⭐ Show Us Your Cut Stones - Before And After Photos

[Wally69]

Have struggled to get some free time but had a couple of hours this afternoon to have a crack at the smokey.

This is why some people struggle with Quartz, one edge chip contaminating your lap and your whole facet lets you know, 4 times in this instance.

Not that I mind, if everything worked to plan, I wouldn't learn to work out how to adjust only two of the connected faces without having to go back and take a scratch depth off everything.

 

[Sodabowski]

Aw shoot...

 

[pete165]

A few years ago when Wal was 1st selling his Walbankers , I met him at Grabben Gullen to buy 1 and was fortunate enough to get access to Grabben Gullen creek with him ,through Owens property & this is 1 of the stones we found. I recently had it cut locally by Paul Sabolta & am very pleased with the finished gem

Do you still go to Grabben Gullen. I used to go sapphire hunting there when I was around 16 with an uncle. Would love to go there again to have a look at what I can find.

 

[pete165]

Some nice cut stones guys. Well done.

 

[headbut]

Hi Pete165

Have only been there the once, but getting to that spot from the bridge would be a bit of a hike. Good spot if you can get access

 

[Dihusky]

Gorgeous Citrine mate, its come up a beauty.

I've heard that quartz can be a problem, currently doing my first piece at home on the renovated Imahashi, so far it looks like I have been lucky, no scratches or chips, still got a way to go though so plan to go slowly on the crown to avoid the problem.

 

[Mickomarlin]

I got this on my last outing. Any idea on what the final ct would be with cutting. And im thinking its citrine?

 

[Lefty]

Be a bit difficult to say what the final weight would be Mickomarlin. Needs first hand examination to say how clean it is, how thick etc. If it's relatively clean I would venture to say the finished stone would be rather large. It does look like citrine at first glance.

 

[Jordon27]

Excellent work. those all the gemstones are great

 

[Wally69]

A few posts back, I put up a photo of a Smokey Quartz crystal found at Oberon in the failing moments of a unplanned fossicking foray.

The transformation complete ............

 

[Lefty]

Damn nice Wally! :Y: Can't go past a good smoky. A hexagonal barion with a step-cut crown by the looks?

 

[Heatho]

Very nice mate, well done.

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Beautiful stone Wal. Really nice design too!

 

[Wally69]

Thanks guys,

I quite like the hexagonal shape, it is a very pleasant to look at with a little wobble of the stone as the faces are prominent enough to notice a change of aspect and the light flickers around nicely.

The design was chosen by my youngest son and is a simplified bright lights design (G&M Vargas Vol III)

 

[Wally69]

Finally finished cutting my first decent Queensland sapphire from the Reward Gemfield, I cant seem to find the before photo but it presented as a green/yellow party sapphire. The stock was about 3.5ct and it had a bad shape and a few inclusion that I tried to orientate to be vertical through the centre of the stone and another close to the girdle. The yield suffered as a result and a couple of overcuts requiring rectification didnt help either :8

It started out life as a standard brilliant but I introduced a small step cut in the pavilion in an attempt to keep a bit of extra depth. The crown is also modified due the operator being a bit too aggressive with such small facets and a star facet index error in the finishing stages of the cut resulted in a rectification that introduced an extra 8 step facets between them. I quite like them though as they create a defined star in the top of the stone.

After focussing at it through a magnifying glass for the past week, it seemed much bigger than the 0.9ct result. Good thing is, I have now proven that I can cut sub-carat stones. arty:

 

[Lefty]

Very nice there Wally :Y:

 

[Dave79]

Nice work. I reckon cutting gems is an awesome skill and one I will never acquire. Precision has never been one of my strong points. I'll stick to welding, at least if you take too much off you can put it back!

 

[Lefty]

Nice work. I reckon cutting gems is an awesome skill and one I will never acquire. Precision has never been one of my strong points. I'll stick to welding, at least if you take too much off you can put it back!

Give it a go Dave! It's a very rewarding hobby.

Though it is true that you can only take it off, you can't put it back on A facetor is a kind of specialised machinist - machining little tiny rocks - and I suck at most tradie type stuff but it didn't stop me learning to facet.

Reccomended :Y:

 

[Dave79]

Reckon it could be a good retirement hobby, should have a pretty good collection of dodgy stones to practice on by the time I get there! I reckon a few will get the sledge hammer treatment during the learning process.

 

[Heatho]

Very nice Wally, looks great. Very nice cut and colour indeed. :Y: :Y: