ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Aug 16, 2017 13:59:12 GMT -5
This past weekend my wife and I attended a 2-day beginner faceting class. This was being sponsored by the Midwest Faceters Guild. We both had a great time and really enjoyed learning what goes into cutting a stone. I think I will sign up for a week long class at William Holland next year. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye out for any used machines. Here is a picture of the machine I used. This is a Graves Mark 1. 
And here are some crappy pictures of the finished stone. Mine is the purple one.   And here is a video which does a better job, I think... Some "technical" stuff if you're interested. I think this is a Standard Brilliant cut. I never got the P2 cuts to work correctly. The 2 times i tried to cut them, I killed my P1 cuts. So I decided to just skip them. I was thinking about attempting to put them in during polish, but time was a factor. We did our initial cuts on a 1200 fast lap. We then went to a 50k grit diamond spray for the final polish. I'm not sure if this is the way you usually work or this was done to save time. I couldn't believe how long it took to polish to facets and have a major appreciation for well cut stones! I fully understand how precision would help make the process better, but also see how diligence could be used if your machine isn't the latest and greatest. I thought this was a very mechanical skill set, but I think the artistry is being able to work with the little differences you see over and over. |
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Post by fantastic5 on Aug 16, 2017 14:08:36 GMT -5
Looks like you really had a great first class! I bought my husband a used Raytech a Christmas back. We met some friends for a long weekend in the mountains and they taught him the basics. Really time consuming and so difficult to get all the meet points lined up. Your amethyst looks fantastic for your first stone! Hope you can make it to WH next summer. It's such a great experience!
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Post by Garage Rocker on Aug 16, 2017 14:11:08 GMT -5
Color me impressed! Very nice work, Dave. Looking forward to future posts on this endeavor.
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Post by coloradocliff on Aug 16, 2017 15:37:05 GMT -5
Great first go at it. Learned a lot I bet and it wont be long before your faceting is as great as your tumbles.
Maybe after you get it down. Like a couple of weeks for an over achiever like you, you will be giving us tips and encouragement for our own.
Sure see why you were drawn to this new endeavor. Just cool and mesmerizing work.
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Post by vegasjames on Aug 16, 2017 18:39:26 GMT -5
Did a great job!!!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2017 0:12:59 GMT -5
Meet points look really good. Specially for the first stone.
That will make a nice piece.of jewelry for your bride. Well done and thanks for coming back and sharing!
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Post by fernwood on Aug 17, 2017 5:39:33 GMT -5
Awesome.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Aug 17, 2017 8:59:58 GMT -5
I can't believe that's your first one. That looks incredible. I think I'll stick to tumbling, but I'm impressed with anyone who can do faceting.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,726 
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Post by Fossilman on Aug 18, 2017 11:19:32 GMT -5
WOW,those are really beautiful-great job!!!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Aug 21, 2017 9:25:45 GMT -5
Thanks for all the kind words. This was quite a bit of fun and might be a new direction I'm heading. We'll see what happens...
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zapins
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by zapins on Aug 27, 2017 11:56:24 GMT -5
Looks really nice. How long did it take to cut the stone and polish it from start to finish?
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Post by orrum on Aug 27, 2017 12:36:58 GMT -5
Hey Dave very nice. Meet points are pretty good sir!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Aug 27, 2017 15:05:49 GMT -5
Looks really nice. How long did it take to cut the stone and polish it from start to finish? It was a 2 day class from 9am until 4pm each day. Take out the time we went over all the directions, lunch and general chit-chat and I would say maybe 8 hours total. |
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Aug 27, 2017 18:19:01 GMT -5
That is truly an amazing stone for being your very first! I know little about the steps, but obviously, you are a great listener and a super follower! Thanks for sharing and now we all want to see lots more.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,070
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Post by gemfeller on Aug 28, 2017 19:57:08 GMT -5
Nice first stone. It's a great thrill to take that first one off the dop and see what you've created.
My usual procedure with quartz is 600 to 1200 on metal laps to cerium on a tin lap. Your jump from 1200 to 50K is a huge one and I'm not surprised it took a long time to bring up a polish. Many folks who polish quartz with diamond only complain about the difficulty of getting a top polish. I prefer oxide polishes for quartz and several other gems like garnet. But every cutter has their own method.
Developing a knack to avoid overcutting facets on entry-level machines like the one you used comes with practice. More expensive machines with digital depth meters help a lot but a heavy hand can still lead to overcuts. It's all practice.
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Aug 29, 2017 21:02:19 GMT -5
Nice first stone. It's a great thrill to take that first one off the dop and see what you've created. My usual procedure with quartz is 600 to 1200 on metal laps to cerium on a tin lap. Your jump from 1200 to 50K is a huge one and I'm not surprised it took a long time to bring up a polish. Many folks who polish quartz with diamond only complain about the difficulty of getting a top polish. I prefer oxide polishes for quartz and several other gems like garnet. But every cutter has their own method. Developing a knack to avoid overcutting facets on entry-level machines like the one you used comes with practice. More expensive machines with digital depth meters help a lot but a heavy hand can still lead to overcuts. It's all practice. I couldn't believe how quickly the P2 cuts went in (and then some). So the second time I tried to do even less and still killed them. At that point I stopped paying so much attention to the caliper and more to what each cut looked like. Since I just bought a used Raytech Shaw I think this is going to help with not trusting all the dials so much and learning how to see more of what is happening. |
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,070
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Post by gemfeller on Aug 29, 2017 22:55:38 GMT -5
The great advantage of a Raytech Shaw is that you're easily able to lift the handpiece and inspect your cut. With mast machines you have to do some contortions to check your stone.
Here's a hint on small, shallow facets like your P2s: turn the machine's power off and simply move the stone manually back and forth along the "sweet spot" on your lap. Small facets cut in rapidly even by hand so you have to check them often and leave enough stock so you won't overcut at the next stage. Even polishing removes a small amount of material, enough to mess up close meetpoints. Seeing what you're doing is half the battle; be sure to clean the stone each time you inspect it. I use a microfiber cloth and keep a 10-power loupe by my machine for really close inspection.
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monna0000
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 243 
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Post by monna0000 on Oct 12, 2017 16:38:44 GMT -5
Wow this is just amazing, looks like a million $ rock. I wished there were classes like that here in Denmark.
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flminer56
starting to shine!
Im a certified us faceters guild novice gem cutter as of 4/20
Member since September 2017
Posts: 37
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Post by flminer56 on Nov 7, 2017 16:16:52 GMT -5
very nice job for your first one. my first one wasn't nearly as nice. I would like to see your next attempts .
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Nov 7, 2017 16:26:32 GMT -5
very nice job for your first one. my first one wasn't nearly as nice. I would like to see your next attempts . Thanks. I finally have everything needed to try this at home so I should be posting my next attempt in a few weeks! |
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Maybe you can post some pictures here