jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Mar 5, 2022 14:17:04 GMT -5
Following up from a cabochon related post a few weeks back, I thought I'd share an update on my journey into giving faceting a try. My first attempt was a little piece of amethyst, and I just followed the tutorial in the machine's manual, which didn't even name a design (I think it was just some basic round brilliant...maybe...I don't know anything about this stuff yet). Made lots of mistakes, and a fracture developed right as I was finishing up with polishing, so I just called it good where it was at. Learning to photograph these will be a whole other thing, and I still haven't dedicated any time to learning how to photograph regular cabochons better LOL. After finishing that little amethyst, I let the Dunning-Krueger effect guide me into a new project that was way out of my league, inspired by some videos from a master I was watching on Instagram. It took a long time, and again mistakes were the theme of the day, but I learned a TON and it didn't turn out too bad for only being my second attempt. I chose the design (and scratched my head a bunch trying to figure out how to follow it), crossed my fingers and then just dove in. Full progression below... This is the 'rough' I started with.  beam splitters by Kevin, on Flickr Here's a view as the pavilion was finishing up. And finally, a couple of views of the finished product, with slightly different lighting and zoom settings. |
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Post by Pat on Mar 5, 2022 14:38:23 GMT -5
Not a faceter, but they all look good to me!
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 5, 2022 14:58:26 GMT -5
Holy Guacamole those are amazing!  First, that Amethyst is gorgeous...and the second piece is astounding! I love the fact you dove head-on into the deep end with that second one! I freakin' love the "sink or swim" attitude when it comes to learning or figuring something out! Way to go!! |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Mar 5, 2022 15:02:10 GMT -5
Wow! Great job for someone who doesn't know anything about faceting! You really killed it on that second one. That's a helluva lot of facets. Kudos!
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 5, 2022 16:16:22 GMT -5
That second one would make a helluva ring! Wow! You did awesome!
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Mar 5, 2022 16:55:43 GMT -5
Not a faceter, but they all look good to me! Thank you! I'm not a faceter either, haha! Holy Guacamole those are amazing!  First, that Amethyst is gorgeous...and the second piece is astounding! I love the fact you dove head-on into the deep end with that second one! I freakin' love the "sink or swim" attitude when it comes to learning or figuring something out! Way to go!! Thanks, Jason! The amethyst is pretty blah, especially after that fracture, BUT...it bounces really high! I knocked it off the bench onto the concrete floor and it bounced all the way up to my waist. It was impressive, or I'm easily impressed Wow! Great job for someone who doesn't know anything about faceting! You really killed it on that second one. That's a helluva lot of facets. Kudos! Thanks, Robin! I don't know what is considered a lot of facets, or what the average number might be, but that glass had 128 total and it sure felt like a lot LOL! Wow! Great job for someone who doesn't know anything about faceting! You really killed it on that second one. That's a helluva lot of facets. Kudos! Thanks, Tela! It's kind of beastly, that would be a big ring LOL! I chose the design just to see what it would do with those beam splitters, it seems much too large to be practical in a piece of jewelry, but I don't know much about that either |
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 5, 2022 17:53:09 GMT -5
jasperfanatic - Normally I'm a "Hey, let me try that!" kinda guy...but I'm going to take your word for it and not bounce one of my Amethyst cabs off the concrete floor...well...not intentionally! LOL
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Post by pauls on Mar 5, 2022 21:11:25 GMT -5
That's a great effort, Try this site for some really good modern cuts. www.gemologyproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Faceting_DesignsI say modern cuts because some of the old designs are truly horrible, I inherited a stack of old designs that a friend was collecting from early Lapidary magazines, some were OK. Some were cuttable but were dead. Some were impossible to cut without a lot of modifications in Gem Cut Studio. gemcutstudio.com/ . I didn't cut any of them physically just in the software. Don't beat yourself up about cutting down onto a fracture with your Amethyst, it happens to everyone. The last two stones I did ended up with fractures that weren't noticeable in the rough. A nice piece of clear Moonstone ended with the grand canyon across the table, second was a Zircon that had a chunk fall out of the crown when I took it off the dop. I am cutting a largish piece of lab Spinel at the moment and every level is just two facets, a complicated design with 99 facets and a level change after every second one, I was just finishing up and the last facet cut down onto a black speck of something in the material, ah well, back to square one, I had just enough spare girdle to cut the facet down to get rid of the dirt but I am now about a quarter of the way through recutting every facet. |
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NDK
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Mar 6, 2022 9:34:51 GMT -5
Very impressive. I agree with Jason that it's awesome to see someone jump in with such gusto!
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Mar 6, 2022 11:34:26 GMT -5
jasperfanatic - Normally I'm a "Hey, let me try that!" kinda guy...but I'm going to take your word for it and not bounce one of my Amethyst cabs off the concrete floor...well...not intentionally! LOL I'm holding a clinic on it next weekend "How to bounce your gemstones", I can send you a link if you're interested I bet it landed on just the right facet, or line, causing a maximum transfer of kinetic energy from the fall...or something involving physics LOL. Joking aside, I would be interested in knowing what variables came together to let it bounce so high, but I don't think I'll be investing any time trying to learn what that might have been. That's a great effort, Try this site for some really good modern cuts. www.gemologyproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Faceting_DesignsI say modern cuts because some of the old designs are truly horrible, I inherited a stack of old designs that a friend was collecting from early Lapidary magazines, some were OK. Some were cuttable but were dead. Some were impossible to cut without a lot of modifications in Gem Cut Studio. gemcutstudio.com/ . I didn't cut any of them physically just in the software. Don't beat yourself up about cutting down onto a fracture with your Amethyst, it happens to everyone. The last two stones I did ended up with fractures that weren't noticeable in the rough. A nice piece of clear Moonstone ended with the grand canyon across the table, second was a Zircon that had a chunk fall out of the crown when I took it off the dop. I am cutting a largish piece of lab Spinel at the moment and every level is just two facets, a complicated design with 99 facets and a level change after every second one, I was just finishing up and the last facet cut down onto a black speck of something in the material, ah well, back to square one, I had just enough spare girdle to cut the facet down to get rid of the dirt but I am now about a quarter of the way through recutting every facet. Thanks, Paul. I'll check that site out. I've been cruising through and printing out some designs from facetdiagrams.org, but having only cut two stones I'm getting way ahead of myself LOL. Very impressive. I agree with Jason that it's awesome to see someone jump in with such gusto! Thanks, Nate. I'm all about "Go big, or go home!" LOL. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 6, 2022 12:17:12 GMT -5
jasperfanatic - When you get more experience under your belt with these and start making them for other people, rather than them telling you how many facets they want in their piece, they're going to have to tell you how high the rebound needs to be! LOL That really would be an amazing experiment to try and determine what exactly happened to create the height in that bounce! (Not with MY pieces!! LOL) - It's one of those questions which will likely never be answered with any surety...but they're fun to think about!
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Mar 6, 2022 14:20:28 GMT -5
jasperfanatic - When you get more experience under your belt with these and start making them for other people, rather than them telling you how many facets they want in their piece, they're going to have to tell you how high the rebound needs to be! LOL That really would be an amazing experiment to try and determine what exactly happened to create the height in that bounce! (Not with MY pieces!! LOL) - It's one of those questions which will likely never be answered with any surety...but they're fun to think about! I agree, every day I think about at least a dozen things that I'd like to know about, things like that - useless information but interesting stats to know, if only for my own edification. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 6, 2022 14:26:29 GMT -5
jasperfanatic - When you get more experience under your belt with these and start making them for other people, rather than them telling you how many facets they want in their piece, they're going to have to tell you how high the rebound needs to be! LOL That really would be an amazing experiment to try and determine what exactly happened to create the height in that bounce! (Not with MY pieces!! LOL) - It's one of those questions which will likely never be answered with any surety...but they're fun to think about! I agree, every day I think about at least a dozen things that I'd like to know about, things like that - useless information but interesting stats to know, if only for my own edification. Glad I'm not the only one! I've often wondered if when we leave this mortal coil, we discover the answers to all the questions that have been asked throughout history...the important ones...along with the mundane. I'd like to think we do...it gives me something to look forward to! LOL |
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Post by MsAli on Mar 6, 2022 17:29:33 GMT -5
Trying to channel Jack Storm?
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brybry
Cave Dweller
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Member since October 2021
Posts: 1,221
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Post by brybry on Mar 6, 2022 17:46:08 GMT -5
I agree, every day I think about at least a dozen things that I'd like to know about, things like that - useless information but interesting stats to know, if only for my own edification. Glad I'm not the only one! I've often wondered if when we leave this mortal coil, we discover the answers to all the questions that have been asked throughout history...the important ones...along with the mundane. I'd like to think we do...it gives me something to look forward to! LOL No wonder we get along. |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Mar 6, 2022 20:21:49 GMT -5
Wow! Those are all fantastic! That material you used sure does provide some amazing color.
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Mar 7, 2022 10:54:09 GMT -5
Trying to channel Jack Storm? I wish! Wow! Those are all fantastic! That material you used sure does provide some amazing color. Thank you! |
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Post by Starguy on Mar 8, 2022 13:11:20 GMT -5
jasperfanaticThose are amazing. You may have inspired me to break out my old facet machine. Think I still have some chunks of CZ around. I know I have some flame fusion sapphire. Outstanding work. Thanks for showing.
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Mar 9, 2022 11:54:31 GMT -5
jasperfanatic Those are amazing. You may have inspired me to break out my old facet machine. Think I still have some chunks of CZ around. I know I have some flame fusion sapphire. Outstanding work. Thanks for showing. Thank you for the kind words! |
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lorney
having dreams about rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 59
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Post by lorney on Mar 13, 2022 20:30:10 GMT -5
Following up from a cabochon related post a few weeks back, I thought I'd share an update on my journey into giving faceting a try. My first attempt was a little piece of amethyst, and I just followed the tutorial in the machine's manual, which didn't even name a design (I think it was just some basic round brilliant...maybe...I don't know anything about this stuff yet). Made lots of mistakes, and a fracture developed right as I was finishing up with polishing, so I just called it good where it was at. Learning to photograph these will be a whole other thing, and I still haven't dedicated any time to learning how to photograph regular cabochons better LOL. After finishing that little amethyst, I let the Dunning-Krueger effect guide me into a new project that was way out of my league, inspired by some videos from a master I was watching on Instagram. It took a long time, and again mistakes were the theme of the day, but I learned a TON and it didn't turn out too bad for only being my second attempt. I chose the design (and scratched my head a bunch trying to figure out how to follow it), crossed my fingers and then just dove in. Full progression below... This is the 'rough' I started with. beam splitters by Kevin, on Flickr Here's a view as the pavilion was finishing up. And finally, a couple of views of the finished product, with slightly different lighting and zoom settings. Thanks for sharing. They look amazing. I have a faceting machine as well but have yet to cut a stone. I purchased a machine off a gentleman that was having trouble with his vision and could no longer cut stones. A bit of an impulse buy I would say. Now I find myself somewhat intimidated by the whole thing to be honest. Can you tell me roughly how many hours you put into that first stone and any good suggestions for reference videos or web sites on getting started. |
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