About Northwoods Gem & Lapidary

My dad got interested in geology and lapidary in the 1970s.  Lake Michigan was just off the back yard, and rockhounding destinations such as Lake Superior and South Dakota were within driving distance.  Somewhere along the way, he purchased quality lapidary tools (saws, arbors, oscillating laps, tumblers), high grade specimen (jade, jasper, agate, malachite, wonderstone, tigers eye, plus copious amounts of stone I've yet to identify), and cheap jewelry findings.  He built a workshop where he could machine discreet stones and produce in bulk via tumbling.  And ... aside from a few stones of exceptional quality, he didn't produce much.  I'll blog about this at some point, but suffice to say, he had a good eye for tools and rock, he had skills for shaping and polishing, but didn't take it as far as the infrastructure that he'd built out permitted.

In the early 2010s, I went on vacation with my family in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  There are several amethyst mines in the area, and my daughter liked purple and asked if we could go to one of them.  While at the mine, I remembered my dad trying to share his interest in geology and lapidary with me decades earlier.  I collected specimen from the tailings and got a tumbler from my dad so I could dabble.  Despite a string of disappointing results, I was hooked.

A few years later, when dad's health was failing, I asked for his lapidary machines and specimen.  I assessed, disassembled, inspected, performed minor repairs and brought them back to production readiness, and gradually built my own lapidary workshop.  Fortunately, I did this in time to share with him what I'd done and learned; during his decline, this helped him focus, and he was able to share what he had learned.

 In the years since, I have spent time working on techniques to produce high quality artisanal stone and jewelry products.  I form uniquely shaped stones out of Canadian amethyst that I harvest from the source, which I wire wrap with 22 gauge square and 20 gauge half-round sterling silver.  I braze sterling silver components to form cuff link findings that hold 18 x 13 cabochons formed from slabs that I got from my dad - falconeye, bloodstone, ocean jasper, jade.  I slab thundereggs and polish the halves on a large format oscillating lap.  I hand shape every stone that goes into the tumbler.

Lapidary and jewelry products are what Northwoods Gem and Lapidary LLC produces, but they are byproducts of why I do the work.  Every stone is an experiment, an opportunity to learn a little bit about geology or technique; it is not an obligation.  Plus, I think about my dad every day that I'm in the workshop.  I'm happy with the output, humbled by how much I have yet to learn, and honored to be my father's son.