This just in from the e-mail bag: I started to facet this piece of Sunstone yesterday and when I used the 600 lap this strange surface appeared on this particular facet and it wouldn’t polish away, any idea what or why? What amazed me was that it only happened on this one facet, the stone is […]
Polishing Sunstone Cleavage Problems Read More »
This question came via eMail today: As diamond laps are very expensive and their diamond surface is a thin layering, have you heard of major producers of these laps offering any kind of reduced price to resurfacing worn laps. I use the Crystallite steels and it just seems like they would be one that would
Diamond Faceting Laps Question Read More »
This is a natural Sapphire recut of a native gem that was pretty bad in terms of geometry and color presentation. There was a chip at the girdle, lopsided geometry (check where that culet is), bad meets, bad polish, and abraded facet junctions from the typical mishandling often found with native stones: Original was 8
Insane-color Natural Sapphire Recut! Read More »
Someone recently asked me: “Do you use a polariscope to determine (locate) the C axis before you dop the stone?” The short answer is “Not always”. The longer answer is there are three reasons to orient according to optic axis: Structural (as when cleavage relative to OA is known, in a materials like Topaz or
Facet Rough Orientation with Polariscope Read More »
Here are a couple of parcels of Zambian facet rough I acquired today from a new source (dealer). The gentleman was efficient and pleasant to deal with, and prices were reasonable. The next resident Faceting Academy is apparently going to be cutting some nice Aquamarine facet rough, among other things.
Zambian Facet Rough Read More »
Here’s an interesting article about faceter William Nagy, a Rockville, Maryland Member of the GLMSMC – who has faceted the largest documented gem cut from native Maryland rough. The gem is Smoky Quartz, finished weight of 72.5 carats, and 29.82 mm x 23.36 mm size. Mr. Nagy has honored me by using my Sultan’s Seat
Largest Native Maryland Faceted Gemstone in Existence Read More »
Interesting lot of Emerald from Afghanistan that we’re considering…
Juicy Emerald Faceting Rough Read More »
I get this question frequently: >>Did you cut the bowl on your machine so that you can make your 90’s on the girdle? The answer is NO: I DO NOT RECOMMEND chopping-up a perfectly good splash bowl. And, I have never had a problem cutting a girdle. I don’t recommend faceting machine modification. I recommend
Whenever it’s “Academy Time” I get lots of questions about what a person needs to get started in faceting: “What’s in the “beginner’s kit?” people will ask? And, there aren’t many one-stop shops for all this stuff, though there are plenty of guys who will try to sell you their kitchen sink and the old
Getting Started in Faceting Read More »
For Faceting Academy attendees (and other apprentices), remember that YOU WILL NEED SMALL DOPS. We (you) are going to be cutting some VERY small stones as part of your training. This is the fastest way to learn all of the relevant skills, from evaluation to orientation, dopping, transfer, cutting, polishing – and most importantly SEEING
Remember the SMALL DOPS Read More »