hold loose polishing compound.

Beyond this i do a lot of polishing by hand at my bench using my hand tool (much like a dremmel tool) and various grits of diamond paste. This takes time.

I have found that this process has similarities to the maturation of an individual throughout life, slowly refining and removing the smaller and smaller deficiencies to arrive at a polished state.

I have also found that polishing a stone by hand through the lenses of my magnifying eyepieces takes a lot of concentration. Mindfulness over a period of time gives one the attention to detail needed to get a nice evenly polished surface.

And so, polishing the stone becomes a meditation. Just sit . . . and polish the stone. Don't worry about the bills or the kids, just be here now . . .just sit . . . and polish the stone.

. . . and don't forget to breathe.