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Scarodactyl posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHUu_jc4Ths
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| # ? Jan 13, 2026 06:29 |
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Thanks! I cut my second halloween stone, a coffin cut in grey-purple laser garnet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwBcR424U5E
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Both of those gems look super sick and I’m glad your halloween cutting is becoming a tradition. I’m a couple weeks away from starting my own cutting journey (waiting to get back into house after a long reno), and I am 100% positive I will be posting lots of questions in this thread. I’ve already got some rough set aside and I can’t wait to get started!
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Scarodactyl posted:Thanks! Nice seasonal color, too, a good moody purple.
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If someone wanted to get a fairly cheap, compact lapidary set up, what would the top recommends be? If it matters, I have a studio with ventilation. Mostly I'm doing simple domed cabs, but I'd love to do some faceting. I'm mostly cutting glass and ceramic, bone china specifically which I think is a 7 for hardness. Not sure it matters. I've been doming cabs with sandpaper to get some stuff made and see if there is a market for what I'm making. I want a real set up, can't spend this much time on cheap cabs.
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Virtual Russian posted:If someone wanted to get a fairly cheap, compact lapidary set up, what would the top recommends be? If it matters, I have a studio with ventilation. Scarodactyl posted:I have been working on this project for a while and finally got it launched!
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Another one for Halloween! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8V_jBCufr8
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Scarodactyl posted:Another one for Halloween! Oh, that's awesome!
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Which of these stickers should I add to my bench at work? ![]() Add to a Church of Satan pentagram, some sardine brands, an IBEW sticker and this one ![]() Also, bump
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I forgot! I snuck a picture of my bench at family day this year:
Soul Dentist fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Dec 14, 2024 |
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Soul Dentist posted:I forgot! I snuck a picture of my bench at family day this year: It’s so nice to see what other people are using as their set-ups when I don’t really have other people I know in person in the field. Is that metal plate hanging off the front of your desk like a bench peg, or do you not use one?
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Soul Dentist posted:I forgot! I snuck a picture of my bench at family day this year: Very cool picture! But just as an FYI there's a full name on the desk if you care about censoring it out at all?
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My Second Re-Reg posted:Very cool picture! But just as an FYI there's a full name on the desk if you care about censoring it out at all? Dammit missed one. Now you know my true name and how to make me disappear instead of winning your first born child by sinister dealings
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i mean ngl if you want the kid they're yours, so long sucker lmao
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I finally have a question for one of my favourite threads to lurk, as the weird kid who collected rocks in my school. Okay, so I understand the Mohs scale is ordinal. How do you know if gems will work next to each other, or gently caress each other up? My partner and I are in the early stages of designing an engagement ring and I want to have reasonable expectations of what's possible/a good idea, so I'm not That Client. We've got the centre stone, which is a round alexandrite, and I'd love it flanked by some clear sapphires (thank you, labs). Since they're an 8.5 and and 9 respectively, I'm wondering if that's a discrepancy that'll risk damage and we should go for different side stones, or if they're hard enough that it'll be fine. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Alternatively, I'd happily take any stories of particularly lovely/nightmare/memorable clients or pieces.
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Scarodactyl posted:For faceting depending on your budget the CutKit could be a good option (if your budget is significantly higher you can get a better machine, but I cut the last few stones I posted on this setup so it does work) YouTube showed me the CutKit probably from looking at videos posted in this thread and I came to ask if that's legit. Not that I need to throw $500 at a new hobby by any means, but maybe someday if the cost of entry is there.
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Sub Rosa posted:YouTube showed me the CutKit probably from looking at videos posted in this thread and I came to ask if that's legit. Whitlam posted:We've got the centre stone, which is a round alexandrite, and I'd love it flanked by some clear sapphires (thank you, labs). Since they're an 8.5 and and 9 respectively, I'm wondering if that's a discrepancy that'll risk damage and we should go for different side stones, or if they're hard enough that it'll be fine.
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Whitlam posted:I finally have a question for one of my favourite threads to lurk, as the weird kid who collected rocks in my school. Any stone that's set correctly in any manner (channel, bezel, prong, whatever) will not rub or even contact other stones in the piece at all. They will be held in place by pieces of metal, and any movement at all ist verboten
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The real Mohs threshold for rings is 7, since quartz is the hardest stuff you'll find in normal dirt, so if you want to avoid scratches from it gotta be harder
Tunicate fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Dec 30, 2024 |
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Sick as, that makes sense. I figured I was probably overthinking it, so thank you for (nicely) confirming it.
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Should I learn how to make my own settings, seems like jewelers around here charge a bunch just to get a rock into a one and at that point maybe I should....
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Xun posted:Should I learn how to make my own settings, seems like jewelers around here charge a bunch just to get a rock into a one and at that point maybe I should.... That’s why I started making my own settings, now I can say I’ve spent way more on tools and materials than I ever would have on settings!!! (I love it and I’m glad I did it, but no one ever said hobbies were a good way to save money.)
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Xun posted:Should I learn how to make my own settings, seems like jewelers around here charge a bunch just to get a rock into a one and at that point maybe I should.... Something that I've been investigating lately with regard to that is silver clay. It's pretty finicky and has a lot of caveats (not appropriate for all stones), but it's easier and requires fewer tools than traditional goldsmithing. You pretty much just need the clay, a butane torch, and a firing block to get started.
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I realize that this is a weird question but I got my mom a giant blue topaz off eBay and it went through a dryer cycle and got a few small light scratches. Can anyone here give me a quote for repolishing the stone, if that's a thing?
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What hand tools for filing / shaping do you use? I’m actually trying to make pottery stamps out of fired ceramic bisque stoneware, so I figured I’d ask here since there usually overlap with stone. I need some really fine tools, but also don’t want to spend too much. Some stamps will be the size of the tip of my pinky. From my woodworking, I love my .2mm hand saw and dremel etching burrs. Or is the easy answer just get a thin handsaw for ceramic and some diamond dremel tips?
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I do most of my metal shaping with carbide or HSS burrs and rubber polishing wheels, unless I'm using ceramic files in an ultrasonic handpiece (or ceramic rods). Setters use burrs and gravers to prepare settings, but polished gravers aren't gonna be great for anything that's not plastic malleable like metal
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I realize that this is a weird question but I got my mom a giant blue topaz off eBay and it went through a dryer cycle and got a few small light scratches. Can anyone here give me a quote for repolishing the stone, if that's a thing?
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I'll shoot some macro shots. The scratches aren't really that bad, or deep, or that many to be honest. Still, nice to know it's a possibility.
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![]() ![]() Like I said, the scratches are hard to see but they are also tiny, and there. I'd like to know how much it would cost to have them buffed out. No hurry, just curious.
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![]() Triple posting but I wanted to share a cool gem I bought. Decided to ring in the new year by buying gigantic big neat looking shiny rocks. Goblin brain year, apparently. Just really dig the design and coloring. This is the kinda stuff I'd do if I had a faceting machine and talent and probably some math skills.
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I bought this guy (it's a little under 4 cm across) and you can't really see it well but both sides have a decidedly matte finish, and I'm wondering if I can get this to a mirror shine with a little work. Maybe with a polishing cloth and a few different pastes? Bad idea? Any tips?
bird with big dick fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Feb 9, 2025 |
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You can get partway there with wet-dry sandpaper and water. Final polish is harder, maybe fine diamond compound (or powder mixed with oil) on wood would do it but it would take a while doing it by hand. Incidentally, anyone else here in Tucson? Our booth is C22 and the 22nd street show.
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Scarodactyl posted:You can get partway there with wet-dry sandpaper and water. Final polish is harder, maybe fine diamond compound (or powder mixed with oil) on wood would do it but it would take a while doing it by hand. I harassed ya enough and headed home already.
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https://www.facebook.com/share/r/15xNWdoTei/ Dunno how to save or encode Facebook reels, but I'm wondering why that got mega shiny with crazy refractions? Is that a property of the stone or something they polish it with? Looks to just be regular rutilated quartz.
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:https://www.facebook.com/share/r/15xNWdoTei/ That is synthetic rutile afaik, not quartz. The description I always see is that it “poops rainbows” haha.
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Yeah that's solid lab rutile. It has the highest dispersion of any gem by a good margin.
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Oh, cool! Learn something new every day. Gorgeous colors.
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Saw this, seems to be a vevor but I'm not positive. https://share.temu.com/1KlcugYvYfC Might be with a peek.
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If it is, it's a KD-8811. The upgrade kit is for the KD-8801, so it may not be compatible
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| # ? Jan 13, 2026 06:29 |
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Yeah, that model is not compatible with the cutkit1 but is with the upcoming cutkit 2 mast. But I don't recommend it, the lack of speed control alone is a dealbreaker. The kd-8801 is what the original kit was built for and it has the baseline needed features. In some ways the similar generic one is actually better but it requires more mods to get it fully working. I'm still working on developing the system in general, I think I'm one prototype away from production on new improved handpieces. Scarodactyl fucked around with this message at 16:47 on Apr 15, 2025 |
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