How to Fill Pits on your Cabochon

While you may like the natural look of stones, sometimes there are little pits in the surface that mess up the cabochon’s shine! Here are two methods I use to fill surface pits on cabochons.
I tend to prefer using epoxy to fill things since I feel like it lasts longer than CA glue, but it does take longer to dry if you’re just wanting to fill small holes. I’d say give both a shot and see which one you like better!
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:36 Method 1: CA Glue
6:41 Method 2: Epoxy
10:03 Troubleshooting Tips for Both Methods
10:52 Bonus tip: Bring back richer colors in porous material
List of tools/equipment used:
-Candle warmer: amzn.to/3D0k2D8
-Starbond Medium: amzn.to/3EABVcm
-Starbond accelerator: amzn.to/3Xpm6xL
- Mixing sticks: amzn.to/3TKDdaM
- Pack of multiple-sized spring clamps: amzn.to/3gt2M1z
- Epoxy 330: amzn.to/3z9X633
Equipment I'm using:
-CabKing 6. Use coupon code “CALBRITTON” at checkout for 10% off your purchase (excludes machines, extended warranties, and gift cards): cabking.com/pr... or you can find on Amazon: amzn.to/3eWP8n0
*As an Amazon Affiliate and Cabking/Hi-Tech Diamond Ambassador, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

[@IndusRiverRock]

Beautiful sharing 👍

[@calbrittonjewelry]

Hope you enjoyed!

[@sandmaker]

Thanks for the good information.

[@calbrittonjewelry]

You’re welcome, hope you find it useful! 😊

[@soartsyfartsy7874]

Wow i love how detailed you get - you go over things and give tips for things most people wouldn’t even think of - like the sound the diamond wheel makes when grinding Roxy vs the stone itself. These tips are priceless and will prevent a lot of wasted time! I’m a learn-as-you-go person, so I do end up with a lot of “unsuccessful” result, which ends up making me frustrated and then I lose interest. I love your encouraging personality and that you sometimes say “let it go”!! Will start learning how to doing that! Btw, my fingers are not fit for view. They’re cracked, dry, impossible to get Clean!! Too much crafting and washing them - how do you keep your looking so nice? The grinding dries everything out! Also. Santa brought me a CabKing!! I’m so excited to use it but the whole family ended up sick this week - so I’m in bed sick watching your videos and getting prepared!!! Thanks Caitlin!

[@calbrittonjewelry]

So glad to hear from you again! I feel like lapidary is an "all-senses" type of craft, and I try to utilize as much help from them as I can, haha! I'm also a hands-on kinda learner, and remember things a lot better when I mess it up myself so to some extent, I do encourage everyone to learn from their own mistakes. But honestly! There are some snobby attitudes towards cutting a certain way or whatever and I say: just do you! And if you don't happen to make it perfect? That's totally great too! Not all of my stuff is "perfect"--I often have to just "let it go," but that imperfection is never going to stop me and it shouldn't hold you back either! :) Bahahaha, I've never once thought of my fingers as looking nice, but thanks! I think the Florida humidity has helped me out but I have noticed they are very dry and itchy with this colder weather. Some lapidaries wear nitrile gloves while cutting, but I like feeling the stone (and hate the feeling of moist glove) but I use this awesome hand cream from the Savannah Bee Company. Most lotions feel like they just sit on top of your skin, but this one really soaks in fast so your skin doesn't feel gross. It smells amazing too!: amzn.to/3vGvmkJ I'm so sorry to hear you and your fam are sick, hopefully you'll gain your energy back to get your wonderful new CabKing up and running! :)

[@KymberlyBednar]

Thank you, I have learned a lot from your videos!

[@calbrittonjewelry]

I’m so glad to hear this, Kymberly! 😊 Have fun and happy cabbing!

[@OldManandtheSuperC]

I mix bronze or silver powder in clear epoxy or CA glue to fill large gaps or cracks. Polishes up nicely to make an interesting accent to a stone. Creates a pan interesting effect when using to bond a broken can.

[@calbrittonjewelry]

That’s a neat idea! It kinda reminds me of wooden tables I’ve seen where they fill the cracks with crushed turquoise or something (like a chip inlay)! I’d love to try this out sometime soon, thanks for the great idea 😊

[@Maggsreacts82]

Love this so much!!

[@calbrittonjewelry]

Glad you enjoyed it! 😊

[@grandparocky]

Thank You

[@calbrittonjewelry]

You’re welcome!

[@donnaer]

This seems incredibly useful. I plan to try the last technique on a dull Dino bone cab I purchased when I was a novice metalsmith. The difference between this and stabilization is still tricky for me- I have mookaite rough that has big gaps and cracks but don’t know whether I should try to slab a single piece to see what’s going on. Or, if I should just stabilize the whole thing. Love your videos.

[@calbrittonjewelry]

Thanks so much, Donna! Glad you’ve found my videos useful and hope that the last trick does some magic on your Dino bone. I’d say that stabilization is good for material that will crumble/split when you go to slab it. For the most part, I drop my slabs on the ground to find the natural fractures in the stone but you might have some material that’s beautiful but can’t hold itself together. I’ve seen mookaite but haven’t worked with it yet. Have you cut any cabs from it yet? If you have, it can usually give you an idea if you need to stabilize if it’s splitting.

[@abritelight]

another great tutorial, thanks! ✨

[@calbrittonjewelry]

Thanks so much, Lisa Anne! I’ll have a nice cobblestone inlay one up in a few weeks! 😊

[@betojdesigns]

Thanks so much for this information. I will be able to use it on my projects right away. You are a wonderful wealth of knowledge my dear ❤

[@calbrittonjewelry]

I’m so glad this is something you can already try out, good luck with your projects! 😊

[@Flyawayart]

I've been debating if I should fill the holes. I have a lot of holey material lol. Lots with soft inclusions that leave little divets too. Thanks for the tutorial! I was concerned I would ruin my lap discs

[@calbrittonjewelry]

Honestly, a lot of it is up to preference! You don’t necessarily “need” to do any of this; I often leave stones natural unless it looks like it’s going to snag on hair/clothes when set in jewelry because sometimes the little pockets just show it’s the real deal! And I think the natural look is becoming more and more popular with jewelers (think more natural edged pieces). But nope, no concern with ruining your discs, just make sure your glue is dry and you’ll be good to go! Then you can just run a lapidary-specific toothbrush over your discs to clean all the rock and crud off after you’re done

[@sandmaker]

That was fun. I use the same techniques. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and talent. 😷⚒

[@calbrittonjewelry]

So glad you enjoyed! Working on editing some new ones coming up 😊

[@sandmaker]

@@calbrittonjewelry can't wait. Thanks!

[@jenmartin7832]

❤

[@calbrittonjewelry]

Hope you enjoyed!

[@Marcelo-yj2yq]

If you use super glue and sprinkle baking soda on it, it's much faster and much harder.

[@calbrittonjewelry]

No kidding! Does the super glue still come out clear with the baking soda? Can’t wait to try this out!