A woman in a blue coverall works with rock cutting wheels, grinders, and polishers in a plywood-walled work bay in a colorful antique warehouse full of equipment.

Member Business Profile – Agate All Along

ByWilliam Brooks

Welcome another in our series of profiles of Mill Forge Makerspace members’ small businesses!

Mill Forge member Briana’s lapidary journey started as a child, with a love of rocks and minerals, and was reignited by the gift of a rock polisher two years ago and a few geodes she and her dad cut together on a tile saw. She’s since taken mining trips around New England and New York, become an active member of the Boston Mineral Club, and collected an impressive array of uncut mineral specimens, geodes, and Herkimer diamonds.

Briana began putting together a workshop of tools to cut and polish stone, and began learning to make cabochons for jewelry settings. As she says, “Rock and gem collecting brings forward so many memories for people of innocence from a time when they picked up something from the beach or scooped some shiny rocks from a bin in a souvenir shop on a family or school field trip. I hear so many stories and people often say they totally forgot about that and still have those rocks from childhood.”

Four pieces of lapidary art sit on a dark wood workbench near a storage container. Three are polished rock oil lamps and two are wrapped decoratively in thin strips of colored leather.

When her expanding hobby began to outgrow the back porch (and the New England winter weather started making the Arizona native look indoors), Briana came to the makerspace to set up shop. She moved her equipment into a work bay with beautiful winter sunlight, and started her business, Agate All Along, to share her passion with others and help continue to build her shop and learn more about lapidary art. She loves giving her art to friends and family, knowing it will be treasured by the recipients and will last for millennia.

At Mill Forge, Briana connected with other makers and branched out to woodworking (building tools and equipment enclosures) and 3D printing (making mountings for geodes and polished agate slices and designing replacement parts for the rock polishing tools). Of her experiences at Mill Forge, she says “I still have so much to learn so having a space like Mill Forge to work it all out is so great.”

Briana and Agate All Along are based in Massachusetts and Arizona and occasionally sell pieces on their Etsy store.

Mill Forge Makerspace hosts workshop space and equipment for woodworking, metalwork, 3D printing, welding (coming soon!), electronics, textiles, and more, and provides collaborative workspaces and private bays to grow hobbies and businesses alike. Join our next Open Hack Night to learn more!