Twenty-three Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned drug TMZ months before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, it has emerged. However, they were cleared to compete at the Games after the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) accepted an explanation from the Chinese authorities that the kitchen at their hotel was contaminated....
I saw another faceter experimenting with frosting the edges between facets and the result was so intriguing I decided to copy the idea. It created such a cool snowflake effect in this aquamarine!...
Just finished faceting this monster over the weekend. This thing was so dang easy to polish it felt a little suspicious if I am being perfectly honest. Overall I am extremely happy with my results. Even the girdle!...
I met Joe at the Tucson Gem and Mineral show a few years ago, and found him both personable and honest. I have never had an issue with any purchase from him. He sells both natural and some synthetics.
I’ve used dental wax for years to hold the stones to the dop and it does a good job as long as you don’t use too much force when cutting. The key to using the wax is to make sure you heat both the stone and dop enough for the wax to adhere. You can tell that has done so when the wax edge no longer seems to curl under and instead seems to have a clean line with the surface.
I’ve used super glue as well depending on the situation… but the cure time and difficulty in getting it off the dop and cleaning the stone of the residue makes it not worth it in my opinion.
Tiny orange zircon. I cut this once and was super unhappy because only a few facets would take a polish. Bought more lightning laps to give me more prepolish steps, and suddenly everything is happy. Design is Square Princess Cut by Justin K. Prim
I just tried cutting moissanite for the first time and goodness gracious, it took forever at the prepolish and polish steps, I assume because of the mohs hardness. After spending ungodly hours on that polish I will never again complain about polishing quartz....
You can link to vendors… no issue… I just don’t want to have active solicitation for selling stones, as that adds significant overhead for validating the seller. I’ve updated the sidebar to reflect this. 😀
Also, please post the link to the vendor, as I’m looking for a good source for synthetics.
I took on a design way beyond my skill level just to see how I would fare. I didn’t leave quite enough material for my crown so please ignore the small divot in the center of the table, as well as the occasional missed meetpoint. Learning experiences abound!...
I’ve done this cut many times… and it’s one of the few pears that I’ll do as it tends to be easier than other pears in my opinion and also produces the best light return. So, based on what I can see:
You still had room to cut down your girdle. I would have cut it down another 20%-40% of what you have there.
The polish in general looks good. Tables on a BATT can be tricky I’ve found, yet I still do them. I use a spray bottle only when polishing and spritz the lap when it starts to dry out, I do not use the drip tank for this. I also recharge the lap prior to cutting the table if the last facets seemed to take longer to polish than expected. Sometimes I recharge before the table just because. My best guess on this is that the polish issue was either the need to recharge, or not enough moisture on the lap.
My first try on this one was a total hack job with a mis-aligned index and a lot of missed meet points.
For a first time cutting this, you did an excellent job!
This is one of the most perfect cuts I’ve managed. The meet points are all as perfect as I could get, as well as the polish. I chose a more standard round cut than what my son designed as I wanted to lighten the stone more due to the overall color saturation of the material....
Disneyland Monorail (ani.social)
Chinese swimmers won Olympic golds after testing positive for banned drug as World Anti-Doping Agency accepted 'contaminated kitchen' explanation by Chinese authorities (www.theguardian.com)
Twenty-three Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned drug TMZ months before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, it has emerged. However, they were cleared to compete at the Games after the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) accepted an explanation from the Chinese authorities that the kitchen at their hotel was contaminated....
6mm Chrome Diopside (media1.giphy.com)
Been super busy with life, but finally got back to cutting. This is the second of four chrome diopside stones I’m cutting.
[OC] Incredible rainbow tonight (lemmy.world)
Amazing and intense. One of the best I’ve ever witnessed....
Recommendations for a video doorbell?
Hey all I’m looking for recommendations for a video doorbell that doesn’t need an internet connection....
Fully working 270€ Nest Dropcam will no longer be supported. (sopuli.xyz)
Frosting an aquamarine (lemm.ee)
I saw another faceter experimenting with frosting the edges between facets and the result was so intriguing I decided to copy the idea. It created such a cool snowflake effect in this aquamarine!...
Massive blue lab spinel (pxlmo.com)
Just finished faceting this monster over the weekend. This thing was so dang easy to polish it felt a little suspicious if I am being perfectly honest. Overall I am extremely happy with my results. Even the girdle!...
[OC] morning sunrise (lemmy.world)
Thread: Faceting Resources
Let’s post links and descriptions of our favorite resources and vendors....
Zircon (lemmy.world)
Tiny orange zircon. I cut this once and was super unhappy because only a few facets would take a polish. Bought more lightning laps to give me more prepolish steps, and suddenly everything is happy. Design is Square Princess Cut by Justin K. Prim
Moissanite is so sparkly! (pxlmo.com)
I just tried cutting moissanite for the first time and goodness gracious, it took forever at the prepolish and polish steps, I assume because of the mohs hardness. After spending ungodly hours on that polish I will never again complain about polishing quartz....
Red sapphire (polishing advice welcome) (pxlmo.com)
I took on a design way beyond my skill level just to see how I would fare. I didn’t leave quite enough material for my crown so please ignore the small divot in the center of the table, as well as the occasional missed meetpoint. Learning experiences abound!...
Pink Tourmaline (lemmy.world)
Design is Fusion Seven Oval 1.43. Got some finer grit lightning laps and now I’m getting a finish I really like on tourmalines.
Chrome Diopside heavily included (media3.giphy.com)
Unfortunately this stone has a fracture and inclusion right at the cutlet....
Self published: Louise and Albert (www.louiseandalbert.com)
cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/11525302...
6mm Hydrothermal Emerald (media2.giphy.com)
This is one of the most perfect cuts I’ve managed. The meet points are all as perfect as I could get, as well as the polish. I chose a more standard round cut than what my son designed as I wanted to lighten the stone more due to the overall color saturation of the material....
Ametrine (lemmy.world)
Design is Emerald Cut by Justin K Prim. Probably a bit too much colour mixing on the ends of the stone, but I’m happy with the effect