Our spheres have been cut and polished from natural rocks and minerals.
Our crystal balls are natural quartz. Many crystal balls are cut from glass or lead crystal which glass infused with lead.
The process of cutting a crystal ball or mineral sphere begins by cutting a cube. The edges and corners are then cut away.
Excess material continues to be removed from the roughly spherical shape through cutting or grinding.
The material is then supported by two metal cups in a machine called a cup grinder.
Whilst being spun in all directions the crystal or mineral continues to be sanded until it's a perfect sphere.
It's then polished.
Due to the way crystal balls and mineral spheres are produced there's always a significant amount of wastage.
Depending on size, as much as 80% of the material from which it's cut can be lost.
Prior to modern machinery quartz crystal balls would have been produced using lapidary wheels. These large rotating discs were made of metal or stone. Abrasives of different hardness were embedded into them.
The rough shape would be held against the rotating wheel to grind away excess material.
Cutting a quartz crystal ball by hand would have been a lengthy and painstaking process.
Water or other coolants are always used when grinding and shaping mineral spheres and crystal balls.
Quartz is a hard mineral so something even harder must be used. Diamond is the hardest natural material so is widely used as an abrasive. Garnet and corundum are also widely used.
