I swear early on a read a book by someone, maybe even Pansy Kraus,
saying that a stone cutter is a “Lapidapterist”
For years, despite arguments from others, I defended that word.
People would often say "you mean “Lapidary”. I would respond that I
was not a building. And honestly, I did not like to be called a
Lapidarian because I come from the USA, not Lapida (that’s a joke
people). So recently I tried to look up my word. Alas, I find no
reference.
I discovered I am a Lapidarist even though I could be a Lapidist.
I used to be a Lapidapterist, not co be confused with a
Lepidopterist.
Has anyone ever heard of the word “Lapidapterist”? Or did my mind
fabricate that one? Should I fly in the face of convention and use
it anyway?
Thank you
TL Goodwin
Lapidarist/Metalsmith
The Pacifik Image
I’ve never heard of the word “Lapidapterist”, but one of my
customers (in a coffee shop I work at) has a home made shirt that
says “Lapidaddy”. I thought that was pretty cute. I asked him, and
sure enough, he is a stone cutter (and a daddy).
I could happily spend far more time making tools to do exactly what
I want to a stone, or do it at less expense, than in actually using
said tools. With angle grinder and cutting blade I have chopped my
Graves CabMate beyond recognition; my six inch sheet bronze lapping
discs once were Sabian cymbals; foam rubber floor and place mats
serve as soft backing for sanding pads; rubber test tube stoppers,
sliced, make excellent backs for Foredom-size small sanding discs;
the diamond bearing rim of tile saw blades gets stripped off and
repurposed as cutting teeth on core drills whose shanks were once
copper drain pipe; a paste of Johnson’s acrylic floor wax and cerium
oxide painted on a plexiglas disc makes a surprisingly long lasting
home-made Ultralap for the final polish in faceting quartz gems. And
so on. You have to adapt things, constantly. The word fits.
Never heard that word before. But it’s a great word indeed. Go for
it.
Or reserve it perhaps for when you’re modifying (adapting) one stone
to fit a different mounting shape or something… (Lapidary plus
adapting… etc. etc.)
And if you end up doing the stone setting work with your
recut/modified/adapted stone too, then you could be the
lapidaptersetter… If you break it somehow in the process, you’d be
a lapidapterouch…
I’ve often thought a person who cuts stones should be called a
lapiderist but everyone seems to call such a person a lapidary -
which seems somehow wrong.
Considering the effort involved and the economic return, anyone who
cuts rocks has to have them in his/her head. “Lapidary” is therefore
quite appropriate.
A lapidary is both the person who cuts stone and the place where the
cutting is done.
Language is a convention: it doesn’t always make sense. You’re in GB;
I’m in the USA. the only way we can communicate is to agree on what
word we use for what.
If you don’t like the word blue to describe a certain hue and use
xcerb instead there’s bound to be a failure to communicate.
“You’re in GB; I’m in the USA. The only way we can communicate is to
agree on what word we use.” Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said “England
and the US are two countries divided by a common language”?
I call 'em lapidaries (I’m USA)…It doesn’t seem to me to be as
appropiate a title as it should be…
And I have the utmost respect for the man or woman that makes as
their avocation the work and art of bringing out the beauty of Ma
Gaia’s gift to us…
OK…the syns, too…
Yeah…I know they’re a part of the equation that makes the beauty
of jewelry… The gold and silver* artisans do their thing, and a
synergy happens… 1 + 1 = 8
Knocks yer socks off sometimes…
I got into this stuff because of the stones…
I don’t do lapidary for a number of reasons…
But I sure as heck appreciate them that do…
This just my personal opinion…
Gary W. Bourbonais
L’Hermite Aromatique
A.J.P. (GIA)
Considering the effort involved and the economic return, anyone
who cuts rocks has to have them in his/her head. "Lapidary" is
therefore quite appropriate
Rick…you said that with tongue in cheek…Right??
Agreed that when a cutter is new there is little or no economic
return. However, I have now been cutting for nearly 40 years, both
cabbing and faceting, and I am proud to call myself a ‘lapidary’.
After all that time, I never looked upon my cutting as a purely
economic endeavor. I cut for the excitement, the art, the enjoyment,
and, oh yes, I make some pretty good money from it too!! Some
dictionary definitions of ‘lapidary…one who cuts and polishes
rocks’, while accurately describing WHAT we do, are hardly very
adequate in describing WHY we do it!
I LOVE my rocks!!!
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in wet soggy SOFL where
simple elegenace IS fine jewelry!
Is a lapidapterist a craftsman who carves butterflies out of
Ah HAH Deewo. Been there and done that. Last Feb at Tucson I was
working in the Graves tent and demoing the new Caberet cabbing
machine. Having little else to do, I cut a butterfly to show how easy
it was. Took only a few minutes.
Haven’t faceted one yet but did cut a frosted stone with a polished
butterfly on the culet. Hahaha. Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle
Studio in SOFL where simple elegance IS fine jewelry!
This is a totally ridiculous thread. Lapidary is a perfectly
appropriate word for those of us who cut stones. After all you’ve
got Notary for those who verify legal matters, apothecary for one who
distributes drugs, actuary for one who assesses risk,
pulmonary, incendiary dromedary. It all fits.
If you don't like the word blue to describe a certain hue and use
xcerb instead there's bound to be a failure to communicate.
I wasn’t arguing or saying that you should be called a lapidarist,
just that based on many other such words in the English language,
lapidarist rather than lapidary sounds like a better fit. I’ve heard
such a person called a lapidarist a couple of times but maybe it is
a transatlantic difference in language like aluminum/aluminium or
oriented/orientated. Please don’t be offended by what I said.
I've often thought a person who cuts stones should be called a
lapiderist but everyone seems to call such a person a lapidary -
which seems somehow wrong.
The fact that everyone uses lapidary is exactly what makes it right It is the commonly accepted English terminology. However,
lapidarist (assuming that’s what you meant to write) is an
acceptable if not common synonym. I believe it can also have an
associated meaning as someone who is expert in matters of lapidary
and gemstones without necessarily being a cutter.
It is the commonly accepted English terminology. However,