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Out of the basement workshop, into the sunlight
Out of the basement workshop, into the sunlight
During the Crafter's Green that I hosted at Skewered! 4 in 2024, I found myself unable to display any of my lapidary works in process. All my tools were large, heavy, and electrically powered: not suitable to being demonstrated at an event site. I made a goal to find more ways to bring my lapidary closer to period accuracy and out of my workshop.
Fortunately, the projects I was already involved in brought me naturally down that path.
The lapidary lathe was required to be packable and portable due to the needs of Revenge of the Stitch, so it was the perfect tool to bring out to the Crafter's Green at Skewered! 5 (see full writeup on that project here)
Shown here is the workbench setup: a jobsite table with holes through which I could pass some clamps to secure the lathe tool support, a springy piece of wood with a string that passes around the tool shaft and down to a foot pedal on the ground. Together with a suite of interchangeable tools and a copper lapping plate for surface polishing, I had a solid and reliable bench that fits easily into the car.
I didn't have a project in mind for the day, just the idea to mess around with some agate cabochons from my spare stones box and answer questions from the populace...
....but it didn't take long for an idea to spring up.
Roxbury Mill is, proudly, a Shire. That comes with a lot of things we like, but one major aspect we don't have is the ability to create and bestow awards. Our compromise is a token of personal thanks from the Seneschal that we call the Roxbury Millstone. Traditionally they are a donut-shaped piece of green stone.
I was primarily trying to experiment with harder stones than the slate that I was previously using, and my spare stones bin had several dyed agate cabochons in a pretty Roxbury green. As I was boring the hole to thread it onto a cord, it occurred to me that it was only a Millcross away from being the perfect thank-you token.
So I got to work for the next few hours. I answered questions, described my build process for the lathe, and carved away. The agate was significantly slower to work than the slate I'd used before, but it was also therefore a bit more forgiving. Mistakes made less impact, and I had more opportunity to refine a shape before it became deep enough to make permanent.
And by the time we got to the FolkMoot, I was done: drilled a hole for a lanyard, cleaned the edges, carved the Millcross, and gave the flat face a satin surface with my lapping plate.
The concept filled me with joy and satisfaction. Not only to be able to demonstrate the techniques without electricity, but to be able to completely cut a stone over the course of an event.
Almost as much joy as being able to provide a Roxbury medallion that was completely created during Roxbury's own event!
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