Faceting Information and Links
Someone once told me that, in faceting, 90% of the quality is in the last 10% of the work. Never were truer words ever spoken. Now bearing in mind that it was October '99 when I first started faceting, I still have my entire learning curve in my fresh memory. Once I figured out the mechanics of the whole setup and understood the basics of cutting, I then had to worry about polishing. Polishing was by far my biggest challenge as has been the case for many a beginner.
I originally started cutting Amethyst and Tourmaline. I tried polishing with tin but my tin lap was beaten up too bad by its previous owner. I pretty much was using Spectra ultralaps and getting acceptable results. (I still use Spectra Ultralaps exclusively for all quartz). I also tried Lucite and Phenolic laps, both interesting but not my favorite. I wanted better polishing performance so I decided to learn how to use my Ceramic lap to get those beautiful flat facets.
With a great deal of help from all of my friends(Doug saved my life by telling me what to do, and Jeff by giving me the 'what' to do it with), I have become halfway decent with ceramic, which is good because I love cutting Sapphires. I now will tend to gravitate towards my Ceramic lap first on almost every stone 7 or harder and Spectra Ultralaps for everything else. There are a few exceptions to this, but I don't cut softer stones often.
My favorite Ceramic setup is as follows:
Scrub the Lap with Barkeep's Friend and hot water. Let cool and dry for a few minutes and whipe it clean with a lint free paper towel.
Put the clean, dry lap on the machine and apply the diamond spray (I use Crystalite 100k) in very small bursts. Spread each burst around with your finger until the lap has been totally worked over and the lap is 'dry'.
Run the machine at 100 or so rpm and hold your finger lightly against the lap, moving it out to the edge of the lap. This seems to even out the diamond while picking up the lint and dust that has collected.
Start polishing on a very slow speed with a medium speed sweep that covers the entire lap. The polishing paths should resemble the helix pattern of DNA.
If scratches develop or you can feel debris hitting your stone, move the quill out of the way and turn up the machine, running your finger over the lap to pick up debris. The oil in the average person's skin will be enough to pick up most lingering particles. This may not be the best way in the world to do it but it works for me:)
When the lap just stops polishing or starts scratching that I cannot get rid of then I rewash it with Barkeeps friend and start the process over. If it scratches right from the start then I know I overcharged it.
Other links for how to polish with ceramic and several other methods are listed below:
Faceters.com, Just ask Jeff - Has a lot of good information on machines, selecting and buying rough, dopping methods, polishing methods, design methods, and general faceting questions
The International Gem Society - Has a heap of great information! Terriffic organization for faceters.
Polishing survey and information page - Done by myself and members in conjunction with the IGS. This is a great databank of polishing information and provides a good overview for anyone who has polishing questions. It also shows what a lot of people use to polish different stonetypes. A must read for any beginning faceter!
The Facet Shop, Getting started in faceting colored gemstones - A great site that describes the ins and outs of cutting your own gemstones. A lot of useful and basic information needed for a successful start.
Bob's Rock Shop - Has a lot of terriffic links and articles. Also there is a large collection of cutting designs and a very nice online tangent ratio calculator.
Gemdata and the Spectrum Network Faceting Hints - Some great information on how to polish with ceramic and other faceting tips. Also a great story from the viewpoint of a microbe hiding in the crack of a Topaz crystal that is being ground down
Information on faceting is a very important and fluid knowledge that is constantly being worked with and improved and disseminated through our ranks. Two of the best ways to become more knowledgable is to join one of many online e-mail based faceting newsletters and digests. The two that I subscribe to are the Faceter's Digest and the AFMS Faceter's List. These two digests have really helped put me in contact with people that could answer my questions and that could help me. And every now and then we can help others as well that are where we all were at one point:)
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