Daryl Blair of Michigan is our December 2007 Shop Friend of the Month with his delightful Brazil chime.  Daryl had made many of these for family and his design and workmenship is exceptional.  Daryl wrote the following about his project of a Brazil agate slab chime: "I have made over 60 of these chimes.  I discovered rocks less than 2 years ago, so I guess you would say I'm a green rockhound.  I purchased an 8" slab-trim saw about a year ago to go with my three tumblers.  You can only fill so many bowls with polished stones before you realize you need to start making things out of them.  I also have a dremel to drill the holes with.  That's it for equipment and tools.  I tumble slabs and cabs together in a 12 lb. tumbler.  I don't use a drill press to drill the holes.  I just hold them with one hand and drill with other.  To keep from getting the ugly breakthrough hole where the drill exits, I stop short of breaking through and hold the slab or cab to a light to see where the hole is coming through and mark it with a fine point marker and drill the rest of the way from the other side.  I don't do it on the small hanging slabs because it's not so noticeable on them.  When I first started making them, they would fall apart where the rings connected to the chain.  The slightest little gap in the ring and the chain would slip out.  It took a while to get the knack of closing the rings tight.  I cut the little agate slabs by hand and don't use a vise to feed them in the saw.  That also took some practice to get an even thin slab. I solved the problem of saw marks on the slabs you get when you feed them by hand, in fact, they are so smooth when I'm done cutting them, I can skip the first week in the tumbler on rough grit and start them on the second grit.  So they are done in 3 weeks instead of 4." Daryl has a unique way of making cabochons with only a saw and his tumbler with no grinder, but perhaps Daryl will enter the contest again with more tips and a picture to go with it.  Great job Daryl!  Thank you for sharing your lapidary project and tips.

Daryl has recently opened his web site business with some fantastic chimes, pendants, rough rock, and more.  Take a look at his unique creations: found under Blairrock.com  http://stores.blairrock.com/StoreFront.bok