This will teach you how to make a heart out of a small-ish stone or rock (if anyone can tell me the difference between the two I'd really appreciate it). These have many uses and the one shown in this Instructable is going to be made into a pendant (don't worry, I'm going to write an Instructable for that too).

Step 1: Gathering Materials

Gathering Stones

You want to find a stone with a roughly triangular shape, and a disirable color. I'm not going to tell you where to find stones because that would be insulting. Everyone should know where to find at least one stone or rock.

Gathering Tools

Your going to need a way to shape the stones. I recommend a 4" angle grinder with a diamond coated sawblade attachment. Most people who aren't familiar with tools are saying, "whaaa?" so I'll explain what they are and where to get them.

4" angle grinder

This is a tool used to grind metal, hence the "girnder" part of the name. It is designed to spin at the appropriate RPM (revolutions per minute) with a 4" blade or grinding wheel, hence the "4"" in the name. the "angle" bit isn't important. Youcan find these at any hardware store, such as home depot (I got mine at Harbor Freight). It'll probably cost about 30$ (U.S. dollars)

Diamond coated sawblade

This is a sawblade designed to cut/grind through glass and stone. The cutting edge is lightly coated with crushed diamonds. I use a drycut one in this Instructable. Again you can find this in almostany hardware store, such as home depot (again I got mine at Harbor Frieght). Expect to pay abou 15$ (U.S. dollars)

Step 2: Forming the "V" of the Heart

To form the "V" of the heart, simply grind away the unwanted parts. It may take some practice, so be sure to gather a few rocks.

Step 3: Forming the "m" of the Heart

Simply grind away the unwanted parts, just like you did with the "V" of the heart. you may want to practice on junk stones before hand.

Step 4: Finishing

This is an optional step. You can finish the stones by grinding the rest of the smooth stone away. This gives you a uniform surface to work with. You may then want to polish it, for this you have a few options, you can throw several of them in a tumbler, or you can sand them. I decided to sand it. The first time I tried this I used the tumbler option and got decent results. The second time around I hand sanded it and got better results. You only need to use one grit of sand paper: 100 grit.

NOTE: I realized that when the stone heart got wet, it looked like it had been polished. Knowing that, I decided to oil it. I couldn't use just any oil, it had to be able to soak into the stone so it would stay permanently, but it couldn't make it slimy. My solution: mineral oil. I choose it because it soaks into things very well, and is widely avaliable. "But, Iv'e never seen it in a store..." yes you have, look at the ingredents in baby oil: 99% mineral oil, 1% fragrance (I know thats not the actual percentages, I'm going off memory). So I made another heart, and coveredit in baby oil, it's working great, I'll have to see the long term results before I put up a picture though...

If you want to put this on a necklace, follow my next Instructable: Stone Heart Pendant.