how to hand finish a geode?

 For the way I hand finish a geode you will need a few things:
                              1. Safety glasses
                              2.Thick leather gloves
                              3. ear protection
                              4.electric hand grinder
                              5.grinding disk
                              6. electric drill
                              7. sanding wheel for the drill(medium grit)
                              8.polishing wheel for the drill
                              9.some rock polish(car polish works o.k)
                              8. sand paper(medium grit and fine grit)

**Always put your safety gear on first**

First thing you have to do is grind the shape that you are looking for in the end product. Then you will have to grind out all of the nicks, gauges and round the edges. After that is done give the entire geode a nice grinding it get the excess material off. This usually takes about 15 minutes but just take your time and be patient. Sometimes pieces will come off and you will have to just work with it.

Second take the drill with the sanding wheel and start to work the geode. The grinder will leave tiny bumps and burn marks so you have to sand those off. The better you sand at this stage the easier it is to hand sand and polish later. This will take 10 minutes.

Third thing is to now hand sand with the medium grit. This is so you can get all the spots you couldnt with the electric tools and really give a nice round finish all over the geode. Take your time and make sure to get out all the scratches and buff marks at this stage. Now take the fine grit sand paper and do the entire geode top to bottom until it is very smooth and has a shine to it. This should be the longest part of the process.

Fourth thing you are going to want to do is wash the geode to get all the dirt and dust off of it. I soak mine in dish soap and then wash the crytals with tooth paste with a medium bristle tooth brush. I then rinse it well with warm water and then let it soak over night.

Fifth thing to do is polish your geode. After the geode is completely dry put a thin layer of your polish all over it then use your polish wheel on your drill to gently polish the entire geode. This should only take 5 minutes tops.

Now you have a beautiful geode for a decoration, healing purposes or to sell. Have a gold day!!

Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWzYDu1fX0&feature=youtu.be and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_AyJFrrX0M for videos on this.