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Anonymous
Lighthouse cut Amethyst
>> Anonymous
gb2..... fuck

nice rock.
>> Anonymous
Looking at the thumbnail, my first thought was, "Nice d8."
>> Gordy
quite a few flaws in that mo'fucka
>> Anonymous
>>304460
Looks more like a d10 to me

>>304498
Heh, fuckin /hr/. Are those flaws or just dust specks?
>> Anonymous
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They are dust specks. Even right after polishing, the dust settles right back on the dang thing. Here is the amethyst I completed tonight.
>> Anonymous
Edit: This one actually does have a flaw in it. At about the one o'clock, you can see a line of dark specks. Those specs are a curtain of tiny bubbles in the stone. There wasn't anything I could do about, but since it is on the underside of the stone, it won't be visible when it gets mounted.
>> Anonymous
How much do these cost usually?

Trivia; Alexandrite is actually rarer than diamonds, or so I hear. Just not as photogenic or propagated by Debeers.
>> Anonymous
Alexandrite is indeed rarer than diamonds as are a number of gemstones. DeBeers has artifically maintained the price and supply of diamonds for many years due to their monopoly of the diamond market.

This particular stone cost $0.80 per carat (1 carat = 1/5 gram) and started as a 21.85 carat piece of rough ($17.48). Final finished weight was 3.585 carats. The person I have sold it to is getting a bargain at $60.00.
>> Anonymous
>>304555

Awesome. What type of gems do you work on other than Amethyst? Remind me to drop you a line if I need a ring.

And please, do post (either now or when you do them) any gems you work on in high-res.
>> Anonymous
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Thank you for the kind words. This is my first time posting to 4chan. It's nice to be able to post the whole picture instead of some resized and compressed one.

I have a lot of amethyst to work with so I have been cutting (and selling, much to my delight) mainly that. However, I have also cut tourmaline, glass, synthetic garnet, aquamarine, citrine and goshenite. Here is a picture of a peridot in the same "Shiver" cut. I was only able to show it to about five people before someone uttered those magic words: "I want. How much." This peridot is only the 25th stone I have ever cut. The previously posted amethyst is # 30.
>> Anonymous
>>304559

Allow me to pester you for a bit, I'm really interested in this shit. How do you cut the stones, do you just think of a basic design then work from there, or do you plan every facet of the gemstone beforehand? And how do you keep your cuts so symmetrical/precise, do you cut it using just hand-held jewelers tools or specialized machines (CNC?) for the cutting and polishing?
>> Anonymous
Not pestering at all. I enjoy informing people about gemstones and faceting (at least as much as I know.) A specialized machine us used to cut the facets. It allows you to precisely set the angle of your cut and has a mast to adjust the elevation. Personally, I use this one: http://www.faceters.com/equipment/faceting_machines/omni.shtml and have found it to be an excellent machine. As for the design of the facet itself, the angles and cuts are predetermined. Those who are much more adept than I can produce their own designs, but I simply use designs that others have created. As an example, this is the design I followed when creating the "Lighthouse." http://www.faceters.com/designs/light_house.shtml

It's really just glorified connect-the-dots, albeit very tiny ones. However, if you overcut one of the facets, you have to start all over and recut everything. That's a lesson I have learned all too well.
>> Anonymous
Yikes, faceting machines are, unsurprisingly really, quite expensive. Here's to hoping you'll make back what you payed for yours very soon.

How long do the gears on a faceting machine last before wearing down from the cutting/polishing and require a change? Seeing as yours is a rather exact science, I imagine you need to keep it in tip-top shape.

How do you get your raw, uncut stones? I don't know if websites are really trustworthy enough since you can seldom inspect what you're getting beforehand. Do you have a supplier IRL to get them for you?

Pardon the question avalanche.
>> Anonymous
Bump for awesome original content.
>> Anonymous
>>304576
I know nothing of faceting, but its not uncommon to find bits of amethyst up to about thumb-sized in the dense red clay around the piedmont shelf in virginia.

There are bits of diamond in the stone under the tidewater river floors too, but nothing to get exceited about, usually only 1/16" flecks. Granted, I'm not 100% sure these are diamond, but they are in really carbonaceous rock and they're spectacularly clear, so I suspect they are.
>> Anonymous
>>304703

Awesome. If smaller fleck are in the riverbed, look upstream for a source and see what you find. Slim chance, but an interesting investigation anyway.
>> Anonymous
why is this thread so interesting
>> Anonymous
Oh my god.

What camera are you using to take those pictures?
>> Anonymous
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I am using a 10.1 MegaPixel Vivitar "ViviCam x30." It has a pretty good macro mode and takes surprisingly good pictures. Even so, it can still take upwards of 50 shots to get one good enough to post. Photographing gemstones is certainly an art, and one I haven't perfected yet. I suppose if I had better lighting and perhaps a light box, I might get better results, but I will stick with what I have for the time being since it seems to be doing just fine.

Here is one of my early attempts at a citrine trilliant cut. Probably it was about my 6th or 7th stone I have ever cut.
>> Anonymous
Protip: Nigga robbed
>> Anonymous
>>304744
these do look good, but yeah the key to most photography is proper lighting. I don't know what a good setup for gems would be, but I imagine they're harder than a lot of other things.
>> Anonymous
>>305184
rofl
>> Anonymous
God your work is breathtaking.Were you apprenticed or did you learn your trade on your own?
>> Anonymous
Thanks for these pics OP. Reminds me of a fascinating tour I took of one of the diamond houses in Amsterdam a few years ago.
>> anchora.kato@gmail.com
>>304559
That peridot's fucking gorgeous, and is relevant to my interests as it's my birthstone. How much do you sell these for, normally?
>> Anonymous
>>305638
lol, enjoy your spams mailfag.
>> Anonymous
Holy fucking fuck.
An actual Jewelcrafter. Are you a bloodelf by any chance?

Seriously though, if you cut these stones singlehandedly, you got some skills, man.
>> Anonymous
Bump. Very nice work, OP.
>> Anonymous
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Very Nice work! Do you have a website you sell gems on/from?

If I may derail the thread slightly:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html
http://sodoityourself.com/cheapest-light-tent-light-box/

Some guides on creating a small lightbox for macro photography. Attached is a small guide that I sometimes use for very small items (Gems?). Obviously, My skills are not in drawing, but I wanted to play with my new wacom tablet :)

Another thing you might try is playing with the whitebalance settings on your digital camera. Take a bunch of shots, one on each setting, and see if one makes the color better.

Good luck. :)
>> Anonymous
Bumping for respect of an excellent jewelcutter, and humbly requesting more pics of his work.
>> Anonymous
I'm buying a faceter right fucking now. And likely going to screw up, crack some semi-precious jewels and get dangerous crystal dust in my lungs...but what the hell.
>> Anonymous
What is this? no flaming in a 4chan board? Amazing... the end must be near.

Nice gems, btw.
>> Anonymous
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Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement. It seems that the polish "isn't even dry" before I have another order. Today a lady at work ordered a pair of "Lighthouse" peridots for a pair of earrings. Since I already had this one cut, I only needed to cut a matching stone to fulfill her order. I semi-jokingly tell people that I am preparing for my retirement career, but if this keeps up, I just may start that career 20 years early.

To answer a few questions:

305483- I have been seriously cutting for less than a year. No apprenticeship...just learning by doing. I bought the machine and equipment and a book on meetpoint faceting and I was off to the races. I still have a lot of learning to do, and they say that you cannot call yourself anything but an amature until you have cut 200 stones. Only 170 more to go...

305638- I have decided on a flat rate of $60.00 for any stone I cut that is 5 carats or less. I am really selling my time as opposed to the actual value of the gemstone. At present, it usually takes me 6 - 7 hours of cutting and polishing to complete a stone from rough to final product. That works out to only about $10.00 per hour, but that is my "n00b" rate. After 200, or if I cut material that is more expensive, I will adjust my prices accordingly.
>> Anonymous
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304576- The gears within the faceting machine are mostly sealed. Certain parts do require periodic oiling, however. With proper care, a faceting machine can last a lifetime. The grinding laps that actually do the cutting are kind of a consumable, but again, with proper care they can last years. ( I will admit to making newbie mistakes such as grinding my dop stick and cutting while not realizing that the water in my drip tank has run out and have slightly damaged some of my grinding laps, but fortunately, I haven't done any major damage to my toys yet.)

Rough can be acquired in a lot of ways. You can take your chances on eBay. Mostly shit there, but if you find a good seller, you can get consistant quality. A lot of my good, clean rough I have bought from the same guy that I bought the machine from. That guy is a faceting wizard, and although he doesn't know it, he is my faceting mentor. There are also other reputable sites that you can buy rough from, but those are usually discovered upon the recommendation of other faceters and gemologists. (I am building my network of those and in fact am enorlled in quite an excellent online gemology course. www.schoolofgemology.com for anyone interested) Also, it is possible to find facetable material at craft fairs and even the Renaissance festival. Anywhere that crystals are sold, you have a chance at finding something decent to cut. IRL contacts still don't exist for me at the moment, but I am new at this so I am sure those will come in time.

This is a piece of orange glass I cut for my six year-old nephew.
>> Anonymous
>>306009

Time for another barrage of questions. You brought this on yourself by being amiable/patient.

How long do the laps last, if as you say they're a bit of a consumable? Do you switch laps according to what kind of grind you're doing or is it all the Dop's work? Do you put anything else other than water in the tank? Do water PH levels matter (IE could damage a stone if not effectively neutral when combined with the heat of friction)? How automated is the process, is the Dop hand-held most of the time or can the faceter be programmed with the parameters of the cut? What do you use to fix the gem to the Dop? Can it be removed easily?

And a couple of personal ones, do you fix the gems yourself to the jewelry? Dhat stones would you/do you like to work on most? Do you intend to move on to more expensive ones IE Sapphire, Ruby etcetc (excluding diamonds I guess since they require very different machinery I hear)?
>> Anonymous
306025-

I really don't mind answering questions; and I'll do so as best as I can. Indeed, a lot of the questions are ones I had myself.

I haven't had to replace any of my grinding laps yet, but I have heard that they can have a lifespan of about 6 - 10 years. It is possible to revive a worn lap by "dressing" it. That is applying a new coating of diamond grit onto it, but I haven't looked too closely into that process yet so don't know more about it than that. The cutting process involves starting out with a coarse grit lap and then progressively switching to laps with a finer grit.. The lower the number, the coarser the grit. I call my 100 grit lap "the stumpgrinder" and that thing really eats rock. Usually, I cut 100 > 260> 1200. After 1200, I prepolish with 3000 grit and finally I polish using 50,000. The dop's only job is to hold the stone securly in place. I don't think the PH level of water matters much, and I only use tapwater. I do add JetDry to the water tank as additional lubricant.
>> Anonymous
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306025 continued-

As far as I know, faceting gems is done entirely by hand, although I have heard that there is some kind of automated machine for doing diamonds. I cannot imagine it though, because each stone is unique. To affix the stone to the dop, I use super glue for the first dop because it is accurate and I can position the dop exactly where I want it. For the transfer, I use a dop wax. Dop wax has a high shellac content and adheres well. Getting it off can be a real bitch when transferring, but a combination of heat from my mini blazzer torch and acetone seem to do the trick nicely. As for making the jewlery too, although it is a logical progression, that is an entirely different skill set and capital expenditure that I just cannot commit to right now. Perhaps in the future, but for now, I tell people that they would need to find someone to set the stone for them. I fully intend to cut sapphires and rubies once I have a bit more experience and can afford some quality rough.

The pic I posted here is of an amethyst in the transfer block. You can see the two different adhesives: Super glue on the one side and black dop wax on the other.
>> Anonymous
Thanks anonymous, fascinating thread (which is pretty unusual these days)
>> Anonymous
>>306266
>>306267

I know you know what you're doing, but be careful when grinding superglue off. Heat makes it fume, and superglue fumes can give you a bitch of a headache I hear. And I know what you mean, in my uninformed opinion, jewelry seems more like art than engineering, while faceting is the exact reverse.

Well, I've run dry of questions. I cannot thank you enough for your patience, I have been most enlightened by this thread.
>> Anonymous
i'm curious if i could order from you.
>> Anonymous
>>304555
isnt Amethyst just quartz with trace iron in it? cant it be reproduced prettty cheaply and cleanly from silica sand in a glass furnace?
>> Anonymous
you should become a tripfag, definitely earned imho.
>> Anonymous
's­up OP. I think I have just discovered something new I would love to get into one day. Keep up the good work, keep posting - not many threads this good these days.

Awesome.
>> WE
Just passing by, AWESOME thread.
>> Anonymous
Bump for awesome