I have found gems interesting for some time, often featured in the fantasy novels, table games, and videogames I play. In World of Warcraft, my character's trades are always mining and jewel cutting haha.
I stumbled upon an article on amateur gem cutting somehow last month, and was very surprised it was actually an attainable hobby, though at a greater initial cost than most. I did not realize it was possible for hobbyists to do faceting at home! Suffice to say, my curiosity has grown.
Am I on the right track in thinking that this is how the lapidary "cycle" would go for a hobbyist?:
Decide on stone/colour Acquire rough Cut rough (if needed) with lap saw Grind rough to shape with grinder Make a cab or facet with appropriate Lap/Facet machine Polish Set aside or set in jewelry
Where is a good place for a true beginner to acquire rough? I have no plans to fiddle or cut any time soon and haven't been able to find a local club online, but I am going to study up on identifying good rough and purchase a loupe. I plan on learning and trying to acquire rough that I will eventually cut down the line, but I'd like to avoid as much junk rough as possible. As of right now I don't think I've been bit by the mineral bug so I don't want specimens per se, but perhaps that will change as I read more about the crystal structures, identification, etc.
If anyone has any resources bookmarked they would like to share, feel free. Stuff that makes you think "I wish I had read this when I was starting out!". I am working through these lessons as well: http://www.bwsmigel.info/
Ultimately, I want to be able to cut stones for my partner, cabs for sure and ideally faceting, for her to then set in jewelry herself (she has dabbled in wire and some settings) or have set for her. She is all about the colour and the sparkle, isn't terribly concerned with rarity or cost so we should be able to have some fun.
Sorry if this is rambly or too vague! I was reading other beginner posts for an hour earlier once I found this forum and figured I'd sign up, post, and hope for the best
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:06 pm Posts: 2267 Location: Chapel Hill, NC / Toronto, ON
ndhl83 wrote:
I have found gems interesting for some time, often featured in the fantasy novels, table games, and videogames I play. In World of Warcraft, my character's trades are always mining and jewel cutting haha.
HOLY SHIT, that was actually a part of my motivation to start! (Played an ele shaman + alch/herb. Check out the WoW references on some of my designs: Gemology Project faceting diagram database).
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I stumbled upon an article on amateur gem cutting somehow last month, and was very surprised it was actually an attainable hobby, though at a greater initial cost than most. I did not realize it was possible for hobbyists to do faceting at home! Suffice to say, my curiosity has grown.
Excellent! Glad to see you're considering joining the hobby. If you're on Reddit, contact /u/flameswithin - he's a friend of mine and does a ridiculous amount of outreach, on /r/pics, /r/jewelry, /r/rockhounds, etc. I usually join in, and so do a few other Gemology Online users.
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Am I on the right track in thinking that this is how the lapidary "cycle" would go for a hobbyist?:
Decide on stone/colour Acquire rough Cut rough (if needed) with lap saw Grind rough to shape with grinder Make a cab or facet with appropriate Lap/Facet machine Polish Set aside or set in jewelry
This seems like a reasonable order. If I may: 1. Decide on what material you want to cut. How hard or soft do I want, and how will that affect ease of cutting? What refractive index (limiting factor of height, brilliance, and luster) and dispersion (limiting factor of "fire") do I want? 2. Given that material, what color do I want it? (Many gems come in a rainbow of colours. Best examples are garnet and sapphire, also spinel + cubic zirconia + quartz.) 3. Find rough. Is it a good purchase price, given how much the finished product might sell for? Will the piece give appropriately high yields after cutting? Is the piece cutting-quality? 4. Decide on a design to use. This is a fairly hard step for newbies, because you need to pick a design that fits the shape of the rough appropriately to give you the best yield possible. 5. Start cutting. All of the preparation steps you've listed are considered standard parts of the cutting process, and can all be done on a faceting machine. No need for a separate sawing table or cabochoning machine. The order is preforming (use a saw or very coarse lap to remove giant pieces of unwanted bits), roughing (use a coarse lap to vaguely approximate the shape), fine cutting (use a fine cutting lap to accurately shape the stone), prepolishing (remove subsurface damage from the previous steps), and polishing (self-explanatory). Depending on the type and size you can skip many of these. 6. Design jewelry for the finished stone. (I'm not good at this.) 7. Set the stone.
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Where is a good place for a true beginner to acquire rough?
There are several vendors on here. I'd recommend Pete Brush first - he has plenty of material that's appropriate for a beginner, like easy inexpensive garnets, quartzes, beryls, etc. I can give you a giant list of other names if you'd like.
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If anyone has any resources bookmarked they would like to share, feel free. Stuff that makes you think "I wish I had read this when I was starting out!". I am working through these lessons as well: http://www.bwsmigel.info/
Your best modern resources will be Tom Herbst's "Amateur Gemstone Faceting" found on Amazon, and my YouTube videos (yay shameless self promotion!). I'd also recommend Jeff Graham's "Learn to Facet the Right Way", Long and Steele's "Introduction to Meetpoint Faceting", and Broadfoot and Collins' "something something gems blah blah blah" (actually a very good book but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called...).
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Ultimately, I want to be able to cut stones for my partner, cabs for sure and ideally faceting, for her to then set in jewelry herself (she has dabbled in wire and some settings) or have set for her. She is all about the colour and the sparkle, isn't terribly concerned with rarity or cost so we should be able to have some fun.
Excellent motivation Many people do that on here.
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Sorry if this is rambly or too vague! I was reading other beginner posts for an hour earlier once I found this forum and figured I'd sign up, post, and hope for the best
We LOVE enthusiastic beginners! (Or at least most of us do. I was one, 2 years back, and now I'm super involved and it's my biggest hobby.) If I can ask, how'd you find the forums?
If you have any questions, feel free to post all over these forums, or e-mail me at faceting101@gmail.com. I have no idea how old you are but you sound like a 15-35 year old internet native, and god knows I'm trying to get people in my generation and preference circles more involved in faceting.
If you have any questions, feel free to post all over these forums, or e-mail me at faceting101@gmail.com. I have no idea how old you are but you sound like a 15-35 year old internet native, and god knows I'm trying to get people in my generation and preference circles more involved in faceting.
Thank you so much for that thoughtful reply. It is appreciated. Re: WoW, that is too neat! I played a PvP Sub Rogue in Cata, and a Pally tank in Cata and Panda. Haven't played for a few years though, mostly play Path of Exile on PC now which, coincidently, actually revolves around (skill) gems. The lore of the game world is a lot to do with an old race that discovered gems of great power and how to shape/manipulate them too, unfortunately also causing their downfall, war, etc. Gems have seemingly always been an object of fascination for humans and worked their way in to our own creative works, as such.
That was a good guess, and you are correct: I am 31 and have been online since I was 13 or so. Definitely a native, haha. What gave it away, my use of grammar and lack of abbreviations? I stumbled on this site through a "useful links" page on a gem cutters site, can't remember how I got to his, though. Went down a rabbit hole of gem cutting sites and links yesterday haha.
I already have Tom Herbst's book saved to my wishlist in Amazon lol, probably order with next batch of manga or books for the GF. Seems like it will be money well spent from the reviews.
Thanks again for the help. I am going to keep doing lots of reading and ease myself in. I have a bad habit (or good, depending on perspective) of diving right in to hobbies once I get the bug...a few years ago I went from having zero fish tanks to having over 200 gallons worth in 5 tanks after a month...and now I am back to zero after a move and giving all my fish away LOL. It was interesting but didn't stick as a long term interest. I have never adopted a craft before, unless you count programming/wiring/soldering reproduction bootleg Super Nintendo games hahaha
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:06 pm Posts: 2267 Location: Chapel Hill, NC / Toronto, ON
Haha no worries on the response, we're all here to both learn and teach - nearly everyone's helpful
Good to see that you're already aware of Tom's book. You probably saw either the US Faceting Guild's website, Bob's Rock Shop, or the late Jeff Graham's website. And you give off the sound and feel of being an internet native, that's the best I can put it
Before you actually spend any serious money on equipment, I'd very strongly recommend that you find a club or a person, test out some equipment, and see if you actually enjoy the process. Check your e-mails - I just sent you one. Good luck!
Ahem, NE Huntard here with a server first Lich King kill on my record... #nerdbrag also a jewelcrafter. I remember thinking, why am I grinding JC dailies while my faceting machine gathers dust??
Oh right - cutting a stone in WoW takes 3 seconds and in real life many many hours... Thank god for Netflix.
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:06 pm Posts: 2267 Location: Chapel Hill, NC / Toronto, ON
Christa wrote:
Ahem, NE Huntard here with a server first Lich King kill on my record... #nerdbrag also a jewelcrafter. I remember thinking, why am I grinding JC dailies while my faceting machine gathers dust??
WHAT how do I not know who you are!? Send me an e-mail. I'm trying to keep a running log of certain like-minded faceters.
<Tauren ele shaman, bleeding edge of progression up to 1/6 Sunwell, took a break until LK then full through Ulduar, quit after that. Screw dailies
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 9:44 pm Posts: 711 Location: Las Vegas
Christa wrote:
Ahem, NE Huntard here with a server first Lich King kill on my record... #nerdbrag also a jewelcrafter. I remember thinking, why am I grinding JC dailies while my faceting machine gathers dust??
Oh right - cutting a stone in WoW takes 3 seconds and in real life many many hours... Thank god for Netflix.
Welcome to the forum!
OMG! it's the wow nerds convention! LOCK supreme! beta tester with over 200k PvP kils and skilz! Stopped playing when kung fu panda exp hit the shelf!
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