Flawless Facets

After finishing the outline, I place a 45 degree adapter dop n my MDR faceting machine. This dop is used to cut a 90 degree table. The cutter places his dop with the garnet in the 45 degree adapter dop, places the angle to 45 degrees and this combination creates a flat table.

This is another view of the table being cut. A lot of water is used on this 600 grit lap to keep the garnet cool which cutting the largest facet of the stone.

This is a finished picture of the table after it has been cut in, notice that there is a non flat portion in the bottom right hand side of the stone. This part of the stone will be cut out when the main crown facets are faceted.

The next step of the cutting process is to cut in the main crown facets. The 45 degree adaptor dop is removed; the dop with the garnet is placed back into the machine and tightened down. The angle is then changed to the angle of the main crown facets. For the ends on the oval, the angle must be adapted in order to establish a level girdle.

This photo shows the eight main crown facets after they have been cut. The next step is to cut in star facets and then the girdle facets.

The angle and index's are changed for the cutting of the star facets. The stars are cut into the garnet to create the standard brilliant design in the stone. This Photo was taken after the star facets were added to the garnet.

The angles are changed once again to cut in the girdle facets. This photo highlights all the crown facets after they have been cut into the rough gemstone.

This is a side view of the garnet before polishing. Notice that the facets are not perfectly meeting each other. This will be corrected during the polishing phase for the crown. By not cutting the facets in all the way a cutter has more room for polishing and often times can produce perfect meets.

The next step is to polish the table of the gemstone. The laps are changed from a 600 grit diamond impregnated lap to a copper lap with diamond powder used for polishing. This photo shows the polished table of the garnet. The 45 degree adapter dop is once again affixed to the dop, instead of using a 600 grit diamond lap, the lap is changed to a copper lap with 50K diamond powder. Polishing laps come in a variety of kinds such as copper or ceramic, and every faceter has his opinion on which laps should be used when. For me, I rarely use anything besides a copper lap or a BATT lap with 50k diamond powder.

After polishing the table, the next step is to polish the main crown facets. The table adapter is removed and the angles are reset for the main crown facets. This photo is showing the main crown facets after they have been polished on the copper lap with 50k diamond powder.

Another view of the crown showing the side crown facets after polishing. Notice the great color of the garnet.

The next photo is of the star facets after they have been polished and are perfectly meeting the main facets.

The girdle facets are the last set to be polished before the girdle is polished and the pavilion cut. This photo shows the crown facets after all three tiers have been polished.

The girdle is the last polishing step on the crown. The polishing agent is slightly different, instead of a powder; a paste of 8k diamond powder is used. I could have polished the girdle after the basic outline was cut, however, by waiting till this stage, the polishing of the girdle takes considerably less time. This is because the girdle only needs to be polished on the amount that will remain after cutting the pavilion facets.

The side view showing the polished facets and girdle. The dull appearance is actually a nice thumb print from myself on the side of the stone. The last step in the cutting process is the cutting of the pavilion. This topic will be discussed tomorrow and the finished product offered for sale.

This is the backside of the piece of rough. The first step in the gemstone cutting process will be to perform the rough rhodalite into a shape before it is faceted.

This is the backside of the piece of rough. The first step in the gemstone cutting process will be to perform the rough rhodalite into a shape before it is faceted.

This picture highlights an inclusion that is the yellowish spot in the middle of the gemstone. This inclusion will be ground out during the performing process.

This picture highlights the performing process. Here I am grinding a basic shape into the stone on a 260 grit diamond cutting lap on high speed. Water is placed on the lap to make the cutting process more efficient and cool the gemstone.

This is the preformed shape of the gemstone. Notice that the shape is not perfect and there is a large dip in the area of the gemstone that will be the table. These two features will be taken care of during the next step of cutting.

Here I am heating my dop stick and wax in order to dop the gemstone to enable cutting.

The gemstone must be heating up in order to create a good bond between the wax, dop stick, and the gemstone. The faceter must be careful not to hold the stone in one place for too long or it may cause the stone to crack or cause other damage.

The garnet adhered to the dop stick with wax.

Here I am finishing up the shaping process to create a uniform, pleasant shape for the garnet. I have changed my lap from a 260 grit to a 600 grit lap. This will allow a slower cutting process where I will have more control over the speed of cutting. The next step is to cut and polish the crown. This update will be added tomorrow

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