Fire agate is a gemstone that can be used in jewelry making. Fire agate is not a very common gemstone in the United Sates. Here are a few things that you need to know before purchasing and working with fire agate for jewelry making purposes.
How Fire Agate Is Formed
Fire agate is formed within natural volcanic pockets that contain mineral deposits that have become trapped. The process through which fire agate is created results in most fire agate gemstones having very unusual formation; you are not going to find a smooth stone; instead you are going to find a complex formation.
Additionally, a layer of brown or chalcedony often develops on the top of fire agate gemstones. This layer hides the beautiful color of the stone that can be found underneath the brown layer on top.
Look For Bright Color
When working with fire agate gemstone that has a concealing layer on top, you are going to want to look for bright colors around the edges. Fire agate gemstones are beautiful tones of reds and oranges. Try to located areas where these colors are peaking out. This is where you are going to want to start cutting and grinding the stone. Cutting and grinding the stone around the area where other colors are apparent should help you get to the actual brilliant colors on the gemstone that you are looking for.
Work By Layers
When you find an area where you want to start, you are going to want to cut and sand gradually. First, you are going to want to work to remove the white crystals and milky covering on stone. You are going to want to really carefully remove very thin layers of agate at a time.
Fire agate stones have lots of small angles and groves that you have to work around. This means that you can't just rely on a large grinding wheel when working on your fire agate. You are going to also want to use a hand tool to remove the milky white and brown coverings and make your way to the treasure inside of the stone.
You are going to want to work slowly and carefully layer by layer to reveal the fire stone. You may even need to cut off portions of smaller stone in order to reveal the main stone.
Fire agate is a very beautiful and rare gemstone if you have the patients for hand grinding in order to get to the colorful part of the stone. For more information, talk to a professional like Studio Rock Shop.
