The Old Rugged Cross by Thomas Kuzia of CT is our November 2007 Shop Friend Contest Winner.  Thank you Tom for sending in an entry!  We enjoy seeing what others do with the rocks and gemstones and sharing the knowledge.  Tom wrote the following about his project: "I made this cross, which is 6"L x 6"H x 3"W, out of petrified wood for a friend. As you can see, it is named "The Old Rugged Cross" after the Hymn.  The most difficult part of the project was finding a piece of petrified wood suitable for the entire piece as I live in CT and have to buy it.  I searched through over 70 pounds of pieces of "wood" before I found a piece that was solid enough to cut the cross and have enough left for the base.  I put the 2 pieces that make the cross in my Lot-O-Tumbler using #1000 grit and tiny plastic pyramids for filler and also to get the grit into the little cracks and crannies of the pieces.  I let the unit run for 2 days adding just a tad of water every now and then until I got the little sheen you can see on the 2 pieces.  You can use this method to add a shine to rough pieces of the rock of  your choice and if you add the polish stage, you can create some pretty unique pieces.  I drilled a hole to set the cross in with a diamond core drill and chiseled out the remaining pieces that were left after drilling.  I used a 2 part clear epoxy to set the upright of the cross into the base and also to secure the cross member.  Before the epoxy set on the upright, I added the tiny pieces of petrified wood to make it look like the cross was beheld by them and also to hide the perfectly round hole made by the core drill.   The rest of the tiny rocks scattered about the base were added after the epoxy hardened on the entire cross and were secured using super glue.  I used metal stamps to incribe the INRI (Latin: Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum-Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) into a small piece of aluminum flashing and also for the words "The Old Rugged Cross" which I chose copper flashing for.  I cut the heads off of tiny brads (small nails) and super glued them to the copper plaque.  I sprayed the copper with clear spray that is used to put a gloss on unfired ceramic pieces.  This keeps the copper from oxidizing and turning green.  The base has 3 small felt pads glued to it for stability and to prevent scratching of the surface it is displayed on."