Go to http://www.sculpt.com, The Compleat Sculptor. They have tools for stone work as well as clay. If you want jewelry-sized tools, try riogrande.com, a jewelry supplier.

Wow, what a treasure to be of stones to look thru! The Indian with red sounds gorgeous! Please share pictures of your work when you can!

The best tool for this kind of work is a micro-motor handpiece. These can be very expensive but there are some that aren’t too dear. The top of the class are Gesswein and NSK. Foredom makes a less expensive model.

Failing that, a flex shaft machine. Foredom is the tried and true brand but there are others that are probably just as good.

Most professional gem carvers, however, use a fixed point lathe type machine. IOW, they bring the material to the bit instead of bringing the bit to the material. This is the kind of setup used by cameo carvers, and by gem carvers in Idar Oberstein. I have no experience with these.

Diamond bits are highly variable in quality. The cheaper ones don’t last as long as the expensive ones, as to be expected. The best are made by Mountain Mist and are very pricey. Less expensive ones can be had from Jaymes Company.

Working with any of the chalcedony materials is pretty straightforward. Obsidian is dicey. It chips easily and is difficult polish.

I suggest you check out The Carving Path forum for more information. I’m not sure there are any posts on these materials but there’s a fair amount about carving jade.

https://www.thecarvingpath.net/forum/1-the-carving-path/%5B/URL%5D