Cut my second Gemstone.

silversearcher

silversearcher

Active Member
Silver Stacker
I've cut my second Gemstone. This time it's a very light citrine, with an interesting colour shift. Because its not quite clear, it has a appealing look about it. It weighs 7.5 CT, which is smaller than my previous stone. I did make a couple of mistakes, but did manage to rectify a slight overcut. Also, I got lucky and bought a faceting machine for a bargain. A "FACET STAR" which was made in Melbourne. It came complete with a huge array of dops, brand new discs and index wheels. I just replaced a new belt this morning. So it's all set to go. Thanks to Benkenobi for sharing some useful information. Today I used Paint stripper to remove the epoxy off the stone after final completion, and I have to say it did a great job. So that has solved a mystery that I have pondered for a while. Many stones have shattered on final removal from heating the glue off.


CITRINE.jpg faceter.jpg
 
Looks awesome- I have a machine but I have not use it for faceting yet, only cabachoned on it.
 
m3sca1 said:
Looks awesome- I have a machine but I have not use it for faceting yet, only cabachoned on it.
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I was pretty happy with the result. Has a fairly nice polish, and dealing with scratches during polishing was easily dealt with.
 
Nice job Silversearcher, congrats on a successful completion of your next gem, you have done a fine job. Congrats also on attaining a machine to use and call your own, if you set it up at home you will go ahead in leaps and bounds as you will no longer be restricted to club hours.
Machine looks to be in pretty good nick too and has been well kept by the previous owner, so long as the spindle bearing and shaft is square to the mast, and facet head bushings are not worn there is not much really that can go wrong and looks like you have kit that will get you through the entirety of your learning process.

There are generally plenty of synthetics available nowadays when you have had enough with quartz and are ready to move forward, EG: YAG, Zircon, Corundum etc you will be astounded at the hardness difference, and the completely different look the higher refractive index affords.

Well Done, looking forward to a report on your first stone on your new machine.

Regards
B.
 
BenKenobi said:
Nice job Silversearcher, congrats on a successful completion of your next gem, you have done a fine job. Congrats also on attaining a machine to use and call your own, if you set it up at home you will go ahead in leaps and bounds as you will no longer be restricted to club hours.
Machine looks to be in pretty good nick too and has been well kept by the previous owner, so long as the spindle bearing and shaft is square to the mast, and facet head bushings are not worn there is not much really that can go wrong and looks like you have kit that will get you through the entirety of your learning process.

There are generally plenty of synthetics available nowadays when you have had enough with quartz and are ready to move forward, EG: YAG, Zircon, Corundum etc you will be astounded at the hardness difference, and the completely different look the higher refractive index affords.

Well Done, looking forward to a report on your first stone on your new machine.

Regards
B.
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Yes BenKenobi, least having my own machine means that others aren't messing around with it. I bought a 60 carat Nigerian Garnet to cut. The price per carat really adds up on raw stones. I think most have no concept of the cost of raw gem material and the time to cut a good "SIZE" gem. Good quality Tanzanite per carat cut will cost up to $300 to $400 per carat if not more. So a good size 10 carat stone will set you back a few bob. Most of the cheap stuff is so tiny and has no colour quality. It's amazing sometimes what loss there is from raw material. After you cut away all the crap and pre-form to make sure all the veils or inclusions are gone, I have found that carat weight really drops.....
 
silversearcher said:
Yes, I use epoxy...Actually a USA epoxy called Devcon. Wax looks looks difficult to dop, and I'm not sure how good a bond it would have.
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I am scared of the wax dropping the stone. Stuff that I was playing with came with my machine and I did some freehand cabachon on the faceting machine. The stuff dropped the rock a few times so I am encouraged to hear about other glues Ithat I have more faith in.
 
silversearcher said:
Yes, I use epoxy...Actually a USA epoxy called Devcon.
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Hi Silversearcher, may i know what kind of devcon you use particularly. Since devcon product epoxy have many ranges, was it the 5 minute plastic steel epoxy, thank you in advance.
 
JNS said:
Hi Silversearcher, may i know what kind of devcon you use particularly. Since devcon product epoxy have many ranges, was it the 5 minute plastic steel epoxy, thank you in advance.
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I use the 5 minute Epoxy with 1500pso strengh. I get it sent in from the US, bought through Ebay. It does a great job. And at $7.00 AU with free shipping its not a bad price.
 
Hi, Silversearcher, thank you for information regarding my inquiry, wish you all the best wishes on your cutting and faceting of stones.
 
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