CornDogs
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2004
Posts: 18
|
Post by CornDogs on Sept 9, 2004 9:34:27 GMT -5
HI THERE!!
I have been busy for the past few days and haven't been able to read much on the board, but I went through some of them this morning and read Doc and Cookie's responses to my Rock Pictures.
Doc...I would LOVE to hear more about your faceting and jewelry making and what you actually 'saw' in my rocks.
Cookie...email me privately - corndogs@charter.net I read that you are going to a NC Sapphire mine. I have made friends with an amazing man - he is doing a Corundum Project and owns a Corundum museum. I am doing some trading of rocks with him and actually showed him both your and Doc's comments about my rocks. He said that he would love to speak with you before you go and give you some pointers!!! I told you he was amazing ;D So email me so I can give you more information, ok??? Bren
|
|
|
Post by docone31 on Sept 11, 2004 0:00:38 GMT -5
Brenda. Faceting is a very simple and precise way to cut stones. I have a Raytech-Shaw faceter. It has an elevating table, a stable plane for the discs, and a multiple axis and rotation indexed head. To facet, I start with a 180 disc. This to preform. After I have cut the entire stone, with re-dopping to do both table and culette, I change discs. I use 180, 320, 600, 1200, polish. This recquires five cuts on each facet. A 54 facet brilliant cut is 270 cuts. When I saw your stones, I saw some great colours. Stones must be handled and louped for gem certification and mostly I look for the grain in the stone to orient my cuts. Most rubies I cut, I prefer the grain to go vertical. I do oil some of the stones and this helps. I prefer linseed oil to canadian balsam. A lot of folks like the pinholes visible in the table to smooth gemmy stones. What I saw in your stones was a lot of good stones to cut in a variety of shapes. Manmade corundum, commercial rubies, are actually less expensive to purchase, at least on a jewelers level, retail is three times that. The people I have cut for, and I do not really solicite cutting others stones, prefer the handmade quality and the not perfect tone to the stones. It makes them special, and can be identified easily. I do not like to cut other folks stones as it is expensive, 9$ a facet, and not a rarity, they show their imperfections by crumbling apart at the wrong time. Usually I am a full day into cutting the stone. It breaks my heart when someone who held onto a stone they found 30yrs ago, on the last time they were with their family, and dad has passed away, and, brother and sister are having a reunion and want to give mom something really special from their combined past. An heirloom that cannot be replaced at any cost. Never mind the pricelessness of the item, it is the memory that cannot be replaced at any cost. I am sure I could swap stones and they would never know, but I would. I could get away from it but I couldn't live with it. That is me, I cannot speak for others. A commercial faceted stone usually doesn't have sharp facets. An hand faceted stone has razor sharp facets. A commercial faceter grades stones by screening them. The stone falls through a screen of a particular size. The stones are air dopped, or CA dopped and the stones are hogged. This is heavy faceting. Hand faceting, the stone is guaged by letting the stone fall on the disc. This is not bouncing it, it is brought to the preform disc slowly and ground untill a flat plane is made. It is turned 180 degrees and matched. The next index is made 90 degrees and the opposite end is matched. This gives the four starting planes. The stone is viewed for quality and adjusting cuts are made. This means if the stone needs adjusting, it has to be adjusted on four planes. This is so you can start! This is preforming. I always cut the culette first. The girdle is established by the preform, and successive cuts. Once the girdle is preformed, and the culette is formed, cut and polished, the stone is flopped/redopped and the pavillion and table is made, preformed, cut, and polished. The table, and pavillion establish the girdle thickness. Or, the girdle thickness is established and the pavillion and table is cut. It depends on the setting. I couldn't tell if your stones are gem quality or handmade quality from the photos, but I can tell you what, if I had them, I would keep them and use them in jewelery. That one of a kind Bahrain Ruby has been found long ago and I doubt I will ever find its twin. I have made a lot of people happy with stones like you possess. I made a 25ct emerald cut ruby for my wife's engagement ring. We got married and then I started making the ring. You have beautiful stones. I was homeless when I made my first faceter, the one I have now is a second hand one I have worked on. I would think it would be worth it if you found a way to get one.
|
|