Amethyst sphere created by sphere making instructor Steve Watry.
Squaring up the raw amethyst in the slab saw.
Creating an amethyst cube in preparation for the next step.
Laying out the pattern on the amethyst cube in preparation to removing the 90 degree edges.
Removing the edges on the amethyst cube using the slab saw by angling the cube at 45 degrees.
Photo of the rough sphere in the center and the rough material that was removed.
Once the rough sphere has been rounded by hand using a hard diamond grinding wheel, it is placed in a sphere grinding machine. Suspended by the grinding cups, the high spots will be ground off in a series of steps using finer and finer grits cups.
The last steps in the process is using a series of polishing pads of finer and finer grit to slowly polish the surface until the desired is achieved.
The finished sphere sitting amongst other spheres created by Steve Watry.