My first cut stone

[shivan]

G'day all.
Sat down last night and started my first stone on the new machine. Had a few hicups along the way, but was impressed with what i ended up with.
The bottom of the stone had already been started as some sort of brilliant cut, so i transfered it and started the top. Cut the facets in with 1200 diamond cutting disc and them found a phenolic lap marked with 14000 diamond. I have no idea if i charged it the right way, but added a little oil and 14000 diamond powder and started to try and remove visible scratches.
All in all for my first stone with no lessons, i thought it came up ok. Just not sure if i need to polish further or not. If not i will transfer it and re cut the bottom to match.

 

[Ramjet]

Well done mate. Nice job

 

[AtomRat]

Lovely work shivan, a quartz? New machine you say, did I miss something?
I know when I had that quick go myself, when it came to those cuts on the crown, I must have read it wrong or just didn't know how or where to meet the points. I may have cut one or two correct, but it looks sloppy, so I keep it on my table crown down as the pavillion looks much better :lol: Mabey it has something to do with cutting the table correctly, dunno..ill have a go again one day..
It looks like you have done the pavillion cuts as well?

 

[kawman]

you should keep that stone.. first one ever.. well done mate..

 

[shivan]

Cheers guys.

AR i got myself an Ultra Tec V2 whilst i was up at UNI in Armidale. This stone was already dopped and had the pavilion and girdle cut. To me it seemed like a standard brilliant cut. As most of the dops are not keyed in any way, i tried to align it the best i could and transferred it. I probably should have re-cut it first but was rushing to try out the new machine. I cut it to a brilliant design in the book i have, but it looks like there are extra facets for the pavilion and lower girdle. I will have a go at tidying that up tonight.

At a guess i would say the stone is either quartz or topaz, i cut it to the R.I of quartz though as i figured that was a safe bet.
There are still two opal, a zircon or sapphire and another piece of quartz that are already dopped. The quartz have been pre-formed and the opals and zircon/sappire have had some facets cut, but it looks like some mistakes have been made. Will have a closer look once this stone is finished.

 

[GallicProspector]

Not bad for a first stone (mine is a lot lot worse).
Next time, try to reduce the girdle and work on the meets.

The color looks like a "Sanyo topaz", a TV glass that is inexpensive for beginner.

 

[silver]

Teeveeite, looks impressive to me.

 

[Heatho]

Nice work Shivan, good on you.

 

[Kingsolomon]

What book you have? 14000 isn't good enough for nice Finnish me thinks , at least 50,000 . Keep going on the 14000 and fix up your meets a bit , then polish him . You have heaps of girdle left so got room to play with the meets . If you need any tips on the ultratec , let me know , I got two of them , and they can have issues

 

[shivan]

Cheers Kingsolomon, i have been flying by the seat of my pants a bit. I had gone back over it using a chromium oxide ultra lap which has made a difference, but my meets are still way off where they should be. I do have some 50k and 100k powder, but no lap marked for them, so have just been trying to use what i know.
I will look at getting a decent pre-polish and polishing lap in the next few months.

The two books i got were A comprehensive guide to faceting and a comprehensive guide to gem designs vol1. But been in a rush i have only skimmed through them so far.

Is there anything i need to keep an eye on with the ultratec? Mine is the older model without the keyed spindle or DAD gauge, but was thinking i can upgrade the mast down the track.

 

[Kingsolomon]

Aligning the machine is pretty straightforward , just use the 45" angle dop on flattest lap and loosen the index gear to get things flat where you are going to facet or I prefer keeping everything straight ( the mast , quill ) towards the locking nut , dead centre on lap . This will sort out lots of problems if you havnt already done it . Also make sure the cheater is not " walking" ie . When you retract lever to change index , the cheater stays in same place set . If not ever so slightly tension the two screws at the back of it . Also make sure the quill has no shake , ie . When index lever is up the quill dosnt move slightly back and forth , there is a screw you will see to tighten if so . Let me know if you have any of these issues and can help more if you do

 

[Kingsolomon]

Also , just a v5 mast ( no head or anything ) will cost about $2700 to upgrade . Most expensive part of the machine . Hang on to what you got .

 

[shivan]

Cheers for all that, its good to know what to keep an eye on.
Have not calibrated it yet, but will have a go as soon as my 45 table dop arrives. Have not noticed the cheater walking as yet but will keep an eye on it, i did set it before i started and does not seem to have moved. The quill does get a little wobble and slips if i do not insert it far enough, but i am trying not to make that mistake.

Ended up getting the better of me and i re-cut the stone tonight, crown and pavilion. All went well till i tried to remove the stone from the dop. I managed to put a small scratch on the underside with my razor blade 8.(
All in all i thought it cam up ok for my first stone though.

 

[VARTSTAR]

Cool mate

 

[AtomRat]

Well done shivan, looks great

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Well done. Got to be happy with that.

 

[shivan]

Have been messing around in between study and have cut another two stones. Another round that was already dopped, probably quartz or glass. Was happy with the facets, but cut the angles for zircon i think.
The other stone was a feldspar, I tried a square cut, but had a lot of problems with the crown. I believe this may have been because i had a slight rectangle rather than a square teach me for rushing
Really enjoying it though.

 

[shivan]

After finishing my UNI work, though i would have a bit more of a play before i start my next assignment.
Cut a piece of honey opal and another included garnet. The opal cut well and i was quiet pleased with, But the garnet fell off the dop 3 times whilst cutting, so was a little bit more of a pain.

 

[nuggethill]

Nice cut Ian your going ahead in leaps and bounds good to see you here mate