stairman
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2011
Posts: 8
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Post by stairman on Apr 20, 2011 10:48:30 GMT -5
I'm doug,a faceter living in the san diego area and just love rocks of all types ,gold and gemstones.I have only cuta couple of cabs but well over 100 faceted gems stones. I bought a chinese pos tumbler from harbour freight even though I'm usually smart enough not to waste money on cheap crappy tools.....lessons learned.It was loud,broke drive belts like sailors on shore leave pop beer caps,leaked and shortly seized a bearing. luckily it was only a 35$ lesson! I am a member of the palomar gem and mineral club in Escondido california and currently cut some gems from the pala area for people that work at or own mines. So if you have some facet grade stuff you would like cut for darn close to bargain prices let me know what you have and I can give you some references from other I have cutstones for before. any way howdy....i have been lurking for a few days and thought I'd say hi hi! Attachments:
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marinedad
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2010
Posts: 813
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Post by marinedad on Apr 21, 2011 23:22:29 GMT -5
welcome doug, my son lives near camp pendleton, anyway how does one determine if a gemstone is facet grade? i have all kinds of stuff.
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Post by stonesthatrock on Apr 21, 2011 23:52:14 GMT -5
hi doug, i used to go to pala casino way too often when i lived in corona...... lol
mary ann
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Post by Roller on Apr 22, 2011 0:38:38 GMT -5
Iam with marindads question and i have had a couple faceted but i still ask myself that question ... all i know is the clearer the better but then i had a completely cloudy piece turned into an amazing perfect clear and no iclusions gemstone... of course the faceter had picked it to facet ... so thats shows what i know .and would like to know ???how and why and what to look for ... dont mean to hijack but these are things some of us beginners might wanna know ...
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Post by Toad on Apr 22, 2011 5:41:18 GMT -5
Welcome.
Todd
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 22, 2011 13:26:08 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. Greg, I think facet grade would have to be free of fractures, inclusions, and able to refract light through the facets. A clear quartz could be faceted. A milky quartz would not have any sparkle.
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stairman
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2011
Posts: 8
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Post by stairman on Apr 22, 2011 16:15:05 GMT -5
Facet grade stones will be mostly free of inclusions but not always.That sunstone in the picture has alot of what is called schiller down in the culet(pointy end) and it does take away from the light return.Gemstones that are completely clear minus the color will alway produce the best gemstones but if light can pass through it it will sparkle. Quartz ,to be worth cutting,must be very clear ,almost like glass.A good test for facet grade is to hold it in front of a light or drop it in a clear glass container of wintergreen oil. If you can post a picture of it I can usually give you a good idea of what you'll get from it if cut.
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stairman
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2011
Posts: 8
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Post by stairman on Apr 22, 2011 16:21:29 GMT -5
roller, you must determine what is surficial cloudiness and what is internal....the wintergreen oil or refractol will eliminate anything on the surface and magically let you see the interior.The faceter that picked that stone for you did because after cutting numerous stones and staring at them in front of a strong light source he could see past the surface clutter.Polishing a "window" like you polish other rocks will also give you that window to the interior
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rockwizz
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2007
Posts: 971
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Post by rockwizz on Apr 23, 2011 12:23:14 GMT -5
hey Doug welcome to the forum. Hope you have a great experience with everyone here...
Ozzy
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