Key: This info is NOT part of the beginner s track This needs pictures and video of REAL stones, not just GemCAD This needs updating and filling in I. Is faceting right for me?: 1. Why to get started 2. The learning curve 3. Pretty stones II. Gemstone information: 1. Explaining gemstone data A. Gemstone chemistry i. Chemical formula ii. How replacement works iii. Dopants that add color iv. Absorption spectra B. Physical properties i. Mohs hardness ii. Directional hardness iii. Cleavage properties iv. Propensity to chip, pit, etc. v. Heat sensitivity C. Optical properties i. Refractive index ii. Dispersion iii. Critical angles; connection to RI and dispersion iv. Birefringance v. Polychromacy vi. Closed C-axis 2. Gemstone family data (one page per stone family, have lots of pictures) A. Title of gem family B. Chemical formula of gem family C. Stones in the family (more pictures!) i. Commonly accepted names (amethyst, alexandrite, tanzanite) ii. The names go with what distinction? Color/chemistry/etc. iii. Trade names, varietal names, etc. D. Table of physical properties E. Table of optical properties i. For RI, include a distribution plot of different RIs, maybe of 50 samples? ii. For polychromacy and closed-c, pictures of stones from multiple angles 3. Grand scheme gemstone information A. One page tech tree with cutting/prepolish/polish info for all gems B. Number lines i. Stones and their RIs ii. Stones and their dispersions iii. Stones and their hardnesses III. Faceting machines and equipment:
1. The faceting machine A. Have a drawing of an idealized faceting machine, with labels i. Define all the labels ii. Explain the function of each part (show pictures of use!) iii. If variance between machines, show all versions B. Types of faceting machines, and their brands i. Mast type a. Ultra-Tec b. Facetron c. Graves ii. Platform (tang) type a. Raytech-Shaw b. Vargas iii. Quadrant type a. Fac-ette iv. Portable type a. Stone-Tes b. Lap-Lap v. Hard stop vs. soft stop C. Setting up your faceting machine i. Comfortable height ii. Light availability iii. Bucket for drainage iv. Preventing dust contamination D. Running through the motions i. Changing the vertical angle ii. Changing the index (rotational angle) iii. Raising and lowering the mast E. Maintaining your machine i.??? 2. Faceting machine accessories (show pictures for everything!) A. Dops i. Round, vee, and cone ii. Rectangular dops iii. Pot dops B. Non-standard index gears i. 32, 64, 77, 80, 120 C. Transfer blocks D. Tabling adapters i. 45-degree adapter ii. 90-degree adapter E. Dopping aids i. Guiu dopper ii. Magnetic doppers F. Depth-of-cut indicators i. Dial indicator ii. Beale-Woolsey meter G. Girdle aligners
i. Manual girdle aligner ii. Laser girdle aligner 3. Laps A. Explanation of what a lap is B. Types of laps by material (and their uses) i. Copper ii. Tin iii. Zinc iv. Typemetal v. Ceramic vi. Polymer C. Types of laps by application (and their sizes) i. Plated (and master lap) ii. Sintered iii. Charging 4. Diamond grits A. Large cutting grits i. 100 - plated ii. 260 - plated iii. 600 - plated, sintered, charged iv. 1200 - sintered, charged B. Prepolishing grits i. 3000 - charged ii. 8000 - charged ( Home Shopping Network polish ) iii. 14,000 - charged, specialty C. Polishing grits i. 60,000 (commercial) ii. 100,000 (competition) iii. 200,000 (competition only) 5. Oxide polishes A. CeOx (beryls, quartzes, feldspars) B. AlOx (garnets, tanzanite, topaz, tourmaline, etc.) C. CrOx (stains everything green, works on everything) 6. Forms that diamonds and oxides are sold in A. Raw powder B. Pastes C. Crayons IV. Faceting diagrams: 1. How to read a diagram A. Picture of a diagram in the current standard layout B. Parameters listed on a diagram i. Intended RI range ii. L/W ratio iii. H/W ratio iv. C/H and P/H percentage OR C/W and H/W ratio C. Angles and indices D. Author s notes i. Always pay attention to these
ii. Often contain helpful hints 2. NEW! Faceting diagram difficulty A. Formula for faceting diagram difficulty B. Explanation of variables i. Total # of facets ii. Total # of steps in pavilion and crown iii. Total # of meetpoints iv. How many facets meet at each meetpoint? v. Surface area to volume ratio (optional) 3. Subclasses of designs A. Barions i. Description of barion facets ii. 3D picture of a regular circular cone, with adapter faces iii. Effects on a stone (color, brilliance, etc.) B. Checkerboards i. Description of checkerboard crowns ii. Meetpoint accuracy concerns iii. Effects on a stone (color, brilliance, etc.) C. OMNI i.??? D. Tangent ratio i. Used to adapt low-ri designs for higher RI ii. Give a geometry description iii. Formulas, examples, etc. E. CAM preforms i. Used to establish weird outlines ii.??? F. Sequencing a diagram i. When to follow the order the author gives you ii. How to change the order the author gives you V. General rough selection: 1. Choosing a material A. Cost concerns B. Cleavage concerns C. Difficulty of polishing D. Tendency to subsurface damage 2. Beginner materials, in increasing difficulty A. Beryl B. Garnet/YAG C. Iolite D. Quartz E. CZ 3. Intermediate materials, including new lessons learned A. Tourmaline (dealing with rinds and internal stress) B. Peridot (dealing with odd inclusions) C. Topaz (dealing with a cleavage plane) D. Zircon (dealing with directional hardness) E. Tanzanite (dealing with cost concerns)
F. Opal (dealing with heat sensitivity) 4. Difficult materials, including why A. Corundum (dealing with high Mohs hardness) B. Spinel (dealing with high Mohs hardness) C. Apatite (dealing with heat sensitivity AND low Mohs hardness) D. Chrysoberyl (dealing with cost concerns) E. Spodumene (dealing with shock sensitivity) F. Fluorite (dealing with multiple cleavage planes) G. Sphene (dealing with cleavage AND low Mohs hardness) VI. Specific rough selection: 1. Avoiding inclusions A. Use of pen-lights B. Use of refractol 2. Saturation concerns A. White paper test B. Closed C-axis 3. Color zoning concerns A. Pockets of color (amethyst) B. Divisions of color (ametrine) C. Mixing color regions 4. Yield concerns A. Is the rough very shallow? i. Not as important in high-ri materials B. Surface cracks and flaws C. Deep cracks and flaws D. Rinds that need removal 5. Rough orientation A. Flat spots don t need to be the table B. Pointy areas don t need to be the pavilion C. Planning around color zoning i. Dark zones in light material go near the culet ii. Clean splits should be showed off D. Planning around inclusions i. Keep inclusions FAR AWAY FROM the culet ii. Inclusions are easily hidden near the girdle E. Face-up surface area 6. Choosing a pattern A. Pick the outline for good face-up surface area B. Choose appropriate design for the saturation i. Dark rough needs a shallow design in general ii. Light rough often can use a barion iii. Light rough can be washed out with too much brilliance C. Choose an appropriate design for the RI i. High RI materials can be cut with a low RI design ii. Low RI materials can NOT be cut with a high RI design D. Choose a design that you will have fun cutting VII. Pre-faceting set up (NEEDS PICTURES EVERYWHERE): 1. Preforming, pregrinding, and sawing
A. Preforming i. Creates a rough outline of the stone ii. Time-consuming and may limit yield iii. Makes the actual cutting part faster B. Pregrinding i. Only removes flaws, rinds, and external inclusions ii. Can also be used to grind a temporary table or dopping point iii. Saves more material than performing C. Sawing i. Cuts through internal flaws ii. Also used to remove large hunks from larger rough iii. Can be done while the stone is dopped 2. Dopping the stone A. How to dop i. Choose the largest dop that won t exceed the maximum stone size ii. If cutting a rectangle, use a rectangular dop iii. Draw an X on the flat surface you previously prepared iv. Use one of the dopping techniques below to stick the dop to the stone B. Michiko Method for smaller rough or recuts C. Wax dopping i. Green wax is recommended (or is it?) ii. Heat wax, heat dop iii. MUST HAVE VIDEO iv. Flow-y look vs. Beaded look D. Cyanoacrylate dopping i.??? E. Epoxy dopping F. Hybrid wax/ca dopping G. Testing the bond strength i. Push test ii. Flick test 3. Rough-cutting the stone A. What grits are appropriate? B. Plated vs. sintered vs. charging C. Subsurface damage concerns D. Common problems i. Pits and chips ii. Damage at facet junctions E. How to speed it along i. Apply more pressure ii. Record mast heights, for later use in prepolish/polish 4. Prepolishing A. Grinding out subsurface damage i. Remove all pits and chips ii. Remove all visible scratches from last stage B. Types of prepolishing laps C. What does a good prepolish look like? D. Misalignment problems
i. Toe-touching and heel-touching ii. East-West progression error E. How to speed it along i. Charge with more diamond ii. Use relative mast heights from last step 5. Polishing A. Diamond polish B. Oxide polish C. How scratches form and how to avoid them i. Hitting inclusions and breaking them out ii. Polish compound aggregate balls D. Facet rounding 6. Transfer A. Keeping the original dop stable B. Rotational transfer error with cheated keyed dops C. General transfer error in the new bond D. Making sure the new bond holds while undoing the first one 7. Cutting the crown A. Aligning to a girdle facet B. Super-awesome laser alignment system C. Girdle spiral effect i. Caused by incomplete alignment to a girdle facet ii. Corrected with cheater D. Pavilion error accumulates in the crown E. Girdle thickness concerns 8. Cutting the table A. Large facets tend to prepolish/polish slower B. Overcutting is a serious possibility 9. Other special cutting concerns A. Cutting a matched pair B. Cutting to a calibrated size C. Using a measured L/W ratio to establish the girdle outline VIII. Step-by-step walkthroughs - a beginner s first 8 stones 1. Things to include for each walkthrough A. Include the difficulty rating for the design B. Have a list of lessons the faceter learns from each diagram C. Include step-by-step visuals i. For the first few stones, include facets moving into place ii. For the first few stones, include ALL steps including dopping 2. Design 1 - an 8-fold Simple Jack from the USFG site A. Make sure to include video/picture of ALL STEPS B. Lessons i. Cutting the P1 facets to centerpoint ii. Cutting a level pavilion-side girdle iii. Cutting a consistent girdle thickness iv. Cutting a level crown-side girdle v. Cutting a basic meetpoint vi. Cutting a floating table
3. Design 2 - APHEX from the USFG site i. Overwriting the pavilion centerpoint with a new centerpoint ii. Cutting pavilion facet splitters iii. Cutting an apex crown 4. Design 3 - Standard Round Brilliant i. Cutting an accurate round faceted girdle ii. Cutting a meetpoint table 5. Design 4 - Easy Does It, by Jeff Graham i. Cutting a retained CAM outline ii. Cutting multiple steps to the same centerpoint iii. Cutting a girdle with multiple steps iv. Cutting splitters on different angles 6. (some kind of square non-barion cushion, preferably a checker) i. Cutting a checkerboard crown 7. (some kind of rectangle with an L/W ratio of 1.33 < X < 1.66) 8. (some kind of square barion non-cushion) i. Cutting barion facets 9. (some kind of oval barion) IX. Troubleshooting: 1. D oh! moments