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Australian hand-cut & fossicked gemstones

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Exploring the geology of the Organ Pipes National Exploring the geology of the Organ Pipes National Park in VIC. Great basalt formations, and a friendly bee popped into the photo to say hello too 😊 #VICparks #organpipesnationalpark
Final polish complete from our tumbler! NSW agates Final polish complete from our tumbler! NSW agates and jelly beans, ACT red jasper and other assorted goodies. #fossicking #gemstones #gemtumbling #agate
200grit tumbling is finished at last! They look am 200grit tumbling is finished at last! They look amazing wet, but here they are dry. Now going back in the barrel for a few weeks of 600grit. We run our @lortonelapidary tumbler during the sunny daytimes on solar power. Also means "grindy" sounds don't annoy neighbors at night hehe. This is a mix of NSW beach agates, petrified wood, some Agate Creek little fellas, ACT red jasper, and a few carpark finds. #gemtumbling #gemstones #australiangemstones #fossicking
First stage of rock tumbling (80 grit) is complete First stage of rock tumbling (80 grit) is complete! Now a good wash, and on to the next stage. This was after a week spinning in the @lortonelapidary machine. A variety of jaspers from Canberra, offcuts from the trim saw and a mix of beach and river pebbles from around Victoria and NSW. Some nice agates and jellybeans in the mix too. See you in a week for the results of stage 2! #rocktumbling #tumbledrocks #stones #agate #jasper #fossicking #gemstones
18 months since moving to Melbourne, at last we fi 18 months since moving to Melbourne, at last we finally have the lapidary studio all set up again! A journey which started back in 2018 in Canberra. Looking forward to finishing a lot of gemstone faceting! The machine is an Australian hand-built job (I'm told from the 70's). Speed is adjusted by changing belts (just 4 settings). The hard stop and light indicator are a simple clip-on circuit using a pair of size D batteries. The angle indicator is analogue and just relies on "using your eyes". The digital gauge is just there while we work on getting everything level and true again. It uses 6 inch laps, the Lightning Laps in particular have been fantastic for tourmaline and sapphires. Should be able to get cutting again in a few days! Mission one will be a pesky watermelon tourmaline that came unstuck just before we had to pack her all up 😂. #facetingmachine #gemcutting #lapidarystudio #lapidary #faceting
The new gem-collecting assistant is going very wel The new gem-collecting assistant is going very well! We love our Jimny, even though the available space is nothing like the old LR 😂. #jimny #jimnyxl #marutijimny
More Eastern Victoria fossicking. Some smokey quar More Eastern Victoria fossicking. Some smokey quartz and facet-able citrine was brought home for future cutting. Nice to be working with the sounds of birds and flowing water in the background. #fossicking #gemstones #gemsieve #quartz #citrine
Having a poke around Eastern Victoria. Water was c Having a poke around Eastern Victoria. Water was clear and quite chilly! Didn't find any nice rocks in this particular spot, but did make friends with a duck 😂. #Australianrivers #Australianrainforest #Victorianriver #ferns #goldpanning
Please welcome our new gemstone hunting and bush e Please welcome our new gemstone hunting and bush exploring assistant! Yes, the old Land Rover Discovery 3 was very good to us for about 10 years, but she's long in the tooth now, and far too big for our garage 😅. This little Jimny was the best match for our lifestyle, hopefully for many years to come. Looking forward to lots of adventures together! #jimny #jimnyoffroad #victorianbush
Cold but sunny in #Beechworth doing some quick #ge Cold but sunny in #Beechworth doing some quick #gemstone hunting.
Some more goodies from the #granitebelt. #quartz # Some more goodies from the #granitebelt. #quartz #sapphires #garnet
Some tasty treats from our #granitebelt road trip Some tasty treats from our #granitebelt road trip in NSW and QLD, #fossicking and hunting for different #gemstone #specimens! #quartz #smokeyquartz
140 carats of #Topaz we recently sieved in the won 140 carats of #Topaz we recently sieved in the wonderful #NewEngland area of #NSW. We're looking forward to #faceting some of the clean and smaller ones. Always nice to work on #australiangemstones and do some #lapidary
One of the last stops on our recent New England #N One of the last stops on our recent New England #NSW gem #fossicking trip was the #Emmaville #Mining #Museum. An amazing assortment of specimens are inside, and it was great to chat with the friendly folks within.
Returned to a favourite little #NSW #beach spot to Returned to a favourite little #NSW #beach spot to hunt for #banded #agates. It was a rainy day, but the clouds parted just long enough for our #fossicking adventure. More coming soon too, big trip through upper NSW and QLD in a few weeks!
Cleaning up some of our mini #quartz mountains for Cleaning up some of our mini #quartz mountains for future display. #fossickingaustralia
Nice pocket of #crystals discovered by Yumi down t Nice pocket of #crystals discovered by Yumi down the far Australian #southcoast. The veritable boulder they were in was too big to cart home, so we left them where they wanted to be, in the wild. #orangecrystals #fossicking #gemstones
One of my early #gemstone cuts, a #Mossagate #cabo One of my early #gemstone cuts, a #Mossagate #cabochon held up in nice #Canberra sunshine. Like a green landscape trapped in time forever.
Small #Agates from #NSW tumbled, polished and on p Small #Agates from #NSW tumbled, polished and on proud display. The @lortonelapidary baby #rocktumbler did an excellent job, after switching to #ceriumoxide
Couldn't resist, had to crack open the @lortonelap Couldn't resist, had to crack open the @lortonelapidary #tumbler to see how the final polish phase was going. #Banded #Agate from #Illawarra area is looking nice. Back in to the barrel now for a few more days with it's friends.
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