Lapidary Crafting and Jewelry Making

There are lots of buyers of quartz. It is a popular mineral for collectors, as it is often found in bright colors and large crystals at thousands of localities around the world and fine specimens can be relatively inexpensive. It is a popular gemstone, found in many colors, and used for any lapidary purpose from carving to facetting. Deposits of extremely pure quartz sand are mined for use in semiconductor fabrication.

Garnet is very often mined in Africa and Sri Lanka. Some of the most beautiful come from the Umba Valley in Tanzania.

There are undoubtably several, but I only know of one. The link to the amazing online gallery is posted below. If you search for more, it is best to use "recycled" as one of the search terms.

Sub-surface laser engraving was developed by Russians in the 1990's. The non-technical explanation is that the laser is of a specific wavelength and precisely focused so that each time it fires it creates a tiny white dot within the glass instead of on the surface. This can be used to make 3 dimensional images.

Assuming by "galenite" you mean galena, the soft, shiny, very brittle lead sulfide, I would suggest that it's probably not the best idea. Though I have a hard time believing that anybody is making beads out of actual galena, which would be deeply impractical. It's not going to slay you overnight, but longterm skin contact with anything containing lead just isn't a good idea.

Pāua.

There are many different types of enamel, depending on the application. The best place to find any type of enamel is at a hardware store, or home improvement store. A specialty paint store will also have a large selection of enamel.

both are the same clear is better and then clarity, though the blue tone is nicer the the conman yellow.

Yes you can, it is the same or better quality that you would get in a retail store. As long as you purchase from a reputable and specialist body jewellery website, body jewellery online is at least as good as the stuff you get from shops. A specialist body jewellery website will offer a much wider selection of styles and sizes than a store has space to display, and the staff will be more knowledgeable. It's likely to be of the same quality but a much better price than buying from a piercing studio or tattoo shop, as online based retailers do not have the same overheads as a retail store or shop so do not need to pass on these costs to the customer.

No.

a slump

Parallel lines seen on cleavage planes or crystal faces are usually caused by twinning, where two crystals grow together with a specific orientation relationship. This twinning can result in repeated patterns of parallel lines that are visible on the surface of the crystal.

The time it takes to engrave rings can vary based on the complexity of the design and the engraving method used. Simple text engravings may take as little as 10-20 minutes, while more intricate designs can take several hours. Additionally, factors such as the type of material and the skill level of the engraver can also affect the time required. Generally, most jewelry shops can complete standard engravings within a day or two.

The jeweler could be looking for a number of things, from clarity, inclusions and imperfections, to quality of cut, evidence of wear, laser engravings, possible treatments, quality of mounting, damage, optical phenomena typical of diamond simulants, or color. It's a bit like asking what an astronomer is looking for when he looks through a telescope.

You can find polishing machines at a local rock shop, or from collectors, or you can buy it online if you don't mind the shipping costs. Finding a gem and mineral club near you would be the best idea; they will direct you to trustworthy local dealers and you'll find out if other collectors have any used equipment for sale. First figure out exactly what piece of equipment you want: a tumbler, cabochon machine, flat lap, or faceting machine.

Yes, but you may damage the scissors.

Short answer is probably yes, long answer is... there are more practical materials, like fire bricks. Should be lots of good online info on furnace/kiln/foundry construction; eg: there's tons of people doing DIY low cost backyard metal casting, getting up to iron melting temps with home made foundries.

A hollow diamond drill bit, with lots of water, cutting slowly, will do the job. Ideally in a drill press of some kind instead of freehand. Diamond bits in rotary tools like Foredom or Dremel may do it, if it's suitable to use them with lots of water.

The arts and craft teacher

Jewelers screwdrivers are very small examples of normal screwdrivers, watchmakers use them too.

You could try a local jewelry store, shop online, or visit a gem show. Beads are incredibly popular today, and there are some enormous bead shows out there, so it shouldn't be hard to find what you're after.