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Anonymous File :-(, x)
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.
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