mini hand faceter

[donwrob]

Well, I finished my first faceted piece of quartz. It is really wild to me, I'm hooked. What an exersize in patience and perseverance. doc, I can see the attraction to this, it is very rewarding. I didn't keep good track, but I figure I have about 12 hours in this piece total, over a 5 day period. I guess it isn't bad for a first piece, but I did make a few mistakes on it, some of the facets are not as exact as they should be. All in all I really happy with it, the angles on the pavillion and the crown seem to be right for capturing the most light possible for quartz, and the table took a super shine. It really sparkles and I've starred at it for hours in amazment. It is hard to get a good pic of the piece as it isn't very big. First I'll show a couple of pics of the rig so you can get an idea of what it is like. The piece is on the bottom left side. The second pic shows how you hold it to grind the facets. The dop in the pic is empty as the stone has been removed. It is a cool rig and for the money a cheap way to experiment with faceting.


Here is a close-up of the piece, I will try to take some better pics of it.

[rockyraccoon]

and this was your 1st attempt?? truly have left me in awe there don!

kim

[sandsman1]

hey don that came out great way cool lookin, ,how does it work is it done by hand no grinding wheels? i realy like the stone looks like a BIG diamond hahaha

[donwrob]

Thanks Kim and John. Yep John is is all done by hand, the jig slides on a piece of glass while the stone rests on the little copper lap that you have rolled some diamond paste onto. It's cool, but a mess of work. Here are some better pics of the stone I stitched together. I used different lighting to try and show it better. Thanks again and talk to ya later, Don

[cookie3rocks]

I like I like I like! This is excellent for someone begining faceting. You could free form all kinds of things, there's no limit.
Great job :: ;D

cookie

[sandsman1]

WOW man i cant believe how nice that came out,, is it realy complicated with mesurements and all ?,, im not the sharpest tack in the box hahahaha and i get confused easy haha


that looks ready to pop into a mount ---nice job

[donwrob]

Thankyou Cookie! John, I'm not the fastest fish in the school either buddy. It can be a little confusing to use at first. I sat and talked with the guy who designed them for about 3 hours and that helped a lot. It is a learn as you go kinda thing though. Setting the angles with the protractor was one of the hardest parts. Having 3 hands would have been a big help. It is very limited in what it will do, only certain cuts are suited for it. And like I said, it is labor intensive. All in all it is a great little tool for playing around with faceting. And it works! It is like a puzzle you have to solve, like flint knapping in a way, and that is the attraction for me I think. I sure had fun making this piece. Talk to ya later, Don

[llanago]

Don, those are really neat! For a first attempt, I think you did a wonderful job.

I know what you mean about three hands - three or four hands would sure make a lot of projects alot easier.

[creativeminded]

You did a great job, now where did you get that wonderful tool?
Tami

[donwrob]

Tami, it is called a 'Lap-Lap hand facetor'. I was at a small knap-in at Flintridge last weekend and this guy was there demonstrating them. His name is Jack Lahr. Here is his contact info if you or anyone else are interested. The price was $115 plus tax. About the only thing that doesn't come with it is a piece of glass, an alcohol lamp to melt the dop wax, and a squirt bottle to mix the supplied wetting agent with some water. Talk to ya later, Don

Lahr Enterprise
P.O. box 94
Mount Vernon, Ohio 43050

Telephone [phone]
E-mail [e-mail]

[docone31]

Ah, the Lap-lap. I spoke to Jack four years ago, he is quite a fascinating person.
You can use the Lap-lap for roughing cabachons also. Just make bigger cuts.
Great cut, I might go with a thinner girdle however, it will be a bear to set and not lose the beauty of the stone. Faceting is addictive. There are a gazillion facet designs on the internet, and gemcad allows you to create your own.
You did good bro. You might consider getting an horizontal lap for faster cutting. Food for thought.
Great job. My first did not come out so well. My girdle fit just right, but the table ate all the pavillion points. It takes practice. I am sorry I used one of my good emeralds for the first attempt. You are one up on me. Quartz is also harder. A mistake is a much longer process to recut.
Good job.
Doc

[donwrob]

Thanks doc, yes Jack is a cool guy, had fun with him. I knew I had a fat girdle, for some reason I was afraid to cut into it enough. I kept looking at it thinking, man that is one monster girdle, hehe. Well, I guess it will help me I.D my first piece and make it real easy to pick out of a pile of gems. I have another one I'm working on now. It is dark blue glass, for some unknown reason I am going to try a 12 sided brilliant if there is such a thing. Priority one: skinny up the girdle ;D

[creativeminded]

Thank you for the information on the Lap-Lap, I just might consider getting one. Is he the only one that you would be able to get the grinding mixture from?

Tami

[donwrob]

No prob Tammy, and the kit comes with different grit diamond paste in hypodermic like things. You use it to dress or roll into the copper laps. The final polish is done with a piece of plastic with cerium oxide already on it. You can get it at any rock store or lapidary site just about. Regular parts are about all you'd have to get through Jack, if something should go wrong or happen to any of them. Hope this helps, Don

[docone31]

A 12 sided cut is not a brilliant. However it looks great, especially on the larger stones. Traditionally, the 57 is the classic brilliant. I cannot wait to hear when you try a Portuguese cut. 145 sides, Hah!
The ISO of the stone is affected by the girdle height. As the height of the girdle is increased, the refractory values change. Sometimes a marginal stone can be brought to life by an high girdle. Sometimes a good stone can be made into a laser beam by decreasing the girdle. That is where hand faceting really kicks in. Machine faceting has dull meet points, and the cuts are set by a guage. The faceter can really bring to life a stone when he cuts by hand. Now you know why hand cut stones are so outrageously priced, and Thaigem.com can blow out stones by the parcel.

[donwrob]

I'm still in the infant stages of faceting doc ;D I think I'll stay out of Portugal for a while...hehe. That is interesting, I might have inadvertantly helped that piece of quartz shine by having such a fat girdle. When looking into the table, it really shines like a diamond. Of course, it may have even shined more with a normal girdle, I'll never know. It makes sense that girdle thicknesses have such an effect, kinda bringing the refraction into focus so to speak, just never really thought about it, thanks, Don

[creativeminded]

That information helps alot thank you.
Tami

[RiverOtter]

Thanks so much for posting the pics and the info on the lap-lap Don. Hubby took one look and said that would work for him!! Looks like I'll be contacting him soon!

Otter

[donwrob]

No problem Otter, it is a fun little device and a small investment to learn some things about faceting. There is a lot to it, but interesting as all hell to me. I can't hardly let the thing set for very long without messing with it. I don't think too many folks on the site are that interested in faceting though so I'll make this the last pic. This is my second attempt and it turned out a little better. It was just a plain Jane blue glass marble when I started on it. I made a 12 sidded cut with 73 facets total. I have some time in this sucker..hehe, but it was a lot of fun. If you guys get one and have any questions I might be able to help you with, just e-mail me. Talk to you later, Don

[creativeminded]

That is beautiful, now I really need to get one, I guess it is in the blood, I had a uncle in Weslaco, TX, that was a licensed gem cutter.

Tami