It&rsquo;s a copper mineral that is found in various spots around the world, but collectors&rsquo;&nbsp;favorite&nbsp;source is the Leonard mine, in Butte, Montana. Its main attraction is its iridescent, metallic indigo blue&nbsp;color, accented by pyrite streamers, which usually run through it. It has become exceedingly rare and quite pricey, but the beauty of this material always entices collectors and lapidary artists into buying it any chance they get. When buying covellite for lapidary purposes, I suggest buying precut slabs. This way you can see what you are getting for the price you will be paying. Normally, it is a very fractured material, but if the pieces are large enough, they can be cut into decent-size slabs that will be solid. When choosing your material, know that most of the host stone will be very soft and brittle and will not cab very well, so you will need to determine how and where you will make your cuts for your preform cabochons. Focus on the solid blue areas, even if they have pyrite in them. There a few things you will need to know when starting the cabbing process. First off, it&rsquo;s an extremely messy material to work with and will stain anything you get it on. Be ready to have stained cuticles and fingernails and black spots on anything it splatters on. It&rsquo;s a soft&nbsp;material,&nbsp;and can fracture and chip easily, so starting on a wheel with a less aggressive grit is highly recommended. I start on a steel 180 grit diamond wheel to shape and dome my preforms; anything coarser will leave some very deep scratches that will make you work twice as hard later to get them out.<img src="http://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/6584/243168/59ea497e612c0/1508526353740.jpg"" owidth=334 oheight=437" style="width:300px" />A metallic material will always show scratches far more than any other material, so after each step, you will need to stop, dry your stone well, and check for any deep scratches that will need to be tended to before moving on. When working on different materials, each step of the process has difference variances; for example, when cabbing agates, it&rsquo;s most important to shape and dome and&nbsp;smooth&nbsp;the cab between the 80 grit and the 220 grit wheels. Then you will use the 280 grit wheel as your real workhorse to make sure everything is smooth, with no scratches left in your work before moving on. When working with covellite, since you will be starting on either a 180 or a 220 grit wheel, it&rsquo;s best to smooth things out lightly on the 280, but make the 600 do the rest of the work. You don&rsquo;t want to overdo it on the 280 grit wheel due to the softness of the stone, nor do you want to scar it with scratches that will be&nbsp;labor&nbsp;intensive to remove later, so use your 600 grit wheel to do the majority of your work. Don&rsquo;t go any farther if there are any visible scratches, except maybe the&nbsp;microscratches&nbsp;and swirl marks that you see in most metallic materials. When moving onto your polishing wheels (1200 grit on), continue to cab in swirling, circular motions, and stop occasionally to dry off the cab to check how it&rsquo;s looking.<img src="http://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/6584/243168/59ea497e612c0/1508526353766.jpg"" owidth=338 oheight=437" style="width:300px" />Getting a good polish on covellite can be tricky. I&rsquo;ve never had much luck using polishing&nbsp;compounds,&nbsp;since they tend to emphasize swirling&nbsp;microscratches, so I usually just go as high as 50000 grit on a&nbsp;nova&nbsp;wheel until the stone is nice and smooth, with a mirror polish on it.

What To Cut- Covellite

English

Spanish(español)

Bengali(বাঙালি)

Gujarati(ગુજરાતી)

Hindi(हिन्दी)

Malayalam(മലയാളം)

Tamil(தமிழ்)

Telugu(తెలుగు)

Rock&Gem Magazine

THE BRIGHT SIDE OF VOLCANIC ROCK

The Other Copper Minerals

MINERAL COLLECTING -AND ROCK & GEM

Gemstone Trends

How to Make a GEM BEAD NECKLACE

Framing Nature's Art

BEDAZZLED BLUE SEAM AGATE

ROCK & GEM FIELD GUIDE:

SNAKE SCALE DROP 1.5:1

STONE CHIC

Download your favorite titles and read them offline, anytime and anywhere

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines and newspapers from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from {{magCount}}+ best-selling international titles.

Name

Please fill out this form if you need any help regarding publishing your content on Magzter

Since we launched, Magzter has been committed to partnering with global organizations to provide the greatest possible newsstand technology & service to our customers. Whether you are looking to offer magazine subscriptions to your customer database or just want to learn more, Magzter is committed to helping your business grow. To find out more, please fill out the questionnaire below: