Make a faceting machine and head

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You cant make anything new and say its all your own ideas when you see these old drawings like this. I see Gemmasta and a lot of other machine makers ideas in this.Im not singling out gemmasta its only the machine im most familiar with. So have a look at your machine and see if somethings clicks with you on this diagram. Thanks for this post Its great.
 
AtomRat said:
I found a little bit of info on home-made faceting machines that can be made from mostly alloy"

.pdf: http://lapidaryworld.com/pdf/home_made_faceting_machine.pdf - Make your own gemstone faceting machine
Funny you brought this up ... I looked into that article , then realised I'd have to buy tools that would cost a hell of a lot more than I could get a new/ old machine . Would love to see someone build one ( I think that article was read , not initiated) that one machine in the article is probably the only one that exists!
 
I'll give it a go in a couple of months, I can't afford one, but have been doing some alloy casting, patterns, machining for the past 3 years. By the looks of it I have most the tools apart from a gear cutter, so I may have to do them by hand or get the local to do the gears for me. But I'll give it a crack. If it works out well, my alloy patterns are multi-cast, meaning I can make as many casts as I want from the one pattern many times and I can make copies if it works out and will be happy to share the parts when I get there!
 
Give me a hack saw, hammer & sharp screwdriver I'll whip a dozen up! Nar I can build anything but not that.
 
King Solomon can come over and use my lathe so now I don't have the tools is not an excuse. You can use a gemmasta index for this by the looks of it. Ive been wanting to make my own machine incorporating all the best features of all that I have seen. Next for me is a rapid preforming machine with sintered laps as a three in one grind pre-polish and final polish.
I want a digital Jamb peg "I have the need for speed"
 
I wish I knew what you guys were on about, but my experience around the lap business is tiny.
I'm just after something to cut rocks with, but with a rough measurement gauge. I'm not expecting what I make to be perfect precision, it will more be something to practice on for starters. Before I spotted this .pdf, I was just going to use HDPE plastic shapes at the end of the 'stick' and rest it on a board for faceting, but I would prefer to try out a couple of rough brilliants or similar.

Not having the tools is not an issue, you can always make your own at home like the Gingery Lathe and watch that beard near a lathe Solomon!:
1410822866_gingery.jpg


I get asked all the time.. 'whats the point? just buy one!', but I have a really bad case of wanting to make things from scratch always!

I will just check though, If I were to make this faceting jig, has it got most of what I would need to be using on it for a beginner tool?
 
Depending on the motor you want to put onto it. You can get up to 268rpm with back gears and high torque but you can also go up to say 1800rpm. Its up to you there really. Here is a great page on a bloke that made one: http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/lathe1.html

Here's another home made David Gingery lathe: http://jgroshoppages.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Gingery Lathe

"Gingery specs and pully reduction call for 1800 or so rpm at the counter shaft"

You wont be cutting steel with it, but for anything that doesnt need precise accuracy, and your into backyard smelting ( which not many people are for some reason ) the gingery is a great project to start you off on making your own tools. Gingery has MANY books on making homemade tools and machines about
 
rough2cut said:
Don't you need a lathe to make a lathe .Just a thought
That's the best thing with the Gingery lathe, you make the headstock, base, cross slide first, then you use that to make the rest of the lathe! Check it out on youtube, theres a guy that shows the whole progress: https://www.youtube.com/user/morgan7557 check out his lathe and casting playlists
 
old post i know but just wondering if anyone has had a crack at making this faceting machine yet .if so did they change anything or is there anything they would make different to the plans .
johno.
 

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