Imahashi Facetor

Unfortunately class times with my local club so that I can learn to Facet are proving difficult as classes are during the day and I work full time, so I have taken a dangerous decision,.... an Imahashi machine came up for sale round the corner (literally) from me. Did a heap of research first and encountered both passion and hate, then found a video of the machine being used, quick and simple in expert hands... note "Expert Hands!" Those that love them appear to have been using these machines for years, wouldn't use anything else and produce some exceptional gems on them.

Anyway a few $$$s later I became the proud owner of the Imahashi FAC-8 with a P Handpiece, dops, wax, 4 quality laps, diamond grit, transfer jig etc, plus the original manual.

Since then I have fully serviced the handpiece so that everything works, it's tight and smooth so happy with its functionality, the lillypad looks as though it needs skimming as it has some wear hollows, around 0.5mm as per the 3 handpiece feet, but everything else looks good and tight.

It came with 30, 32 and 64 index gears with the 30 and 32 cheater cogs, but no 80, 96 or 120 and I would like a few more dops.

First question; Is anyone familiar with these machines and how good are they, certainly they lack some of the refinements of the more modern machines, but then I didn't pay $3.5k+ either.

Second, does anyone have any of the 80, 96 and 120 index gears and/or dops that I can purchase.

Also would be keen on getting a C handpiece with cams for Cab profiling.

One of the things I did notice is the lack of alignment mechanisms for dopping and dop engagement, the little 'scratch' on the side of the dops is all there is, and though these can be aligned in the collet, there is no way of getting any sort of accurate alignment in the transfer jig, some fine engineering can probably fix this to a degree, but any other tips would be appreciated.

Any input would be very much appreciated.

Great to hear you made the leap of faith

I have an 80 and 64 wheel of an unknown machine in a parts box somewhere. If you post a photo of the one you have and they match my memory, I will hunt them down and they are yours.

A bit more info on your transfer tools/technique would be useful.

Keen to get a 80 for my gemmasta at some stage as I like the look of pentagons.

Wally

Went through everything today and took some pics of everything so you can get an idea of what I have. One very interesting part was the laps, first time I have had a close look at them, two are standard everyday laps, a lucite and an Aluminium scored lap, but the remaining two are a whole different package, looks to me... an un-eeducated eye, that a couple of them are fairly expensive pieces of kit! These are two 150mm Kendia Laps, they each weigh somewhere around 2kg and contain some serious engineering, aluminium backing plates, bolted to brass, followed by what looks to be 1mm of bronze then 1mm of diamond! The while unit has been precision balanced, can't find much about them apart from web, apart from the manufacturer has changed their name to DK-Holdings and produce precision diamond tooling.

Anyway, moving on to more important items of discussion, the index gears are 35mm dia, 16mm bore and 10.5mm overall length. Pics should explain the rest. If your 80 gear matches these please let me know and I'll definitely give you some money for it. Colet alignment, close but not close enough, but easy to cheat I would think. No alignment registration at all, I think I would also like a sliding transfer jig as the dops are kind of small. But that said, got a lot of learning to do with all aspects of this art. Lillipad wear, critical or not so much? Its purely on the back fees so effectively only changes the facet angle by a fraction of a gnat's whisker.

Close looking - but no cigar - 19mm/62mm :N:



Not familiar with your machine but dops look like they should slot into a sliding transfer jig with a small blade in the side of an insertion hole to ensure alignment. Anything on the jig to take the grove ?

Not the jig I have, was thinking about doing the mod you suggested, but if I'm going to start doing mods would rather work on a sliding jig that I can move forward with, just need to track one down. Thanks for checking your wheels for me. :Y:

Hi Dihusky. Great little machine. I bought one my self around 2 and half years ago. It was in need of a little Tlc, I serviced the Machine and HandPiece. If you are needing extras for your machine, you are still able to get things you need from Japan. I contacted Mr. Koike at [email protected], great service. Once set up you will have a ball creating your own gems. In the time I have had mine, I have cut over 60 pieces. If you have any questions I will gladly try and help. Cheers

Thanks LesT, I have been able to get in touch with Imahashi and now have more Dops plus the 80, 96 and 120 index wheels en-route to Aus. Next is some additional laps plus some cheap rough to start playing with, got a few Zircons in the tub so they'll make a good start plus hopefully get some more at Minerama in March.

Hi Dihusky, Glad I could help. Minerama is a top few days. Any of the reputable dealers will help you with laps etc. If you are just starting out, may I suggest starting with Quartz or Christinite, or a stone of similar hardness (plus it's cheap). Some will poo hah this suggestion, however I found Quartz fairly easy to cut, and if you can get Christinite, it cuts up well. Good hunting.

I've seen a few comments about the potential difficulty polishing Quartz, was considering starting with Smoky as I have seen some lovely pieces cut from this. Christinite... had to look that one up, so it's basically a coloured synthetic, cuts will but brittle, couldn't find any info on its DI but then didn't do a lot of digging. Anyway Minerama is only a few weeks away so will wait and see what is discovered at the event.

i think thats the problem with quartz as it shears and shatters too easy when cutting?

i'm not into lapidary or anything,just sorta judging from you don't see a lot of quartz cuts,maybe just the value? they'd make perfect practice cut minerals otherwise.

Hi Dihusky. I have just purchased an Imahashi too but it is missing the manual. Does yours have the manual and would you be willing to scan and email it too me? I might also be able to email them for a PDF. If it is okay, I might also ask you for some advice (once I get my head around it). Cheers

Schillaci_10 said:

Hi Dihusky. I have just purchased an Imahashi too but it is missing the manual. Does yours have the manual and would you be willing to scan and email it too me? I might also be able to email them for a PDF. If it is okay, I might also ask you for some advice (once I get my head around it). Cheers

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Unfortunately I've sold the Imahashi and the manual went with it, I don't have a copy.