Chalcedony

Chalcedony is a little-seen semi-precious material that obviously has enough value for inclusion in new Jerusalem, the city of God here on earth. Let's see what it primarily contains. For this, you'll need sand and a lot of it, just as before. From there though, we're going to do something with it completely different. The chemical structure of chalcedony is quite simply known as silica dioxide. Therefore, the silica material or heated sand will be used as the base. Unlike jasper however, you will need this to be as opaque in color as possible. These will range anywhere from to a cloudy clear in color in its purest form to an amber yellow or green. The chalcedony is often found in a variety of fields from cooled volcanic ash to exposed rocks found near the beach. Unlike Jasper, chalcedony is the closest in structure to an opaque glass. Therefore, Jasper depends on the additives primarily for its structure, look, and color. The chalcedony though can actually be turned into glass. Turns out, that's where a lot of the old-world stained-glass windows got their look.

Alright, now it's finally time to introduce the main part of the solution, the warm salt-water brine. Plain water is fine, but I'm really curious to see what the salt-water would do to the look, shape, form, structure, and so on. You'll want to heat all this under relatively low to moderate heat with perhaps a bit of pressure added. For this, a lid kept on the pot works just fine. Adding acidity or alkalinity to the water also affects the color. Basically, acidity and alkalinity are describing the chemical property and makeup of something. Water is decidedly neutral at a nice round numbered seven. Acidic things will be anything less than seven while alkaline things will be anything above. You've got to be careful with it though, because very acidic and alkaline things will burn you or eat you alive if you're not careful enough. I suggest using spill-resistant gloves and clothes if you can. Although, you won't need those right now. Just, if you plan to do work with these substances in the future, I highly recommend proceeding with caution.

Stomach acid used in digesting food is known to be very acidic in nature. Alkaline things are those that will dissolve metals and things more basic than this. A good example of this would be baking soda. These can also be added to water naturally. Adding carbon dioxide to water, a by product of breathing, will lower the composition dramatically creating an acidic mixture. Adding acidity by hand requires small amounts of lemon juice or vinegar. Naturally occurring alkaline water looks at the filtration of water through the use of substances such as calcium and magnesium. Believe it or not, most natural springs that come up from the ground contain these minerals. To make alkaline water by hand, you'll want to add in some baking soda or even electricity. After that, you'll want to let this thing sit until crystals are formed. From there, the gemstone will be a breeze to remove and chisel down to shape.