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How to Cut Slices of Agates

Agate is the official gemstone of Minnesota, and comes in a wide range of beautiful colors including red, orange and yellow. Since agates are very hard stones, you need special equipment to cut them. You can cut agate slices with ordinary stone cutting tools, but you'll need access to special lapidary equipment to cut fine details into these stones.

Instructions

- 1
  Tumble the agate in a drum to polish the stone. Take your time during this process. Correct tumbling can take up to several weeks. Tumble the agate with water and coarse sandpaper grit, and then tumble with medium grit. Finally, tumble the agate for several days with a polishing agent to achieve maximum shine.
- 2
  Decide how to cut the agate. You may want to cut large stones in half to create a paperweight or beautiful display. To make jewelry, you'll probably want to cut the agate into thinner slices.
- 3
  Stabilize the agate in the vice and use a diamond bandsaw to make the initial cut. Reposition the agate and continue to make cuts until the slices are the desired thickness. The agate will be cloudy, so wash it and then inspect it in the sunlight to determine if it is cut to the proper thickness.
- 4
  Cut the agates into smaller pieces such as squares or diamonds with a grinding plate attachment. Grind down any damage to the agate and remove any rough patches.
- 5
  Polish the agate slices with sandpaper that is at least 100 grit. Wet the sandpaper for the best results.

Rocks & Minerals