Lapidary's Mill

“In the ordinary pattern of a lapidary’s bench the handle turns in a horizontal plane, where W is the driving-wheel turned by the handle A, and working the pulley P by means of a strap. The pulley is fixed on a vertical spindle, which carries M the disk for slitting or the leaden lap for roughing or polishing. The upper end of this spindle is conical, and rotates in a socket drilled in a horizontal arm of iron which projects from a vertical wooden rod D. A block of wood C fits on to the end of an iron support termed the gim-peg or germ-peg. This support is used to steady the operator’s arm when grinding the edges of small stones, and the wooden block, which is fixed by a wedge, is employed for cutting facets at any desired angle, the stone being cemented to the end of a stik S, which is fixed at the requisite angle in one of the holes or notches made in the sides of the socket C.” —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

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