Ellensburg Blue Agate Carving

My favorite hobby is rockhounding, and occasionally carving or cutting gemstones. Here is one of my last projects, an Ellensburg Blue Agate. Found originally around the 1970s I carved this estate piece by hand over a week using a drummel with various carborundum and diamond grits, slowly bringing about a smoother and smoother surface and grinding away impurities and rough edges.  Finally, it is brought to glassy polish using optical grade Cerium oxide slurry with water on both drummel tips and on leather pad, much the same way glass is polished.

Finally, after wearing out many tips, the inner beauty is revealed.