Finishing stone is very similar to the finish of fine wood working. You begin with a coarse media and work down to a very fine media. In the case of lapidary usually a diamond media. Our stones are first cut into slabs then into multiple smallpieces. then they are fit and customized to each individual handle or finding. A design is created using a variety of stones and metals in varying sizes. It is bonded and then undergoes many stages of sanding and plolishing. The finer the sanding the sharper the polish. The harder the rock the more steps are involved in getting the scratches out. Once the stone is polished then work begins on getting the metal to a nice satin finish.Depending on the hardness of the stones a single knife can undergo 18 to 20 steps. Agates and jasper can take weeks to achieve the outstanding luster so sought after.
When the stone is cut to fit the knife then it is taken to a station that has hundreds of hand cut pieces in varying sizes. Here with a mixture of rock and metal a pleasing design is created. It is then bonded to the pommel of the knife. Once the bonding has taken place then the handles are put through multiple stages of sculpting and polishing. All the shaping and polishing are done on diamond wheels and worked under water.
The knives get a final polish using a dry wheel with compounds that bring out the natural luster of the stone and metal.
And here we are with the finished product....Nothing to it right?
All our stone is worked under water and oil to cool the rock and keep it from cracking. We use varying sizes of saws to cut the material down to a useable size. The stone is clamped into the saws and then cut with a diamond blade. Depending on the hardness it can take a few hours or a few days to cut completely through the stone. 
The metal used for an element of design comes in sheets. It is cut with a shear into strips of varying widths and then cut by another shear into the appropriate lengths. 
