Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11.s8.2

v1.c11.s8.2

The stone seals were first cut into shape by a saw, whose thickness was 0.025 inch. After the seal had been cut to the required size, if it was to have a boss, this was roughly cut into shape with the saw, a horizontal cut was made from each side of the seal towards the centre and four vertical cuts were then made downwards to meet the horizontal ones. A rough square projection of the size of the boss was thus left at the back of the seal. The boss was then carefully rounded off after the groove, that always runs across its centre, had been roughly made by a V-shaped cut. The rounding off of the boss was apparently done with a knife and finished off with an abrasive, after which a hole was bored through it from opposite sides to take cord. (MS-II, 377)