For his Jewelry, Rick combines his woodworking and lapidary skills to produce beautiful wood and rock necklaces and earings. Here is a sampling of our products. We also take custom orders: you pick the wood, you pick the rock, you pick the chain type and length. Rick will make several for you to pick from. Call for details.
Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image.
These necklaces are made from raw rock and raw wood. The rocks are sliced, cut and polished first, then the wood frame is made on the lathe. The small pendants are drilled through the wood for the leather chain placement so that it lays nicely on you. The measurement after the wood name is the chain length.
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 2203m - Rainforest Jasper on Cherry - 16" | | 2357 - Tigers Eye on Koa - 16" | | 2540m - Rainforest Jasper on Koa - 18" | | 2548 - Snowflake Obsidian on Curly Maple - 16" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
2550 - Petrified Wood on Wenge - 16" | | 2562 - Red Jasper on Zebra wood - 16" | | 2571s - SOLD Idaho Spider Jasper on Koa - 16" | | 2576 - Petrified Wood on Wenge - 16" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
2635 - Spiderman rock on Walnut - 16" | | 2639 - Spiderman rock on Lacewood - 16" | | 3099 - Blue Moss Agate on Curly Maple - 16 | | 3102 - Kabamba on Zebra - 16" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 3123 - Tree Moss Agate on Wenge - 16" | | 3132 - Lemon Lime Dolomite on Wenge - 16" | | 3134 - Angelite on Wenge - 16" | | 3136 - Red Jasper on Koa - 16" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
3658 - Petrified palm on Koa - 16" | | 3973 - African Lace Agate on Ipe - 18" | | 3975 - Yellow Striped Jasper on Koa - 16" | | 3981 - Spiderman Stone on Sycamore - 18" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 3997 - Turritella Agate on Buginga - 16" | | 4005 - Red Jasper on Bocote - 16" | | 4007 - Leopard Skin Jasper on Spalted Sycamore - 16" | | 4009 - Petrified Wood on Bubinga - 16" |
| | | | | | |
| |  | |  | |  |
| | 4640 - Indian Script Stone on Padauk - 16"
| | 4642 - Moss Agate on Bubinga - 16" | | 4644 - Quartz on Lacewood - 18" |
These necklaces are made from raw rock and raw wood. The rocks are sliced, cut and polished first, then the wood frame is made on the lathe. The large pendants are drilled through the wood for the sterling silver chain placement so that it lays nicely on you. The measurement after the wood name is the chain length.
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 2142 - Snowflake Obsidian on Curly Maple - 20" | | 2146 - Red Flame Agate on Walnut - 16" | | 2149 - Pink Agate on Curly Maple - 18" | | 2155 - Brecciated Jasper on Koa - 18" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 2160 - Crinoid Marble on Curly Maple - 18" | | 2167 - Dalmation on Walnut - 16" | | 2173 - Black & White Jasper on Koa - 18" | | 2181 - Jasper on Curly Maple - 18" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 2191 - Tigers Eye on Curly Maple - 18" | | 2196 - Crinoid Marble on Curly Maple - 18" | | 2351 - Dalmation on Walnut - 18" | | 2358 - Dolomite on Koa - 18" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
2372 - Agate on Maple - 18" | | 2376 - Clam Chowder Stone on Curly Maple - 18" | | 2382 - Tigers Eye on Curly Maple - 18" | | 2504 - Tree Moss Agate on Koa - 18" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 2506 - Dendritic Agate on Padauk - 18" | | 2534 - Dolomite on Lacewood - 18" | | 2633 - Rhodonite on Walnut - 18" | | 3639 - Chinese Writing Stone on Curly Maple - 22" |
| | | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
3643 - Mookite on Koa - 20" | | 3645 - Kalahari Picture Jasper on Curly Maple - 22" | | 3784 - Sodalite on Curly Maple - 18" | | 3785 - Red Jasper on Koa - 18" |
| | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 3790 - Snowflake Obsidian on Curly Maple - 18" | | 3792 - Turitella Agate on Zebra - 16" | | 3793 - Exotica on curly Maple - 18" | | 3796 - Dendritic Agate on Crotch Maple - 16" |
| | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 3799 - Red Spot Pudding Stone on Curly Maple - 18" | | 3802 - Petrified Wood on Zebra - 18" | | 3808 - African Lace Agate on Indian Rosewood - 18" | | 3816 - Picture Jasper on Koa - 18" |
| | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 3818 - Snowflake Obsidian on Curly Maple - 20" | | 4015 - Exotica on Curly Maple - 18"
| | 4016 - Mookite on Spalted Sycamore - 18" | | 4018 - Red Snakeskin Jasper on Crotch Maple - 18" |
| | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 4022 - Rhodonite on Spalted Sycamore - 20" | | 4025 - Red Snakeskin Jasper on Ipe - 20" | | 4026 - Exotica on Koa - 22" | | 4031 - Red Moss Agate on Spalted Sycamore - 18" |
| | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
4618 - Bloodstone on Zebra - 18" | | 4622 - Mookite on Indian Rosewood - 20" | | 4624 - Indian Script Stone on Crotch Maple - 20" | | 4626 - Red Tube Agate on Koa - 18" |
| | | | | | |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| 4628 - Blue Lace Agate on Figured Walnut - 18" | | 4630 - Petrified Palm on Indian Rosewood - 20" | | 4632 - Green Picture Jasper on Indian Rosewood - 20" | | 4634 - Bluegold stone on Curly Maple - 18" |
| | | | | | |
 | | | | | | |
4636 - Mookite on Curly Maple - 18" | | | | | | |
These earings were actually an idea of one of our customers. They are similar to the pendants but much smaller. The rock is sliced, cut and polished first, then wood frames made on the lathe. They are then put on a sterling silver post. Many of the pairs match existing pendants.
The technique for these earings is called Intarsia. Rocks are cut and glued together, then cut and polished together to create the new shape. The resulting Intarsia rocks are then set in a sterling silver casing.
The making of the necklace starts with the rock. Rocks can be found in a number of forms, but the basic form is the chunk of rock (known as rough). The rough is then cut into slices (known as slabs) on a saw that uses a diamond-studded blade. There are frequently surprises when you cut into a chunk of rock. Once you find a good slab, the next step is to trim it down using a diamond trim saw to a usable size for a polished stone.
The next step is to mount the stone on a metal ‘dop’ on which it can be rounded on a faceting tool. Once rounded, these go to the ‘cabbing’ machine where there are a series of grinding and sanding steps and the basic rounded form of a cabochon is achieved. Once completed, there are a series of polishing steps with consecutively finer grits to achieve the high polish of the finished stone.
The next step is back to the wood studio to trim and mount blocks of wood for turning. Matching the stone to the wood is the artistic part. If you did this for a lifetime, you would never match all the stones with all the woods. The initial block is trimmed round and to the correct thickness before drilling the hole through the wood for the necklace. The blank is returned to the lathe and a pattern is created on the face. The wood then gets sanded on the back where it was parted from the block on the lathe.
The finishing involves spraying the wood, then hand sanding, spraying, and finally polishing it on a polishing machine. Final assembly involves gluing a nub on the back of the stone, gluing the stone into the wooden blank, and then adding the chain or leather necklace.