Stones I have cut
- Thread starter Lefty
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Lefty said:Dihusky said:Finally finished my second stone, a standard round brilliant, did a 'student cut' on a piece of 'bottlite' first, so this is the first 'real' cut. 7ct CZMissed on one meet point next to the table at 6 o'clock but happy with all the others, continuous polished girdle. Finished stone is around 10mm dia so will fit a standard setting which was also one of the cutting targets set by my instructor.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/10304/1529194582_7ct-cz-2.jpg
love the colour, ....oops just noticed the fluff at 12 o'clock... cameras never lie!
Thanks everyone for the input you have offered over previous posts, it hasn't gone astray!
Very nice stone there mate, well done :Y:
My second stone was tv - ite, now becoming scarce with the invention of flat screen tv's
You're well on your way :Y:
Thanks Lefty, really appreciate your comment.
Have a few bits of tv-ite colour change which I want to play with, also picked up a large hunk of bottlite at the silver mine when at Gemorama last weekend, caught my eye as it was old, thick and an unusual light pink/purple colour, recon I can can get at least 6 stones out of it. Next project I am thinking of is a pair of black sapphire brilliants for ear studs. Found a heap of black sapphire on the Gemorama trip with many around the 5ct mark so could produce some really nice stones.
Mixed in were the expected spinel plus a few black stones having a 4.5-4.6 sg, crystal structure but left me scratching my head as to what they are, not that it matters as the cut will be for reflection not refraction.
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How did you go polishing that 10mm CZ? Did it give difficulty?
Did you do a pre-polish first with something like #8000 grit on copper or tin alloy and then do a final polish. That was the advice I got after cutting my first (and only so far) CZ
Did you do a pre-polish first with something like #8000 grit on copper or tin alloy and then do a final polish. That was the advice I got after cutting my first (and only so far) CZ
Polishing was 8000 on copper as a pre-polish then straight to 50,000 on a catlap, finish cutting of the pavilion facets and cutting all the crown was using 3000 copper. For the most part everything went well except for a couple of scratches on the pavilion from the 8000 copper, had to back track to 3000 to remove them but after a thorough clean of the 8000 copper lap, had no more trouble.
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Similar to the way I normally approach sapphire by the sounds.
Were you referring to the Battlap (tin alloy) or is there a new type I haven't heard about?
I do have a Battlap but it doesn't get a huge amount of use. Nothing wrong with it at all, just don't require it all that much. I charged it with #8000 so it would probably be good for things might require the loose grit pre-polish before the final. I've never had a problem polishing both sapphire and softer stones on the same ceramic lap but I do recall once trying to pre-polish a particularly troublesome topaz on the same copper lap I use for sapphire, only to scratch the hell out of the stone.
Were you referring to the Battlap (tin alloy) or is there a new type I haven't heard about?
I do have a Battlap but it doesn't get a huge amount of use. Nothing wrong with it at all, just don't require it all that much. I charged it with #8000 so it would probably be good for things might require the loose grit pre-polish before the final. I've never had a problem polishing both sapphire and softer stones on the same ceramic lap but I do recall once trying to pre-polish a particularly troublesome topaz on the same copper lap I use for sapphire, only to scratch the hell out of the stone.
Cat Lap, it's a very hard alloy, not sure of the mix but it's made by Horst Ricker in Rubyvale. Think he might be round the corner from you??
Horst has a specialist machining workshop, does repairs and upgrades, replacement quills, dops etc plus the Cat Lap which is $155 + PP, no website but he advertises in the Guild's magazine. Number is 0417 854 104
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Wally69 said:Nice work
How did you photograph your stone, it looks amazing on the black background.
I learnt a little trick when I first started trying to do gemstone close-ups. I got a neoprene stubby holder, cut a hole in the centre of the end of it which was just wide enough for my grabber and took a pic down the tube and it comes out something like this:
This one has a little handshake because I was free holding the camera, but the trick is also to use a small tripod that are cheap from all over the place. In this pic I did not have my original tube so I have infilled with a bit of bubble wrap to hold my grabbers in place, so that is what is in the background, otherwise with just a stubby holder the background will be pure black. Try and keep your head a little away from the blocking the light and a standing lamp can be used on dull days. A little mucking around and you will work it out.
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Good idea there Pat.
I typically use a "gem pod" with a hole punched in the foam with a skewer. The culet sits in the hole and the stone stands upright without too much of the pavilion squished against the foam to interfere with reflection. My issue seems to be in the photography itself. Thought I had nailed it with that "Eye of Zul" but immediately had some trouble with photographing the next stones with the same device.
I typically use a "gem pod" with a hole punched in the foam with a skewer. The culet sits in the hole and the stone stands upright without too much of the pavilion squished against the foam to interfere with reflection. My issue seems to be in the photography itself. Thought I had nailed it with that "Eye of Zul" but immediately had some trouble with photographing the next stones with the same device.
U R photos R good, I have 3 stones to prove it.. there are some good stones available BUT loose it in the photo stakes
ray
ray
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Cheers Ray. I keep on tryin'
Where it gets frustrating is most often with sapphires - looking into the stone through the crown, the eye can perceive depth to the stone in a way that the camera can't, which means that it appears less colourful and lively than it really is. :|
Where it gets frustrating is most often with sapphires - looking into the stone through the crown, the eye can perceive depth to the stone in a way that the camera can't, which means that it appears less colourful and lively than it really is. :|
Photographing the finished stone is the Achilles heel of anyone cutting gems.I gave up using cheap camera's. To many hours of my life was being dedicated to creating crap shots.
Ended up buying a reasonably priced Olympus mirror-less camera which improved it slightly but the biggest improvement was buying a dedicated macro lens. A 60mm (4/3) or 120mm (35mm equivalent). Made a huge differance.
These pics are early examples but now every other error sticks out way more, dust, glare, bad cuts. But I think overall the shot has improved a lot and I am no photographer of any sort and still trying to figure pretty much everything out. Still experimenting.
Movie's made on the camera also help give it depth and just load to youtube and link. I'm trying to work out exposure settings for that so no example.
I think you'd soon sell more stones to pay for the camera/lens.
Ended up buying a reasonably priced Olympus mirror-less camera which improved it slightly but the biggest improvement was buying a dedicated macro lens. A 60mm (4/3) or 120mm (35mm equivalent). Made a huge differance.
These pics are early examples but now every other error sticks out way more, dust, glare, bad cuts. But I think overall the shot has improved a lot and I am no photographer of any sort and still trying to figure pretty much everything out. Still experimenting.
Movie's made on the camera also help give it depth and just load to youtube and link. I'm trying to work out exposure settings for that so no example.
I think you'd soon sell more stones to pay for the camera/lens.
Lefty said:
Thanks.
:Y: But it's just the difference the lens makes. Worth while getting one Lefty. Now I'm trying to work out how to remove the reflections/haze off some of the facets. It's a never ending challenge this gem photography. :lol:
