Facet Talk 197 - Australian Facetors Guild Limited

May - June 2014
Number 197
Official organ of the Australian Facetors’ Guild Limited
www.facetorsguild.com.au
ACN 007 250 688
ABN 62 819 112 280
Print Post Approved—PP 405518/00043 ISSN 1035-0977
The
Xtra”
“ HALL - Xtr
a”
Faceting
Machine
F
aceting Mac
hine
Features:
Uses 6" diameter lap plates
Variable Speed – 0 to 1250 rpm.
Easy to see and set to 0.01 Degrees
Dial Cutting Gauge
Post on Swing Arm (No clamping needed)
Larger Cast Aluminium Bowl
Epoxy coated Base, Bowl and Swing Arm
Head glass blasted, clear acrylic coated.
Stainless Steel Sleeve over Post
Includes:
96, 80 and 64 Tooth Index Wheels
Fifteen Dops, 3mm. to 8mm. in Flat, Cone
and Vee form.
Dops for Setting. 45 Degree Angle Dop.
Transfer Block.
Instruction Book. Keys.
PRICE:
$3300 (Deli
ver
ed)
(Deliv
ered)
Manufactured by UNAMIT
Available From: UNAMIT CAIRNS 234 Mc.Cormack St, Cairns, Qld 4870
Phones:- BH (07) 4053 1474
2014 International Faceting Competition
The 50th Gemboree was held in Gatton, Queensland. The International
Faceting Competition (IFC) was won by Australia with a score of 1441.55
with Paul Fenslau being the highest point scorer for the Australian side.
AFG President Graham Kinsela presented Paul with his medal and the IFC
trophy at the AFG General Meeting at the Gemboree (see below). The
Individual Champion was Anthony Burston (UK) with a score for three stones
of 296.05 (top right). He also had the highest individual score of 99.76 in
Section A. Paul Feneslau was second with 292.14 points (bottom right).
See page 23 for full results.
Front Cover:
Top row: Celtic Design - GemRay plot and frosting on the pavilion.
Centre Left: Plagioclase - Labradorite variety (see page 6);
Fine blue 3 ct sapphire - Trilliant cut ($4000 per carat);
Rough sapphire (about 5 ct) - blue yellow particolour.
Right: Celtic Country - Glen Innes - Venue for the 1014 AFG Seminar
Bottom Left: Amethyst Sceptre from Entia Valley, NT.
Bottom Right: Concentrate from sieve - zircons and sapphires.
You might also find a cutter at Frazer’s Creek, Glen Innes!
See page 25 for Registration Information.
May - June 2014
3
Contents
Contributions to Facet Talk
Original contributions and letters are encouraged and
welcome from all members for inclusion in Facet Talk.
Letters and questions relating to faceting will be published
under Letters to the Editor. Members are encouraged to
respond with suitable answers or comment which will be
included in a subsequent edition of Facet Talk.
We are always looking for original ideas and experiences!
Material from other published sources must be
acknowledged by citation as required by copyright. If
articles include copied material please provide the full
details of the source in the following format:
Author, Initials. (date of print). Title as it appears in the
front pages in italics. Publisher: City.
Articles are preferred in electronic form which may be
emailed or sent on CD. Legible hand written articles
are also welcome but must be sent c/o AFG Editor, PO
Box 722, Warwick, Qld 4370.
Board of Directors and Contacts
Reports President’s Report
Secretary’s Report
Seminar Registration Form
Membership Report
Branch Reports
Nomination Form for AGM
International Faceting Competition Results
In this Issue
Cutting Feldspar - Jim Finlayson
Gemstone Inclusions – Derek Lee (GemSelect)
Buying a Faceting Machine – AFG Forum
Hard Stops in Faceting Machines - UKFG
Polishing Corundum – Philippe Glastre
All correspondence sent to the Editor is subject to the
Editorial Committees’ discretion for inclusion in Facet Talk.
Varieties of Garnet – Ed. John Broadfoot
Electronic submission: When submitting articles for
Facet Talk please provide files saved as Word (.doc) or
Rich Text Format (RTF). Please send photographs as
separate JPG files (300 dpi) to ensure high quality when
printing the magazine. Good colour photographs may be
selected for use on the front cover. Please include contact
details for publication for all technical articles so that
interested people may contact the author directly.
Gem Shows: Protecting the Brand – Jim Jeavons
All articles should be sent to the Editor:
Mail to: AFG Editor, PO Box 722, Warwick, 4370.
Email: geminfo@bigpond.com
Phone: 0429 692 904
NOMOG Stones - Philippe Glastre
What’s Coming Up
AFG Seminar in Glen Innes in September 2014
4
5
25
30
31
24
23
6
7
8
9
10
11
13
28
Letters to the Editor
25
26
32
AFG Supplies – Order Form
33
AFG Seminar Program
Advertisers
AusGems
Aussie Sapphire – Lapidary supplies
DISCLAIMER
While this publication is the official organ of the Australian
Facetors’ Guild Limited, opinions expressed in it are not
necessarily those of the Guild or its officers. Further, neither the
AFG, Board of Directors nor the Editor of Facet Talk is
responsible for liability arising from errors, omissions or
mistakes contained in Facet Talk and readers are warned to
proceed cautiously, especially with respect to any technical
information or advice for which the Guild and the Editor does not
warrant the accuracy and disclaims all liability.
BR Gemstones
Cartwright Gemmological Instruments
Cat Lap – Special Lap - Horst Ricker
Coolamon Mining Pty Ltd – Sapphires
Gemcuts & New Jersey Instruments: Faceting machines
GemFest - Anakie
Gemhunters Haven – Lapidary supplies
L & F Enterprises – Laps, saws and diamond
LA Gems – Findings, cut stones, etc
Mt Surprise Gems – Minerals, topaz, findings
NEW ADVERTISING RATES
Maximum Copy Dimensions
B&W
Colour
Width x Depth
Rate $
Rate $
Pilbara Geological Supplies - Belomo Hand Lens
Quality Gem Rough - *New Owner* Glenn Huntley
Full page - 75mm x 250mm
3
120
240
Sapphire Engineering – VJ Faceting machine
UNAMIT – Hall Extra Faceting Machine
1/2 page -
85mm x 250mm or 175mm x 125mm
60
120
1/4 page -
85mm x 125mm or 175mm x 60mm
30
60
1/8 page – Members For Sale and Business Cards 15
30
Celtic – Wilf Ross (Ed. J Broadfoot)
Members - boxed advertisements (1/8 to 1/4 page)
15
Eureka Cross – Kel Smith
Colour rates are for inside or outside back cover and inside
front cover. Cost of any artwork and layout is additional to
copy rate if advertisement is not print ready. Contact the
Editor for a quotation for artwork. Print ready copy is
preferred in PDF format (Press Quality) or as a Word file
with separate JPG files for graphics – high resolution (300
dpi). Top quality prints must be submitted for publication.
Faceting designs
NOMOG – Philippe Glastre
Pentagon Cut – Brian Brown
Opal Round - Revised J. Broadfoot
SparkOThree - Glenn Klein
Round Tril – Jeremy Newman
Sphal3_Rev with alternate Crowns – J. Broadfoot
Rectangular Cushion 1.40 – Sequence by Geoff Jones
19
27
35
2
29
35
27
35
24
18
12
24
23
30
8
2
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
4
Facet Talk
Scratchings from the Editor
John Broadfoot
Welcome to Facet Talk 197
It was good to see a lot of AFG members at the
Gemboree. I didn’t see much as I was MC for whole
show. Congratulations to the AFG members who
entered the Faceting Section and won a number of
Prizes (see photos page 36).
You should have noticed the “Standing Stones” on
the front page! You may well say “What has this got
to do with faceting?” Well our Seminar Venue for this
year is in Glenn Innes which has a strong Scottish
and Celtic background. There is also a design
“Celtic” on page 15. Have a go and we will set up a
special display case for Celtic Designs at the
Seminar. Bring your finished stones along.
A number of articles on basic cutting and polishing
techniques have been included in this issue. These
include Cutting Feldspars (Jim Finlayson, UKFG),
Polishing Corundum (Philippe Glastre) and Garnet
varieties (Ed). There are also forum accounts (AFG
and UKFG) about faceting machines – which to buy
and “no such thing as hard stops”. Some members
may like to respond to what has been said. Let’s
hear from you?
Philippe Glastre (France) shares his ideas on and
techniques for cutting stones without girdles
(NOMOGS). Derek Lee of GemSelect has kindly
provided an account of Gemstone Inclusions which
should be considered when purchasing and faceting
rough.
We must thank our exchange partners for these
contributions.
It would be good to see more
Australian contributions! How about it?
Following my comments in the last editorial and
concerns by our President it is timely to include a
letter by Jim Jeavons re Protecting the Brand. It is
very concerning that a few appear to be giving the
lapidary shows a bad name. As members of a Guild
we should certainly be above reproach in our
dealings involving gemstones.
Correction: In the last issue my article on
Photographing gemstones had a Freudian slip. The
paragraph should have read: “F ratio. F ratio is
important but depends what you are photographing.
If you want a greater depth of field you need to use
higher F numbers, e.g., 11 - 22. For specific
features such as an inclusion you need to limit the
background. In this case use a lower F number (f3.5 plus).”
If you need assistance in any technical aspect to submit
articles do not hesitate to give me a call 0429 692 904 or
email me on geminfo@bigpond.com. Please refer to
instructions on Page 3 when submitting articles. The
mailing address for the editor is:
AFG Editor, PO Box 722, Warwick, Qld. 4370.
When submitting articles electronically please leave the
formatting to the editor – plain text as Times New
Roman size 11 font is fine. No fancy fonts or columns.
Number 197
President’s Report
Graham Kinsela
The 2014 Gemboree has been done and dusted for
another year. The AFG stall was well manned over
the four days. We signed up four new members
whilst there.
I congratulate Australia as the Team winner of the
International Faceting Challenge and the highest
placed Australian facetor Paul Fenselau.
I
congratulate all who entered and those who were
involved in the running of this event. From what I
have seen it is quite a large job and Peter
Stringfellow must be singled out for his work in
getting it organised. See page 23 for the point
scores.
I have had the pleasure of visiting several clubs
doing talks and demonstrations which have been well
received. I have had several comments about
members who demonstrate at shows and are
carrying on their business. It is a timely reminder of
your ethics if you are asked to attend a show on
behalf of the guild. Firstly you are not allowed to
carry on your business. Secondly if asked about
learning faceting then you should direct them to the
club that you are representing. If the club does not
have a faceting tutor then refer them to the AFG.
I have a meeting with a lapidary club coming up and
it appears that it may end up being a meeting to set
up a new facet group. If your club would like a visit
from me please send me an e-mail and when I am in
your area I will drop in and do a talk or
demonstration.
Les and Noel will be meeting up with me in Glen
Innes in May to finalise plans and contracts for the
Seminar in September. On that note if you have not
as yet registered, then could you please complete the
form in this issue and send off to Les and remember
NO MONEY yet please.
John and Garry have almost finalised the fossicking
trips, just a few loose ends yet.
Happy faceting
Australian Facetors Guild has QR
Code access. This symbol can be
scanned with an iPad, iPhone, Smart
Phone or even your notebook. It will
log you directly onto the AFG website:
www.facetorsguild.com.au
Publishing dates for Facet Talk may be altered as the need
arises. Mailing date for hard copy is approximately 3 weeks
after copy deadline. Electronic copy will be available as soon
as it goes to the printer.
Facet Talk Copy dates for 2014
Number and issue
Copy to Editor
FT198 Jul/Aug
Jun 23
FT199 Sep/Oct
Aug 25
FT200 Nov/Dec (Special Edn) Oct 27
If you have any queries re delivery of your Facet Talk
please contact the Secretary about the electronic copy
or the Membership Secretary for mailed copy.
May - June 2014
Secretary’s Report
Noel Warrell
Summary of Easter 2014 General Meeting
The meeting was attended by 32 members with 37
proxy votes being received.
It is somewhat
disappointing that some members who were camped
on the grounds for the Gemboree or were visiting for
the day did not attend the meeting, the start time for
which was delayed to 5.30 pm so as many members
as possible would have the opportunity to attend.
A discussion took place on a proposal by the Board
to formalise the convention for naming groups within
the Guild and for setting down the reporting hierarchy
for such groups. There has never been any written
guidance for members who want to set up a local
group in a particular area and this has resulted in a
sometimes confusing name for a group that implies
the group represents a state, e.g. Victorian branch,
South Australian branch etc. rather than a particular
location or group. This proposal would see a new bylaw added to the Guild’s Articles of Association that
would give certainty to the process of setting up new
groups. The by-law would reflect the present
practices of the way groups conduct their affairs. The
only change that is envisaged is the actual name for
each group would be in a set format, e.g. “AFG
Moreton Bay Group” with the AFG representing
Australian Facetors’ Guild and the location of the
group or the activity of the group making up the
second part of the name.
A show of hands by those members present
indicated strong support for the proposal. The
necessary steps will now be put in place so the
proposal can go to a vote at the Annual General
meeting.
An important event at the meeting was the
announcement of the results of the 2014 International
Faceting Challenge. President, Graham Kinsela,
presented Paul Feneslau of Victoria, one of the
Australian entrants, with his Gold medallion as a
member of the Australian team that won the Teams
challenge and his Silver medallion as runner-up in
the Individual Championship.
Paul also took
symbolic possession of the Rose Bowl perpetual
trophy on behalf of the Australian team. The full
results of the competition are printed elsewhere in
this Facet Talk.
20 Year Club
It is that time of year again that I look at the
membership data base and get the current list of 20
year club members ready for publication.
The
members who qualify this year are listed elsewhere
in this Facet Talk. If your name is not on the list and
you think you are now eligible to join the 20 year club
please get in touch with me so we can check the
records for your joining date.
Nomination of Office Bearers and Directors
This is the time of our membership year when the
process of electing/appointing next year’s Office
Bearers and Directors begins.
5
The nomination form for Directors and Office Bearers
is printed elsewhere in this issue. Directors are
nominated by groups from within each state. Office
Bearers, President, Treasurer and Vice-President are
nominated by individual members with the nominees
consent. (The position of Secretary is a Board
appointment.) If there is more than one nomination
for a position then a vote is taken at the Annual
General Meeting to determine who should be the
relevant Director or Office Bearer. This year the
positions to be filled are those of all state Directors
and the position of Treasurer.
If no written
nominations are received then the Board must
appoint a person who is willing to take the office.
Reminder: You need to send your email address
to the Secretary secretary@facetorsguild.com.au
if you have elected to receive both forms of Facet
Talk. Make sure this address is not blocked or
sent to spam or trash.
AFG Seminar 2014 in Glen Innes, NSW
Please Register using the Form on Page 25
This year the Annual AFG Seminar looks like being
one of the best ever. We will have activities for two
weeks starting with Craft and Faceting Workshops
and Courses for the first four days (1 – 4 September)
followed by a day for GemCad (5 September). The
Seminar weekend (6 and 7 Sept) has plenty to offer
in lectures and demonstrations (see program p. 24).
For the first time we are offering four days of
extended fossicking opportunities to look for
sapphires, zircons, topaz, tin, gold etc. These will be
led by experienced guides – some at a nominal cost
for entry. You can attend more than one of these –
some even twice. Make sure you indicate your
preferences on the Registration Form (page 25).
You can contact Les Sinclair by E-mail if you need
further information on
seminarcommittee@facetorsguild.com.au or for
further information on Glen Innes
www.gleninnestourism.com
Note: No permit is required for Designated
Fossicking areas in NSW. Information at:
http://www.resources.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_f
ile/0007/363544/A-Guide-to-Fossicking-in-NewSouth-Wales.PDF
WANTED!
Articles about faceting or fossicking exploits
Photographs of workshops, stones & travels.
Designs – new or revised.
Photographs need to be high resolution!
Please email to AFG Editor:
John M. Broadfoot
geminfo@bigpond.com
6
Facet Talk
Cutting Feldspar
By Jim Finlayson (Reprint from UKFG, FSC #8 June 1996)
Editor: Many of us have collected a lot of labradorite
in Australia. Many of us are still to facet it! The most
well known localities in Australia are at Hogarth
Range near Casino NSW, Springsure in Central
Queensland and Cheviot Hills, North Queensland.
Now to faceting it!
Varieties of feldspar
Labradorite is a variety of the Plagioclase feldspars.
Other members of the plagioclase feldspars are
Albite, which is the Na(sodium) rich end member,
Oligoclase, Andesine, Labradorite, Bytownite and
Anorthite, the Calcium (Ca) rich end member. Only
Albite, Labradorite and occasionally Bytownite are
normally cut as gemstones.
The following properties are specifically for the
labradorite variety of plagioclase feldspar:
Refractive Index: 1.560 - 1.570
Double Refraction: +0.012
Critical angle: 39.9°.
Dispersion: None
Lustre: Vitreous
Specific Gravity: 2.69 - 2.72
Hardness: 6 - 6.5
Fracture: Uneven, splintery.
Cleavage: Perfect perpendicular to "C" axis.
Crystal System: Triclinic
Heat sensitivity: Low.
Chemical Composition: (Na, Ca) with Al, Si and 0
(aluminosilicate).
Faceting feldspars
Facetors may have the opportunity to cut albite,
labradorite and bytownite in the plagioclase feldspars
and orthoclase in the potassium feldspars.
The cutting and polishing methods for these will all
be the same. The plagioclase feldspars may show
bands of twinning, seen as narrow slices of slightly
different texture, during the cutting, but these
disappear when polished.
The feldspars have a perfect cleavage perpendicular
to the "C" axis, which should be kept off the table.
This cleavage plane is frequently difficult to see in the
rough material and it may be necessary to trust to
luck. I have never had a problem polishing a table,
but there is always a first time.
For facetors, the colour of labradorite is light to
deeper yellow when inclusion free. With inclusions of
hematite or copper platelets it is called Sunstone and
will be some shade of gold or red. For cabbers the
labradorite is translucent to opaque deep blue with
flashes of blue, green and gold colours from lamellar
twinning planes beneath the surface. This effect is
known as Schiller. This material may be called
"Labradorite" or "Spectralite".
There is no pleochroism in most feldspars but can be
observed in labradorite usually as different shades of
the body colour.
Number 197
With a hardness of 6 - 6.5 the material is just hard
enough to go into jewellery and the Sunstone from
Oregon can be quite expensive as a cut stone.
It cuts easily and a prepolish of 1200 grit is adequate.
Polishing is easy and quick using Cerium oxide on
acrylic. Your favourite polish combination for quartz
would probably work as well.
Much of the yellow labradorite on the market comes
from Mexico, Madagascar, Australia and many
places in the USA. Most Sunstone comes from
Oregon, USA.
Feldspar is a complex mineral and a single page
here is no place to even scratch the surface of this
complexity. The very basic information provided here
is only intended to give introductory information to
confirm that this material can be easily obtained, cut
and polished to give a brilliant gemstone.
The Faceter’s Wife
by Bettie Johnson
Oh sad is the life
For a Faceter’s wife
As she watches T.V. all alone.
While he hopes and he schemes
For the gem of his dreams,
For the 100 score perfect stone.
He must never to told
That dinner’s grown cold,
Or asked to do some household chore.
It might make the lap
Cause some awful mishap,
And scratch up the table – or more!
It must never be said ”Dear, please come to bed”.
Although the clock has struck two.
While the culet is done,
And the mains – all but one,
He still has the girdle to do.
Then disaster appears,
Neighbours cover their ears.
Blue smoke comes from under the door!
He had just finished the top
When it fell off the dop
And got lost on the junk on the floor!
But after the pain,
He’ll try it again.
At least he’ll never get bored!
He’ll try a new cut.
She’s alone again but
This one may win an award.
“So it’s all been worthwhile”,
I can say with a smile
As I look at his case in a show.
Each stone passed his test,
He just did his best.
As a Faceter’s wife, I should know!
May - June 2014
7
Gemstone Inclusions
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
By Derek Lee, Marketing Director at GemSelect
Reprinted with permission, www.gemselect.com
The definition of perfect, according to MerriamWebster, is to be “entirely without fault or defect”. So
in essence, to be defined as divine perfection, one
must be internally and externally flawless.
A natural gemstone is nature’s creation and most of
us are all too familiar and aware that nature is rarely
ever perfect. It is very fair to say that natural
gemstones are expected to have some degree of
imperfection, allowing the concept of flawlessness to
flow with leniency in the colored gem trade. Unlike
diamonds, different types of precious colored gems
have completely different standards in regards to
what are acceptable inclusions, which is why the
colored gem trade lacks an official clarity grading
scale.
External Flaws
Gemstones can have both external and internal
flaws.
Gemstone flaws occurring on the outer
surface of a gem are more than likely the result of an
“external” environmental factor. Some examples of
external flaws commonly found with precious gems
are scratches, blemishes or chipped edges. These
kinds of surface flaws may affect the value and
appearance of a gemstone, but other types of
external flaws, such as naturals, may actually carry
no effect on a gemstone’s value.
Internal Flaws
Internal flaws found in gemstones are known as
inclusions. Gemstone inclusions are often used to
help identify a specific gem. Like fingerprints, each
gemstone has its own unique internal structure of
both purities and impurities.
With the unique
placement and individual characteristics of each
gem, no two gemstones are alike. Whether it’s the
weight, dimensions, color, purities or impurities, a
gemstone is as individually unique as a snowflake.
Formed by nature, or sometimes by man through the
process of enhancement, inclusions can make the
most intriguing of gems even more individually
charismatic. Internal gem inclusions can take on
many classification types, but generally will fall under
one of the following main categories:
Solid Inclusions
A solid inclusion is any enclosed inclusion, which can
pretty much mean any other mineral specimen,
including the host mineral.
For example, solid
inclusions can include pyrite found in lapis, green
mica deposits in aventurine and rutile deposits found
in sapphire. Other solid inclusions could be needles,
minerals and crystal growths such as calcite.
Liquid Inclusions
Some gemstone specimens have unique internal
cavities within their structure. Typically these cavities
are very small, but some specimens may have quite
large cavities.
Often times, these cavities are occupied with a liquid,
such as water or saline. Cavities can also contain
liquid carbon dioxide or even natural hydrocarbon
compounds. Topaz, beryl and quartz are gem types
known to have frequent occurrences of liquid
inclusions and opals have extremely high water
content, sometimes up to 30% liquid silica gel or
hydrated silicone dioxide. This liquid compound is
responsible for producing the vivid rainbow hues of
opal’s fantastic play of color effect.
Gaseous Inclusions
As with liquid inclusions, gaseous Internal Flaws
inclusions are gasses that occupy a cavity within a
gemstone, rather than a liquid foreign substance.
Typically cavity gasses are composed of air, but they
can also be filled with carbon dioxide and compound
gasses. It is even possible for gasses to be within a
liquid inclusion as well. Gaseous inclusions can be
easily identified appearing as bubbles in a gemstone.
Optical Inclusions
Sometimes referred to as a “Phantom Inclusion”, an
optical inclusion is where a shadow of the host
crystal’s external shape can be seen in a gemstone.
As a host crystal grows and stops, and then starts to
re-grow again, it encloses previous outer surface
layers of the host crystal. During this repeated
process, preexisting substances are layered and
layered with new substance. The resulting formation
is what is referred to as a phantom inclusion. Other
types of optical inclusions are Color Zoning and
Radiation Halos (Ed. Commonly seen in Mud Tank
Zircons from Central Australia).
Value
Although it is understandable to believe the common
misperception that all inclusions are bad, especially
since the very word, inclusion, can easily conjure up
vivid images of nasty internal cracks, feathers,
fractures or clouds, but the truth is that not all
inclusions are bad. In fact, there are even some gem
types that are actually valued for their inclusions. For
example, amber is a gem type composed of
fossilized, hardened resin. Often times, insects,
plants and other organic materials are trapped within
the resin as it hardens, and specimens with organic
matter enclosed are heavily prized and highly valued.
Other types of gems with valuable inclusions are
rutile quartz, Russian demantoid garnet and certain
types of corundum, such as ruby and sapphire that
contain velvety silk rutile inclusions.
It is fair to say that the value of a gemstone is based
on its rarity and not whether or not it has so-called
flaws. A gemstone with impurities and inclusions
may very-well be considered a perfect specimen and
it may just be more valuable than you would expect.
So be sure to think twice before passing up on
included gems, because they may just be more
valuable than one would expect.
8
Facet Talk
Buying a Faceting Machine?
Question asked on the AFG Forum
“Can anyone give me some direction. I am looking to
buy a faceting machine, not for commercial use. I
am starting in a club near Northern NSW and will
need my own soon. I will also need to know what
extras I will need. Anxious to get started. I have
been known to try for perfection and to do this it
helps to have the best tools.” Posted by Ian (Gold
Coast)
Answers
1. “Good to hear you are keen to learn faceting and
like to achieve the best results in what you do.
Taking that into account a second hand machine
might not be the way for you to go, as most of these
machines are not as accurate as what you hope to
achieve. Unless you are sure that the second hand
machine is not years old and still well within the
manufacturer’s tolerances and settings a new
machine may be your best bet. Your personal
preferences now come into play. Faceting machines
are varied and only by getting some hands on
experience with a few different types will you find one
that is suitable for you. I teach faceting in two Clubs
and found that those Members have a variety of
machines but most are happy with the following. VJ,
Hall Extra, Gemmasta GF4, Facetron. There may be
others that are suitable but these are some of the
better ones I have had experience with through our
members. They are good for hobby and competition
cutting, but it is not the machine that gets the results
but the competence you have in using it. That is
achieved through the learning process. A new
machine will have most of the equipment you will
need apart from laps and some accessories. A basic
setup would be a set of 4 laps. These are one each
for rough and fine cutting, pre-polish and polishing.
Diamond grits for the laps, wax and epoxy for
securing your rough, matches and spirit lamp. These
extras you will learn about when you have
discussions with other facetors. All the best with your
lapidary and faceting.” Posted by Rick
2. “It was great to see that you got quite a few
responses to your question. You have had a lot of
very good advice. There are lots of things for you to
consider in coming to your decision on what machine
to buy. You will find that many people very strongly
recommend the machine that they are using and this
is understandable as they have gone through the
process you are commencing to get to where they
are now. That lots of them have gone through the
process and arrived at a different destination tells me
that the user is a very important part of the final
decision.
That being the case here are a few general things
that you will need to think about:
Number 197
x
Do you feel most comfortable using a left or right
hand machine as you will be spending lots of
time there?
x Do you want a normal mast machine or an "arc"
type or even a lily pad (tang) type?
x Do you want the faceting head to go up and
down the mast or do you want the lap to go up
and down?
x Do you want a hard stop or a soft stop machine?
x Do you want a machine with a Beale-Woolley
attached?
x Do you want a machine with a digital angle
readout?
x Do you want a variable speed motor and a
reverse switch?
Then you will also have to consider such things as:
x
How noisy is the motor? Will it mask the
cutting/polishing sounds you need to hear?
x How much flex is there in the mast - quill set-up?
x How accurate is the machine? Applies to new
and older.
x How repeatable will your settings be?
I am sure others out there could add to this list and I
hope they do so. You will see the reasons for what I
have written as you go through your learning
process.” Posted by Brian.
SAPPHIRE ENGINEERING
Manufacturer of
The VJ Faceting Machine
Laps and Trimsaws
Cylindrical Lapping attachment
Motor and speed control
conversions/replacements available
Flat and round drive belts made to order
for All Machines
VISIT OUR WEBSITE
www.vjfacet.com
38 GOLCHERTS ROAD
P.O. BOX 55 CHILDERS QLD. 4660
PHONE: 07 4126 2155
EMAIL: vjfacet@yahoo.com.au
May - June 2014
Hard Stops in Faceting Machines
From: Stonechat No.104 Spring 2014
Question from Brad Amos
Glenn Klein is a fine gem facetor, probably a better
one than I will ever be, but I believe that his article on
'Cutting to the stop' reprinted in the latest edition of
Stonechat is completely misleading and erroneous, in
that it speaks of 'allowing the stop to determine the
depth of cut'. The reason that this is incorrect is that,
because of the flexibility of the mast and arm of all
faceting machines, the stop does not determine the
depth of cut in any controllable way. I am sending
here something I posted on the US Faceter's Guild
Forum in 2008, with slight editing:
In my opinion, the stop in the Ultratec and probably
all other machines of the mast-and-arm type, no
matter how well made or adjusted, is always soft, not
hard. The mechanical reason is that the stop is
located in the wrong place - up in the 'armpit' instead
of close to the stone.
As you progressively cut the stone, you meet the
stop and then the arm flexes. In previous postings, I
described my measurements on my Ultratec,
showing that arm flexure produces one fifth of a
millimetre of overcut for each 130g of force on the
stone. Since the weight of the arm itself measures
as a 130g force at the stone, you get this amount of
overcut even if you put no pressure on the stone with
your fingers! (If you hate metric units 130g is about
the weight of an apple and much less than the force
you use on a computer keyboard).
The only type of machine that has a real hard stop is
the Tang, used by diamond cutters.
This is
completely different from the coloured stone
machines used by amateurs. The cast iron hand
piece weighs several kilos, but it is made highly rigid,
so that the cut depth is controlled to micron accuracy
by a three-point sliding contact. This does, of course,
require great precision in the manufacture and
mounting of the horizontal platform, truly planar and
parallel with the lap surface. A hard stop is probably
essential for diamond cutting, because very large
forces are used on the stone.
When I wish to cut to a particular angle with my
Ultratec machine, I keep well away from the hard
stop position and rely on the indication on the digital
angle dial (Ed. dial indicator) to tell me when to stop
cutting. Since the arm is not held by the stop, it can
rotate freely and there is no tendency for it to bend.
With this method, it is possible to produce a perfect
whorl of pavilion facets up to prepolish stage without
even looking at the stone with the loupe. The angle
gauge ceases to be useful, of course, when
polishing, because the change in angle during
polishing is too small to register. However the same
procedure, avoiding the stop like the plague, is the
best way to approach the initial polishing orientation.
I suspect that Glenn is like a fine violinist: He knows
how to practice his art but does not understand the
physics of what he is doing.
9
Reply by Mike Richardson
Brad is absolutely correct. A true hard stop does not
exist on any machine that I know off no matter how
rigid and well made it seems. You can rely on the
stop only as far as placing the facets in the early to
intermediate stages. Once you get down to fine
cutting and prepolishing, the only way to bring meets
in is by eye using a loupe. This is true even when
the "hard stop" is used in conjunction with a stop
light, dial gauge, digital protractor or strain gauge.
Infinitesimally small variations in finger pressure on
the stone will manifest themselves in under or over
cut facets. So far, there is yet no substitute for the
cut and look technique.
Question for next issue of Facet Talk
Mast v Platform v Quadrant Faceting Machines
When choosing a faceting machine, what are the
pros and cons of the three main types of Faceting
machines: Mast type machines (Hall, Gemmasta,
Facetron, Ultratec), Platform tang machines (Raytech
Shaw, Imahashi) and quadrant machines (Facette,
Drabsch, VJ)?
Answers to the editor for publication in the next
issue please.
Central Queensland Gemfields
Miners Common turns 100 in 2014
Located about 25 km north of Anakie, Central
Queensland, the Rubyvale, Sapphire and Scrub Lead
Miners Common is celebrating 100 years in 2014.
The Common was gazetted on 19 November 1914.
There will be a number of celebrations throughout the
year. The On Common Ground Folk Festival will be
held on 7 and 8 June (Queen’s Birthday weekend).
The culmination will be the Miners Common
Centenary Ball on the 22 November 2014.
For more information contact Kim on 0407 760 001.
Email: mail@commoncentenary.info
Gemfest – Festival of Gems
The 2014 Gemfest, 7 to 10 August, will be the 27th. It
is a four day festival featuring Local, National and
International merchants and Gem Miners. See page
35 for more information.
Contact Linda on 07 4985 4375. Visit the website:
www.gemfest.com.au
The very first Gemfest in 1987 was an idea which
originated with the late Joyce Deeley and Gladys
Dougherty from Rubyvale. The idea of a Gemfest
was one way of drawing people to the fields to
showcase Central Queensland sapphires and try to
create an informed market. Joyce and Gladys had
faith and put in $10000 each of their own money
which became a donation! The late Councillor
Gregory of Emerald Shire and owner of the Anakie
Hotel added her support to host the first Gemfest at
the Allan King Memorial Park, Anakie. The three
pushed on and organised the festival with the support
of locals. See advertisement for the 2014 Gemfest
on page 35.
10
Facet Talk
Number 197
Polishing Corundum
by Philippe Glastre (France)
From UKFG, Stonechat 104, Spring 2014
For a long time I tried to polish corundum with
different laps and abrasives - bronze lap, tin/lead lap,
lead lap, diamond paste, diamond grit in oil, etc., and
every time I obtained rather poor results. I never
tried the ceramic lap nor PTFE grease. The "least
bad" results were achieved on my bronze lap (the
grade of which is unknown from about three dozen
types) with 1 micron (14000 mesh) diamond in olive
oil.
Then someone told me the solution. I tried it and
was immediately enthusiastic. One only needs a flat
copper surface, some edible oil (say olive or peanut)
and 1 micron diamond powder. I personally use a
4mm thick copper sheet, bolted at its center on a
master lap. It was cut from a rolled plate and is far
from perfect (with scratches and bumps). I then put
very little oil on one clean finger, just touching the oil
then scraping the excess off on the mouth of the
tube. The remaining oil is in the fingerprint. Then I
touch the lap at 10 or 12 different places. One can
hardly see the oil on the surface. Remember it is for
polishing corundum not for frying pancakes. I then
wipe my finger on a clean cloth or tissue.
With the same finger, which is still a little bit greasy, I
touch the 1 micron diamond grit. Very little of the
powder sticks to the finger. I then touch the lap
surface to transfer the diamond grit to the lap, not
necessarily in the same places that I put the oil, then
I start polishing. One can expect to polish 10 to 20
sapphires, depending on the size, without any
additions. When polishing becomes difficult, clean
the lap and restart. I cannot say whether this
process is better, worse or equivalent to the
Superlube process as I have not used that type of
polish. From my experience I consider it to be
perfect, quick and cheap.
Now the question. Is this process suitable for CZ? I
personally have no answer. When I came to polish
my CZ for the AFG 1996 International competition I
tried this method and was not able to polish without
scratches so I decided that it did not work for CZ.
But later on I had to repolish a sapphire and again I
had scratches. I cleaned the lap with a few drops of
solvent and restarted, but with very little oil and very
little additional diamond, and it worked again. It must
be noted here that several months had passed
between my first successful test on sapphire and the
unsuccessful test on CZ then more time elapsed
before I found that I could no longer polish sapphire
either. This was probably due to the oil having
altered or evaporated. The next time I have to polish
CZ I shall condition the lap surface and check with
sapphire to ensure that it polishes correctly. If it
does, and it should, I will then move on to polish the
CZ to get the answer. If anyone else does this before
I do then he (she) is allowed to give the answer.
I gave this recipe to a friend who had recently been
to Vietnam and had brought back a few rubies.
After he spent a couple of hours unsuccessfully trying
to polish his first ruby, using his original method of
diamond on tin/lead, he called me and asked for my
advise. I gave him the particulars of the procedure
detailed above. His first test was successful and now
he uses this method exclusively for polishing
corundum, as do I. Replacing diamond grit with
diamond paste is a disaster. No test was performed
by my friend or myself on synthetic corundum but it
should work equally well.
UK Editor’s note: I also have noted that a polishing
lap which was working well some time ago causes
scratches when reused after a period of idleness. I
have thought that this was due to the oil drying out
and agglomeration of the diamond. I usually lightly
oil before starting to polish and start with light
pressure to break down any diamond clumps.
Editor (John Broadfoot): Essentially this is the
greasy lap system which has been described a
number of times. For prepolish I always use a
copper lap with 3000 diamond grit with baby oil. The
quantity of diamond needed depends on the size of
the stone. Three things happen to the diamond on
the copper lap which reduces the cutting/polishing
ability and time. 1. The copper lap is soft and
malleable and diamond is pushed deeper into the
surface with continued use, hence the need to
replenish frequently. 2. The diamond particles
reduce in size with continued use and this increases
cutting/polishing time. 3. Diamond grit is removed
every time the stone is wiped and checked. With
large sapphires more diamond is needed as it
degrades in grit size and pushes into the lap quite
quickly. Large flat surfaces are the hardest to polish
and can take considerable time to polish. Small
facets (less surface area) polish quickly but put more
pressure on the diamond and push it deeper into the
lap. All facetors need to become familiar with the
way their laps and grit respond to different materials
while prepolishing and polishing.
What do I call large? Generally any sapphire that is
going to cut over 2 carat will need more addition of
diamond during the prepolishing step. Polishing can
generally be achieved with one application of
diamond.
I agree with Philippe’s comment on pre-packed
diamond pastes (in syringes). They are a waste of
money when cutting sapphires. They contain about 1
carat of diamond in 5 to 10 mL of various fillers. This
is too dilute for sapphire faceting. Good diamond grit
can be bought for about $1 a carat.
Regarding the thickness of the copper 4 mm is too
thin. I use and recommend using 10 mm (1/4 inch)
copper which is very flat and finished with a fine
machining tool. Copper laps, especially when used
for sapphire cutting, will require frequent resurfacing
with a lathe. These laps cannot be successfully
dressed on wet and dry paper on glass.
May - June 2014
11
Varieties of Garnet
Ed. John Broadfoot
This account of gem garnets has been developed
from the article in Meetpoints April 2014. Many of the
varieties of garnet now on the market are based on
locality names which can be confusing. Hopefully
this article will clarify some of the misnomers?
Garnet, the January birthstone, is derived from the
Latin word granatus, meaning grain-like. Garnet is
the name for a group of minerals with similar
chemical structure and properties. Garnets have a
variety of names based on the formula and particular
colour of the crystal. Most people wrongfully think
garnet gems only come in red because red garnet
used to be the only known garnet. All species of
garnets are used as gemstones – both faceted and
cabbed. These exquisite crystals come in all colours
and are also faceted in many designs.
The use of garnets as gemstones has a long rich
history. It is claimed that Noah steered the ark
through darkness using the light from garnet crystals.
The Egyptians often crowned the pharaohs with
beautiful bracelets and necklaces adorned with
garnet. The ancient Chinese rulers used garnets to
decorate military uniforms. The use of garnets as
contemporary pieces of jewellery did not start until
the 19th century.
Garnet is a member of an
extended variety of stones that are natural, sparkling
and very reasonably priced. In fact garnets are
frequently used by fashion designers to make
beautiful jewellery pieces.
There are only six normal end-member garnet
species. Figure 1 (Deer, Howie and Zussman, 1971)
and Figure 2 (Broadfoot, 2014) show how these end
members can form series through replacement of the
ions for each end member. The relatively common
variety of spessartite is discussed in more detail.
Limited substitution by Ti, Cr and V for end member
ions can change the colour substantially. Hence the
large number of garnets now on the market.
Colour change garnets are rare and highly sought
after. These garnets are usually imported from
Madagascar, Russia, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, India,
Canada, USA, Thailand, Spain and the Czech
Republic. In most cases, one colour is dominant and
the others less so.
Figure 1. Compositional variations for the garnet series. The
shaded areas represent naturally occurring garnets.
( Deer, Howie and Zussman,1971).
Figure 2.
A possible
compositional
series between the
Ca garnets. The
shaded areas
represent possible
intermediate
compositions.
(Broadfoot, 2014).
To determine if a garnet is colour change always
examine the garnet in different light (daylight as well
as fluorescent and halogen lights). Some of these
pricey garnets can cost anywhere from $4,000 $6,000 per carat.
The story about garnets would not be complete
without highlighting the two most beautiful garnets –
Umbalite (Rhodalite) and Tsavorite (Grossularite).
Both are intensely brilliant when faceted. Tsavorite
comes from the central plains of East Africa, near the
mountains of Kilimanjaro.
This brilliant green
grossularite gem, like Demantoid, is in high demand
and not always available in sizes above 1 - 2 carat.
Tsavorite is now considered to be the most valuable
garnet.
Garnet varieties
Pyrope - Almandine series – dark red to pink. Some
substitution by Cr produces bright stones - orange to
pink (many new garnets from Africa are due to Cr or
Vanadium (V) in Pyrope-Almandine composition).
Pyrope (Cape Ruby) most well-known, commonly
deep red. Dark colour – needs shallow design.
Umbalite - pink and red (almandine – pyrope)
also called rhodalite
Rhodolite - purplish bright red
Spessartite - red mixed with orange, medium price
Mandarine - bright orange, rare and expensive
Malaia – pyrope-almandine-spessartite mixture very popular
Colour change garnets – rare and valuable –
pyrope- spessartite
Glossularite – yellow orange pink green blue green
Hessonite - fine yellow, orange to reddish brown
Tsavorite - (V) emerald green to blue-green expensive
Malaya - variable colour – pink to brick orange to
honey coloured
Mali – grossular-andradite mixture, yellow to
green-yellow to brown
Andradite
Demantoid - green – rare and expensive
Melanite – black due to Ti
Uvarovite – rich green (Cr)
(continued page 12)
12
Facet Talk
Spessartite Garnet
Spessartite is a relatively plentiful garnet that is
affordable in the rough and cuts brilliant gems. It
draws it name from the type locality for the mineral,
Spessart, in Bavaria, Germany. Spessartite has the
specific chemical formula Mn2+3Al2(SiO4)3 and is
within the garnet group pyralspite. This is the Mg-FeMn series with pyrope, almandine and spessartite as
end members respectively. (The pyrope-almandine
series was discussed in Facet Talk 157). Spessartite
is generally orange to red. The term spessartine is
more often used in Europe but is synonymous with
spessartite. Mandarin is a term inspired by the
Namibian deposit producing more pure orange hues.
Composition varies enormously for the pyralspite
garnets. For example the Namanga garnets (Kenya)
are not spessartite but more pyrope–almandine
(58.65% Pyrope, 29.36% Almandine, 12.44%
Grossular and 0.88% Spessartine).
When the Namibian deposit came online around
1991, the colour palette for fine spessartite changed.
The material coming out of Marienfluss, Kunene
Region was an electric mandarin-orange hue, with
some minor pink or red secondary that made it seem
very pure and intense. The only drawback to this
material was that it often had fine needles creating a
silky appearance.
The Nigerian deposit was by far the biggest as far as
carats produced. This deposit in Lseyin, Oyo State,
Nigeria produced material from dark reddish-orange
to cinnamon orange to yellowish orange to mandarin
hues. This material is very clean compared to many
other spessartite deposits and still holds strong
orange colors.
The most recent spessartite deposit discovery was
the massive find in Loliondo, Tanzania, around 2009.
At first it seems only to produce fine crystal
specimens but some cleaner faceted gems have
worked their way into the market. Colours range
from reddish orange to yellowish orange to mandarin
hues.
Although these are the most prolific spessartite
deposits lately, there are several smaller but
important localities in San Diego County, USA,
Australia, Burma, China, Madagascar, Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
Number 197
Generally the darker stones are best facetted as
either smaller stones or with very shallow and large
pavilion mains. Shallow cushion cuts or hexagonal
outlines are good. See the Square Cushion for
sapphires in Facet Talk 167, p.15.
The Refractive Index varies from 1.714 for pure
pyrope to 1.83 for pure almandine therefore the RI of
pyrope-almandine will be somewhere between these
values depending on the actual composition. It is an
easy matter to test with a refractometer.
Designs with large pavilion facets work better than
those with many smaller facets. It is colour you are
after in darker stones, not brilliance. Shallow step
cuts also work well.
The pavilion design angle can be as low as 35°. The
crown also needs to have low angles and a wider
table (60% plus).
Medium to light garnets
Depending on the colour and transparency the
“brilliant” designs can be used and higher angles can
be used. Pavilion angles as low as 38 degrees for
the higher RI garnets going to 40 degrees for the
lower RI ones. Choose a design to suit the hue and
saturation to keep the stone bright as possible.
Crown mains of 30 - 35 degrees will work quite well.
References
AJS Gems. www.ajsgems.com
Garnets. Palagems Website: www.Palagems.com
Deer, W.A., Howie R.A. and Zussman, J. (1971). An
Introduction to the Rock Forming Minerals. Longman.
London
Webster, R. (1975). Gems: Their Sources, Descriptions
and Identification. Butterworth. London.
L.A.GEMS
PO BOX 792
STANTHORPE, QLD 4380
Ph 07 46812675
Faceting
The hardness varies from 6.0 to 7.5 and the mineral
has no problematic cleavage. Cutting is fast and
after a quick preform the material can be fine cut
using a 600 lap or even a 1200. It is easy to
prepolish on copper (3000 or 8000) and polish with
diamond (50000) on tin/typemetal or pewter.
Dark garnets
Use the paper test to check the colour of garnets.
This is a good indication of the colour that can be
expected after cutting. If you cannot see the colour
through the rough when placed on a well lit piece of
white paper the garnet is very dark, that is, very
saturated. This is often the case for the dark red
pyrope-almandine garnets. Lighter specimens will
readily show the colour on the white paper.
Email admin@lagems.net
(CELEBRATING 30 YEARS)
For all your ring, pendant and earring
settings in Sterling & 9ct Gold,
Facet Rough, Faceted Stones
Online catalogue available at
www.lagems.net
May - June 2014
13
NOMOG Stones
by Philippe Glastre (France)
From Stonechat No. 104 Spring 2014
What is written hereafter will probably seem
unsatisfactory to many readers because it does not
comply with what is usually said and done in gem
faceting.
So I would recommend to the nonbelievers: 1. Read, 2. Try, 3. Judge. It is not
necessary to have the same opinion as I. For the
curious, NOMOG is not a new name for a country,
like Myanmar is the new name for Burma, all will be
revealed as you read on.
When I cut gems for pleasure I want to obtain a
finished stone which sparkles, displays as well as
possible, shows off (if I dare say that for a stone !)
and when I was a beginner I was not very happy with
the Standard Round Brilliant (SRB) cut until one day I
came across a queer shape, published in a book
(see Fig.1).
Possibly many of you
know this shape Crown
(6
facets)
Pavilion (6 facets).
The finished stone
seen from one side or
the other appears to
have 32 facets. This
gave me the idea that if
a stone is cut in such a
way that the pavilion edges do not superimpose with
the crown edges, one has the impression that more
facets have been cut' than really have been.
After a few different tests I arrived at a satisfactory
solution. I cut a normal crown, as usual (I always
start by cutting the crown first, after checking that the
rough or preform is deep enough to allow a pavilion
at normal angles). After transferring the stone, I cut
the pavilion mains, as
usual, with an angle a
bit higher than the
critical for the material
being used (see Fig.2)
for example, for Quartz,
the pavilion mains will
be cut at 43° or possibly
44°.
Up to this point, nothing revolutionary I must confess.
But here comes the first change. I cut the "stars"
(facets cut on the crown star index setting) with an
angle which will give bands of even width (see Fig.3)
instead of cutting the "breaks" of the SRB.
These star setting facets
will be cut slightly higher
than, or at worst, equal to
the critical angle, which is
41.5°
for
quartz.
I
continue to cut these
bands until the remaining
triangular
mains
are
about 2/3 of the pavilion
height, sometimes more,
sometimes less, but never less than half the pavilion
height (explanation a bit later). Of course I keep the
eight bands an equal width. Everyone can see that
there are No Meets on the Girdle between the crown
and the pavilion, therefore I call this fancy cut
"NoMOG".
So I obtain a new culet;
the pavilion bight has
been slightly reduced
compared
to
the
standard cut. This is an
advantage for mounting,
especially
for
low
refractive index materials
which tend to give too
deep stones.
I must
admit that from time to time I see this cut on
commercial stones after I came up with this idea, but
rarely enough to think that there was an idea behind
it. Next I cut a third row of facet mains with an angle
lower than the critical angle for the material (Fig. 4).
(Please stop screwing your finger into your temple!).
By this means I can reduce the pavilion depth a
second time, obtain an eight ray star around the culet
and if the first mains are high enough the 8-ray star
will be seen completely when examining the stone
through the table.
The angle for this third row of facets should be
chosen to give lozenges (i.e., 4 equal edges) (see
Fig.5) and not two short and two long edges (see
Figs. 6 and 7).
This eight pointed star addition is a quite well known
modification called the "zircon cut" in some books but
I claim that it is also effective on other stones. Some
people will say using an angle lower than the critical
angle leads to a loss of light, which goes through the
stone to light up your shoes instead of being reflected
back towards the eye. This is absolutely true, but the
surface of this culet star is about 10% of the pavilion
surface if its bight is about 1/3 of the pavilion height,
and if the angle is not dreadfully less than the critical
value, the specific loss on these facets can be
estimated at around 10% to 20%. So the total loss of
light, compared to the standard cut will be about 2%.
If this third row of facets is too prominent, the total
loss of light is increased and when looking through
the table the tips of the 8 rays are hidden in the
crown star facets.
14
Facet Talk
This is why I keep the remaining triangles of the
pavilion mains at about 2/3 of the pavilion bight. In
the case of Fig. 7 the angle for cutting this third row
of facets is also lower than in Fig. 5 and this also
increases the light loss.
Is there anything inconvenient about this cut? The
only one that I have found is that the girdle shape is
undulating. Is this really an inconvenience?
The advantages of this cut are:
1. A visual improvement giving the impression
of a higher number of facets.
2. A reduced pavilion height.
3. An improved aspect when looking through
the table.
Another possibility is to
cut the pavilion mains on
the same index as the
crown star facets. Then
cut bands on the same
index as the crown
mains, etc. Compare Fig.
8 with Fig. 2. I tried this
but, though I am unable
to give any explanation, I
don't like the result.
I don't use the NOMOG system for stones smaller
than 6mm in diameter. If the stone is too small the
facets are tiny and the human eye gets confused. It
works best on stones above 10 mm in diameter. Can
this system be applied to any colour? The best yield
is obtained with light coloured or colourless stones.
When the colour is too deep it is more difficult to
observe the culet star and pavilion edges.
Can all these principles be applied to other shapes
such as Ovals or Cushions? They can. I will tell you
that some other day.
UK Editor's note:
Use 44°, 42° and 35.5° for fairly exact representation
in quartz (Fig. 8).
Number 197
Vale
Kelvin Smith (Kelpie)
Kelvin Smith passed away peacefully in his sleep
on Friday 2 May 2014 following a two year fight
with cancer.
Kelvin, or Kelpie as he was
affectionately known, was one of the early
members of the Australian Factors Guild, joining
in 1984. He was an inaugural founder and
member of the Victorian branch of the Guild from
1984 and was also a member of the Warragul
Gem Club, his local club.
Kelvin taught faceting all over Australia and
attended countless Gemkhanas, Gemborees and
local
Gem
shows,
giving
countless
demonstrations to further the art. He was always
a jovial and happy facetor, ever ready with a joke
or an amusing anecdote from the past and
generously and unfailingly brought help and cheer
to any facetor struggling with an intransigent
stone.
Kelvin created many faceting designs including
Margaret’s Fancy named after his wife, the Aussie
Battler, the Eureka Cross and the Kelpie Cut, to
name a few. Over the years, many of these have
been the set design in faceting competitions.
Kelvin always amazed those who witnessed his
skills with his speed at cutting commercial stones,
working on multiple stones simultaneously and in
sequence and how easy he made wax dopping
look in his demonstrations. He will be missed by
his friends in the Victorian branch but his name
will live on there in the annual workshop
encouragement plaque initiated by him and now
to serve to honour his name.
NOMOG.GEM
Philippe Glastre, France
From: Stonechat 104, Spring 2014, UKFG
May - June 2014
15
Celtic
Wilf Ross
North York Facetors Guild 1999
Edited by John Broadfoot 2014
This cut has been included as a workshop exercise for the upcoming AFG Seminar in Celtic Country at Glen Innes.
Let’s see if we can have a display case just for Celtic designs. Bring your finished stones to Glen Innes.
The main object of this design is to ensure that the frosted cross is visible under the table as shown in the figure at
the bottom of the page. Pavilion steps 6, 7 and 8 are left unpolished, i.e., frosted. An alternative is to leave facets
1 and 5 frosted.
16
Facet Talk
Number 197
Eureka Cross
Late Kel Smith, Vic AFG
GemCad by Felix Kirshhofer, 2008
Kel designed this cut for the Unique Australian Design Competition for 2000. The Eureka Cross is based on the
famous Eureka Flag flown at the Stockade in Ballarat during an uprising in 1854 by gold miners in protest to the
taxes and fees for Miners’ Licenses and non-representation in Government. This marked the beginning of
Democracy in Australia.
This cut was set for the Novice Section of the 2002 AFG Competition. (Note: The Swiss spelling of January is Januar.)
May - June 2014
17
Pentagon Cut for 96 Index
Brian Brown, Gold Coast, Qld
GemCad by Ian Baxter, AFG
A Meet Point version was computed from indices and angles supplied by Brian. Only a single pavilion and crown
main angle was given which meant quite a lot of angle chasing was required when cutting the original list. After the
trials Brian reported "Cut very nicely, and looks great. I'm happy with it".
18
Facet Talk
Number 197
Opal Round
Unknown author
This is an interesting design which should be relatively easy to cut and well suited to honey opal even that with
colour flash. The facets are not numbered so that is an easy exercise for you. The mains are reflectors and the
split stars should provide a more brilliance for the opal. The crown could easily be modified on the run. GemRay
indicates a better brilliance with pavilion main at 44 degrees. There appears to be a lot of light loss with 42.5
degrees.
L & F ENTERPRISES PTY LTD
9 Frederick Street, Bulleen Vic 3105,
Phone/Fax: (03) 98508619 Mob 0414 966 758
COPPER LAP (6”)
1mm copper lap on alloy base
$45.00
TIN LAP(6”)
2.5mm tin-alloy lap on alloy base
$48.00
FACETING LAP(6”)
80# up to 240#
$31.00
400# up to 3000#
$28.00
* 8” tin, copper and faceting laps available
GRINDING WHEEL
156x25(19,16)x38
$125.00
200x25(19,16)x38
$185.00
FLEXIBLE FOAM WHEEL (NOVA)
156x25(19,16)x38
$125.00
200x25(19,16)x38
$185.00
DIAMOND POWDER
10ct bottle
$12.00
20ct bottle
$18.00
DIAMOND PASTE
5 gram diamond paste
$18.00
1200# up to 50,000#
TRIM SAW BLADES
0.18mm to 0.3mm
From $4.50
SINTERED THIN BLADES (Continuous rim)
100 to 150mm blades at 1.2mm
From $18.00
180mm blade at 1.6mm
200 and 250mm blades at 2.0mm
www.landfdiamond.com.au
May - June 2014
19
SparkOThree (Garnet)
By Glenn Klein
From: NYFG Newsletter No. 108 April 2014
This design with a low pavilion which should suit medium coloured garnets and sapphires. It would also work for
lighter garnets with a higher RI. This revision has whole numbers for the facet angles and a table which is more
convex rather than concave in appearance.
At AusGems you will find
Gem Rough
Synthetic Rough
Gold Nuggets
Jewellery
PC Software,
Plus more to come
Free Classifieds for the next 3 Months
www.ausgems.com Ph: 03 5678 8715
20
Facet Talk
Round Tril
Jeremy Newman
From NYFG Newsletter No. 108 April 2014
This design incorporates the always suceessful trilliant culet into the more traditional round shape.
Maybe readers can use this idea to modify other designs?
Challenge: Redraw in GemCad and provide a sequence for this design.
Number 197
May - June 2014
21
SPHAL3.GEM
From: Stonechat No. 104 Spring 2014, UKFG
This is quite a shallow cut which might suit those darker garnets or sapphires. The crown may be a bit busy but
could be modified by cutting the table after crown facet D. See alternative Crown designs below.
The pavilion of this design is the same as that for the square cushion PC09070 previously published in Facet Talk
for sapphire. See Square Cushion Modified for Sapphire (John Broadfoot, 2007) Facet Talk 184, Page 15.
Another Challenge: This design needs a description for the sequence.
22
Facet Talk
Number 197
Rectangular Cushion 1.40
John Broadfoot 2014
Answer to Challenge by Geoff Jones
Thank you for another interesting challenge. I would look at the size of the material and decide on the Length first
and work from there. This is the GemCad sequence that I have created. I have a piece of dark Smoky Quartz
about the right length to width ratio and will try the design in GemRay and see how it goes.
See Facet Talk 196 for the original design and compare the sequence.
May - June 2014
23
24
Facet Talk
Number 197
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – Friday 5th SEPTEMBER 2014.
It is that time of the year again when we are looking for your input into the agenda for the 2014 AGM which
must be printed in the next issue of Facet Talk. If you have any item which you feel should be discussed for the
benefit of members and the Guild please send it to the Secretary to arrive no later than July 1, 2014.
Nominations are required for the positions of all State Directors plus the position of Treasurer.
The nomination form is printed below; please note that any person nominating for the first time must provide details
of date and place of birth as well as full name. Under Corporation Law, we are obliged to provide these details of
the successful candidates to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission following the election.
Those not up for re-election are the President (2 years of term remaining) and Vice-President (1 year of term
remaining).
AUSTRALIAN FACETORS’ GUILD LIMITED
NOMINATION FORM
2014 – 2015 Office Bearers and Directors
We .................................................................... and ...................................................................
Name
Name
being members of the Australian Facetors’ Guild Limited, hereby nominate
.................................................................................................
Name
being a member of the Australian Facetors’ Guild Limited for the position of: (tick appropriate box below)
TREASURER
DIRECTOR, State,
Signed:.................................................................
Nominator
and ..........................................................
Nominator
Signed: ............................................................. Date .....................................................................
Nominee
Notes: Nominees for any position who have not previously held such a position MUST PROVIDE full name, plus
details of date and place of birth. This form must arrive at the following address:
AFG Secretary, P.O. Box 722, Warwick, Qld. 4370 or e-mail to: secretary@facetorsguild.com.au
NO LATER THAN 1ST JULY 2014.
GEMHUNTERS HAVEN
Glen Innes
www.gemhuntershaven.com
Gemstone Jewellery and Lapidary Supplies
Diamond Powders
Diamond faceting lap tops
Copper polishing laps
Type metal polishing laps
JB Kwik and Weld epoxy
Facet wax
Gemmasta Faceting Machines
Parts and dops for Gemmasta
Dop sticks (3 sizes) for
Hall faceting machines
Brett & Jenny Brown
PO Box 353
Glen Innes NSW 2370
Phone: 02 6732 1318
Mobile: 0488 181 758
Email: cathedralgallery@bigpond.com
May - June 2014
25
2014 AFG Seminar Registration
Sunday 31 August to Saturday 14 September
The Seminar will be held at Glen Innes on the 6 and 7 September. The venue is the Showgrounds located at Glen Innes.
Members should make their showground accommodation booking on this registration form or with Les Sinclair. Contact details
are: Phone 0427 725 752 and E-Mail: seminarcommittee@facetorsguild.com.au. Please check with the Tourist Information
Centre in Glen Innes for other accommodation options - www.gleninnestourism.com.
Registration is important to ensure that you will be included in all activities.
The activities for this year are listed below. Please fill in the name details for everyone attending so name tags can be provided
and complete the boxes with the appropriate details for your activities. The name tags will be your receipt and indicate the
activities in which you have elected to participate.
Monday 1 – Thursday 4 September
Faceting Course and Workshop - Monday 1 to Thursday 4 September. Please register separately – see page
for
Registration Form.
Craft Course - Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 September. Making a chain bracelet. Please register separately – see page
for Registration Form.
Friday 5 September
GemCad – Beginners and Advanced - Friday 5 September 8.30am – 3:00 pm. Cost: $10.00.
Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 September - Seminar
The Seminar sessions for Saturday and Sunday are one price for all; i.e., $25.00 per day, whether for a single member or a
family. A draft program for the sessions is will be printed in the July/August issue of Facet Talk and posted to the AFG web
site. Saturday night dinner will be sit down meal provided by caterers. The cost of the meal is $30.00 per person. The
dinner will take place following the Annual General Meeting.
Monday 7 to Friday 11 - Field trips
A number of alternative full day tag-along field trips will be offered in the week following the Seminar. Please register for
these as we need to manage numbers. Friday will be a reserve or free day (further excursion or sights of Glen Innes). On
Saturday there will be an opportunity to move on and extend your fossicking activities with a base camp at Copeton Dam
(diamonds, topaz, quartz, tin, sapphires, gold, etc).
Seminar Registration 2014
Complete and return this form without payment. Payment is to be made on arrival at Glen Innes.
Send to: AFG Seminar Registration, PO Box 302, Armidale NSW 2350
Surname: ………………………….. Given Name ………………………………..
2nd Surname: ……………………… Given Name: ………………………………..
Address: ………………………………………………………….. State: …… Postcode: …….
Phone number/s: …………………………………………….. Email: ……………………..
Campsite Accommodation:
Camping Site Fees: Powered: $15 per night.
Unpowered: $12 per night.
Nights ………
Arriving: ……………. Departing: …………… Camping Cost: (Nights x Fee)
$ …....
Please tick if you need to be close to toilets
Long power leads may be required (some may be 10 amp outlets – be prepared)
Please tick the appropriate boxes and fill in the numbers attending each activity.
Saturday Sessions:
$25.00 (Single or Family) Number
……
$ …....
Sunday Sessions:
$25.00 (Single or Family) Number
……
$ …....
Saturday Night Dinner:
Number Attending: …… @ $30.00 per person.
$ …....
GemCad Session (Beginner)
Number Attending: …… @ $10.00 per person
$ …....
GemCad Session (Advanced):
Number Attending: …..
$ …....
@ $10.00 per person
Total Cost (payable on arrival)
$ …....
Field trips: Please tick one or more so that we can plan numbers and guides:
Yarrow Creek - sapphires, zircons, topaz, tin, quartz and gold (Entry fee $20 per day).
Mole Tabeland – beryl, quartz (smoky and citrine), topaz, fluorite, + minerals
Sara River (Kookabookra) – good tourist drive and picnic spot (gold and gemstones)
26
Facet Talk
Number 197
AFG 2014 Seminar Program 5 – 7 September – Glen Innes
FRIDAY - 5 September
GemCad for Beginners - 8:30 am to 3:00 pm.
This is for those who are beginning or still finding their way with GemCad. A computer is essential
for this workshop. Cost: $10.
Advanced GemCad. 8:30am – 3:00pm.
Modifying existing designs; Creating shapes and symmetry; New designs, preforms, sequencing and
designing for yield. Cost: $10.
AGM. Annual General Meeting of the Australian Facetors’ Guild at 5:30 pm in the dining area.
SATURDAY - 6 September
Main Lecture Room is the main shed for all sessions unless noted otherwise. See advertised times at the Seminar.
8.30
8.45 – 09.45
Welcome and Opening of 33rd AFG Seminar
Fossicking in the NT - Garry Gatfield
09.45 – 10.15
Cutting Corners: Revisiting Step Cuts - John Broadfoot (Lecture)
10.15 – 11.00
Morning tea (45 minutes)
11.00 – 11.30
Cutting Corners: Revisiting Step Cuts - John Broadfoot (continued)
11.30 – 12.30
Beryl - John Hoffman
12.30 – 1.30
LUNCH
1.30 – 2.15
Liz Taylor’s Jewellery – Wayne Kelly
2.15 – 3.00
Selecting Rough – Brian Pepperal
3.00 – 3.30
Afternoon tea (45 minutes)
3.30 – 4.15
Freehand faceting – Bob Maher
5.30
6.00 for 6.30
AFG Annual General Meeting
Dinner at Dining Room and Social Get-together.
Facetors’ Memorial will be awarded at Dinner
SUNDAY - 7 September
8.45 – 09.45
Gemmology for Facetors – Lecture - Jim Jeavons
9.45 – 10.15
Gemmology for Facetors – Practical - Jim Jeavons
10.15 – 11.00
Morning tea (45 minutes)
11.00 – 11.30
Gemmology for Facetors – Practical - Jim Jeavons
11.45 – 12.30
Fossicking in Old Records and Reports - Garry Gatfield
12.30 – 1.30
LUNCH
1:30 – 3.00
Demonstrations of other Techniques – various booths with demonstrators
x
x
x
x
Skin polishing gemstones
Cutting star sapphires
Cleaning, surfacing and charging laps
TBA
Collect Competition Stones at 2:15 pm
3.00 – 3.30
3:30
Q and A session. Venue and Theme for 2015. Chair: Graham Kinsela
Cleanup - Volunteers please
Monday 8 to Friday 12 September
Fossicking and Sightseeing Trips
Four to five fossicking trips will be available. Registration for fossicking will be done during the Seminar. Some may
be run more than once. All will be tag – along. Most will have conventional vehicle access. Levels of difficulty will
vary. Some have a fee as they are on private property. Please indicate interest on the registration form to enable
planning. Final registration will be at the Seminar. This list is NOT FINAL and may change due to availability of
guides, access and rainfall.
Trips will include: Yarrow Creek and Mount Mitchell (full day) - sapphires, zircons, topaz, tin, quartz and gold (Entry
fee $20 per day); Mole Tabeland and Emmavile Museum (full day) – beryl, quartz (smoky and citrine), topaz, fluorite,
+ minerals; Sara River - Kookabookra (½ to full day) – good tourist drive and picnic spot (gold and gemstones).
May - June 2014
27
TOM THUMB
FACETING MACHINE
FEATURES
x
x
x
Variable Speed Motor, Forward & Reverse
Rack & Pinion to raise and lower Head
Rack and pinion mast to raise and lower
head - same post and head as the Patriot
x Protractor with 1/10 degree vernier
x Stainless steel splash bowl
INCLUDES
x 96 Index Wheel
x 12 Brass Dops, 3mm to 8mm,
Including Flat, Cone & V dops
x 45 Degree Angle Dop
x Transfer Jig
AVAILABLE FROM
Gemcuts Pty Ltd
34 Smith Drive, Ballina NSW 2478
Ph 02 6681 1686
www.gemcuts.com.au
We also have wide range of Faceting needs – Check
our web site for laps, diamond blades, diamond grits,
faceting rough and much more - including Epifill (a
moisture resistant alternative epoxy to Tite-on).
$ 2650 including GST
Designed and manufactured by Jersey Instruments,
805 Halstead Ct. Huntsville Al. 35803 USA
28
Facet Talk
Number 197
Gem Shows - Protecting the Brand
James Jeavons, FGA
Editor: This is a letter to the editor. Any comments
should be referred to the author.
The following article is not going to be received well by
some of the readers. If you or members of your show
or club committees are offended at the implications
then good. It is written to be confrontational. It’s
written to make you think. It’s written in the hope that
some of you will take your heads out of the sand and
start thinking about the reputation of your show and
gem shows in general.
I have just finished a number of shows, North Brisbane,
Minerama, Redcliffe as both an Inside Stall holder and
Show Convener of the NBLC Gem and Jewellery
Show. Incidents both at and after these shows as well
as incidents at other shows last year have me
concerned about the degree of apathy which clubs
show towards their shows in relation to how the public
views them and the negative publicity which continues
to be generated because of that apathy.
My wife and I have never advertised our business
preferring to rely on word of mouth. At a time when
lots of other jewellery businesses are struggling we are
knocking back work. Word of mouth advertising is a
very powerful media but, just as easily as it can work
for you, it can work against you.
Word of mouth was the second most common way for
people to find out about the NBLC Show. With modern
technology it no longer relies on people actually
physically talking to each other to spread opinions of a
show, but opinions can be spread quickly and to a far
larger audience via social media sites such as
Facebook and Twitter or texted to friends and families.
As you may have seen sometimes comments go viral
and can be seen not by hundreds or thousands but
hundreds of thousands of people. Not very good if it
was a NEGATIVE comment about your gem show.
Examples
I want to give you some examples, and as you read
them I want you to put yourself in the buyer’s position
and decide if you were them would you tell your friends
to go to a gem show and buy with confidence. I will
simply say stall holder here but it may refer to either an
inside or outside stall holder.
1. After the NBLC show a person who had bought a
ruby approached me as her jeweller told her it
was glass filled. She had bought from a stall
holder as heated only. It is glassed filled and
worth a fraction of what she paid. The stall holder
used “Let the buyer beware” as his defence and
reason not to refund the money. He did refund
the money after being threatened with legal
action.
2. I am standing at a stall whilst a stall holder tells a
member of the public that he believes the opals,
he is selling, are from Lightening Ridge. I pick
one up and ask him what type of synthetic it is.
Needless to say the buyer left in disgust. The
seller knew they were synthetic.
3.
When I spoke to the management of that show
they said they would “Keep an eye on him”. He
was still selling them unmarked, to the public,
when the show closed on Sunday.
4. At a Redcliffe show a stall holder was selling 2 3ct Pink “Sapphires” from Madagascar for $90
each. I travel to Madagascar for rough and can’t
buy the rough from the mines for less than $70/ct.
Do the maths. They were all synthetics.
5. Cut Red Topaz, $10, being sold as natural
untreated, and the same goes for most pink topaz
as well as the treated varieties such as mystic.
The stall holders even want to argue with me for
stuffing their sales up.
6. Bi-coloured, blue/yellow, blue/green, orange
/green quartzes being sold as naturals.
7. A person at Minerama was sent to me after
paying $800/ct for an untreated ruby. It had more
glass than ruby.
8. Quartz of all the right colours, but unfortunately
still with a visible seed crystal, being sold as
natural.
9. Blue topaz, London, swiss, and sky, being sold as
natural coloured topaz.
10. Dyed Howlite being sold as Turquoise.
11. Yowah Nodules with the middle carved out and
synthetic opal inserted being sold as natural.
12. Opal doublets and triplets being sold as solids.
Really I could fill pages on the misinformation,
misrepresentation and in some cases flat out fraud
being perpetrated on members of the public who visit
the gem shows. I must check at least 20 items a show
for members of the public and I would estimate about
40% are not what they were sold as or were
misrepresented especially with regards to treatments.
If I check 20 items then how many more people are
leaving the shows only to find out later that they were
ripped off? Do you really think they are saying nice
things about gem shows? No.
I’ve even had members of the clubs running the shows
point out to me the shonky stall holders but they do
nothing about them nor do their management
committees.
With more stall holders buying online and selling
material without knowing what they are buying, not
being able to ID it themselves and not getting it
checked, this problem is only going to get worse. Add
that some stall holders just don’t care and will not
change labels even when told of their error and we are
creating a situation where negative advertising is
generated.
Continued page 29
Due to technical problems Len Horwood of
LENSON FACETING MACHINES has changed his
email address to leonardh4@yahoo.com.au
May - June 2014
Legal Responsibilities and ACCC
Now a common reply from Clubs when I have
mentioned this problem is: “We only provide the venue
and can’t be responsible for what the stall holders sell”.
I can just about guarantee that were I to pose this as a
hypothetical situation to 10 lawyers I would get 20
different answers. One of the answers I did get though
was that if you charge admission you have a duty of
care to those people who pay to attend. But who really
cares about a club’s legal responsibilities? If we want
the public to come to the shows and spend money, we
have to provide as safe an environment as possible for
them to do so. Without the public, stall holders won’t
come and we won’t have a gem show.
There are very specific rules governing the sale of
gemstones and jewellery, issued by the ACCC. In brief
if a gemstone has anything done to it besides cleaning,
cutting and polishing it has been treated it must be
“CLEARLY” labelled as such.
No confusing
terminology, no “it’s a common treatment everyone
knows”, no “I bought it as such and therefore I’m selling
it as that” and no “LET THE BUYER BEWARE”.
If fraud can be proved, i.e., the seller was selling
gemstone A, but KNEW it was really gemstone B or a
treated A, then it is fraud and can be prosecuted by the
police. If it is sold unknowingly or it can’t be proved the
seller knew, then the seller can still be prosecuted by
the Office of Fair Trading, if they refuse to refund the
purchase price in full. Either way this is going to
generate negative publicity.
What is the problem with Show Committees and Club
Management? Are we afraid of causing a disturbance?
We don’t want to upset Stall Holders? We don’t know
how to handle the situation? The seller is a club
member?
Possible solutions
One solution could be to include some clauses relating
to the proper labelling of items for sale in accordance
with the ACCC rules. List what stall holders are
required to do if something is found to be labelled
incorrectly or labelled in a confusing or incorrect
manner. List the consequences for stall holders who
refuse to take such items off display or relabel them.
What are the consequences for stall holders selling
items knowingly defrauding the public. I have some
suggestions that I am happy to share with clubs if they
wish to consider them.
However you must be
prepared to enforce them.
I can with some confidence, having spoken to many
stall holders about this problem, state that no stall
holder who cares about their personal or business
reputation would have any problem signing a contract
that has similar Terms and Conditions as suggested.
Neither would they refuse to refund a buyer if they
unwittingly sold something that was not as labelled.
Most would bend over backwards to correct an error to
protect their reputations and if they were upset at all it
would be because they, the stall holder, had been had.
Approximately 95% of stall holders fall into this
category.
29
Then there is that other 5%, the shonky stall holders.
The ones that won’t change labels unless forced to do
so, the ones deliberately perpetrating fraud on the
buyers, the ones that think the public should pay for
their mistakes because they were ripped off. These
are the ones we need to weed out and get out of our
shows. These are the ones we need to tell other clubs
about.
I continue to hear negative opinions of gem shows
even by people that have never been to one. They
have friends who were deceived or they have heard
“things” and would prefer to shop at a jewellery store
where everything is “real”.
Numbers at some shows are dropping and can’t
completely be laid at the door of the GFC or the
looming election. The negative publicity is out there
and is influencing whether people come to a gem show
or not. It is a problem that is getting worse. Clubs need
to start thinking about how to address this problem and
then actually start doing something.
There is even now unfortunately a Face Book page,
Gem Show Scams, which has been started, luckily with
only one post to date.
Lava Plains Mine Changes Hands
The historical Thai Mine on Lava Plains Station, North
Queensland, previously operated by Coolamon Mines
has been taken over by the Mt Rosey Mining
Company. Mt Rosey intends to further develop the
mine and explore the Lava Plains Region for
gemstones.
The mine is not accessible to the public. For further
information contact Michael McCann on 0412 281 637
or by email at michael.mcccann@mtroseymining.com
Fossicking
Fossickers can access the Lava Plains Fossicking
Area which is managed by Lava Plains Station. To
arrange access contact Heath Harrington on 07 4097
1451 before 6:30 am and after 7:30 pm. (It is a
working station.)
CAT LAP – SPECIAL LAP
An outstanding hard alloy lap
Solid casting – no aluminium backing. Suitable for
polishing most gem materials. These laps are 10
mm thick – not 6 mm like some others!
$145 plus P & P
Machine Servicing and upgrades, Replacement
quills, Transfer jigs and Dops
Phone for further information
Horst Ricker
21 Sandys Track, Rubyvale
Phone: 07 4985 4104 or Mobile: 0417 854104.
30
Facet Talk
Number 197
Membership Report
AFG 20 Year Club
Steve Elliott, Membership Secretary AFG
Current members who joined the Guild in 1994 will
become members of the 20 Year Club at the Annual
General Meeting on 6th September in Glen Innes. Our
records show the following financial members joined in
1994 and have had continuous membership since that
date. If your name is not listed below and you feel you
should be included, please contact Noel Warrell with
the details of when you joined. Contact details are
listed on page 34 of this Facet Talk.
The following changes have occurred in the
Membership Base.
On Behalf of the Guild I welcome the new Members
listed here, and hope they enjoy the benefits offered by
the Guild.
Please remember to include your name and
Membership number on the transaction description
when paying by Eftpos. If I can’t identify you, I
cannot update your membership record.
Mailed payments should be sent to
Membership Secretary
PO BOX 665
Wonthaggi Vic 3995
Please note the email address of the membership
Officer is
membership@facetorsguild.com.au
New Members
Brian & Liz Boyle
Ballina
Gordon Delarue
Woolgoolya
Bill Fraser
Burpengary East
Nev Glynn
Kedron
Peter Kinder
Para Hills
Joy Whittaker
Swan Reach
Naera Wilton
Tokoroa
Change of Address
John Mackenzie
Berry
Russell Maguire
Hcm City
Richard Richards
Acacia Ridge
Resigned
Gemhunters Haven Drayton North
Pty Ltd
Deceased
John Wren
Mount Waverley
NSW
NSW
QLD
QLD
SA
VIC
NZ
NSW
2535
Vietnam
QLD
4110
QLD
4350
VIC
3149
1991
1993
1994
1995
1996
1999
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2013
First
Name
John
Surname
Location
State
Bensted
Albion
QLD
George
John
Chechlowski
Cunningham
Brighton-Le-Sands
Bundaberg
NSW
QLD
John
Max
Mary
Colin
Groundstroem
Heckenberg
Hwee
Mayfield
Bundaberg North
Alice Springs
Noranda
Keith
QLD
NT
WA
SA
John
Dave
Oakman
Radke
Narara
Toowoomba South
NSW
QLD
Kerry
Roy
Royce
Keith
Burt
Ruff
Sawers
Smith
Spall
Warry
Red Hill Mail Centre
Maiden Gully
Port Macquarie
Newmarket
Maryborough
QLD
VIC
NSW
QLD
QLD
QUALITY GEM ROUGH
SUPPLIES
Glenn Huntley
LIFE MEMBERS
1984
1986
1987
2478
2456
4505
4031
5096
3903
Members who joined in 1994 as at 27th April 2014
Peter Collins (dec)
Michael Saclier
Ray Sainsbury
Ian Sobbe
Bob Mount (dec)
Marcus Winley (dec)
Norman Steele (dec)
Bob Long
Patricia Collins
John & Hazel Broadfoot
Myrtle Parker (dec)
Ron Parker
Judy Tuffley
Jack Tuffley (dec)
Tony Annear OAM (dec)
Ern Haywood (dec)
Laurie Hall
John Tunzi
Nelson Robertson
Don Henson
Peter & Moya Stringfellow
Noel & Ann Warrell
FINEST QUALITY FACETING ROUGH
IN BOTH NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC
MATERIAL
Faceted
Stones
Opal
Rough
Free Shapes
Opal
Solids
&
Triplets
Calibrated
FREE FACETING ROUGH
PRICE LIST AVAILABLE
MASTERCARD, VISA AND AMEX
ACCEPTED
PO Box 3841 Marsfield NSW 2122
Phone: 02 9888 1261 Fax: 02 9888
1063
EMAIL: qualitygemrough@gmail.com
May - June 2014
Branch Reports
AFG Vic Branch Report 2014
16-19 May Shepparton Workshop, Kialla Scout Hall, Kialla.
8-11 August Bendigo Workshop, Maiden Gully Comm Hall.
21-24 November Beechworth Workshop, The Old Priory,
Information is available from Graham Young
Ph. (03) 9363 1803. Mobile: 0487 283 598.
Email: Y_graham@bigpond.com:
Pat Marley
MORETON BAY BRANCH
Meeting started at 9.30 am with 14 members in attendance.
Marilyn George presented her Treasurers report. General
discussion was held on prepolish laps, grits and various
polishing laps and powders/spray diamond.
There is a change of venue for the August 3 meeting. This is
now at the Mt Gravatt Clubrooms. Change your yearly
planner now!
Graham Mclean talked about the Gemboree at Gatton and
what we can expect there.
June 1
Michelton Club
August 3
Mt Gravatt Club
October 5
Michelton Club
November 30 Mt Gravatt Club (Xmas Do).
May your points always meet. Contact Trevor Wright
for further information contact Ross on 07 3300 1396
SUNSHINE COAST BRANCH
Well, another Gemboree has come and gone and, as it was
in Gatton this year, I and another of our members were able
to attend and catch up with old friends and aquantances not
seen for a long time. It was also a chance to meet Glenn
Huntley who now owns 'Quality Gem Rough Supplies'.
Our last meeting was quite well attended and we were able to
discuss many fossicking areas, both old and new.
Our next meeting will be on Sunday, 15 June 2014 at 1 pm at
the Suncoast Gem Club's premises, Syd Lingard Drive,
Buderim, and of course everyone interested in faceting is
welcome to attend.
New members are always especially welcome.
We look forward to seeing you all again soon and if you have
any queries please feel free to contact me either by email:
rayandruth@bigpond.com or phone 07 5445 3932.
Ruth Grandcourt
GOLD COAST BRANCH
14 members attended our last group meeting. Cutting
diagrams for International challenge were finalised and proof
cut stones on display.
Clarrie Trevena displayed his new own design faceting
machine which created a lot of interest within the group.
Next meeting 3rd June. President Graeme Kinsela hopes to
be with us.
Meeting dates for 2014:
3 June
5 August
7 October
2 December
For further information contact Rod Turville 07 5539 4450.
E-mail: rod.turville@bigpond.com
31
DARLING DOWNS BRANCH
A meeting of the branch was held at the Toowoomba
Lapidary Club on April 14 2014. Eight members were
present.
A facetors’ workshop was held prior to the meeting.
Attendance was down with only four machines set up on the
day. However a good exchange of information and ideas
took place.
During the formal meeting the Gemcad Workshop to be
conducted by Bob Boddington was set for Sunday June 8
2014 commencing at 9,00am. Please bring your Laptop.
The dates for the 2014 meetings of the branch are as follows:
Sunday 9 June
Sunday 11 August
Sunday 13 October
Sunday 8 December
The venue for meetings is the Toowoomba Lapidary Club at
4 William Street, Toowoomba at 2.00pm.
Contact for the Darling Downs Branch is Neville Kleidon –
Ph. 4613 4507.
Jim Edmonds
TOWNSVILLE BRANCH
Future meeting dates for 2014, topics to be confirmed
th
Saturday 14 June 2014
Saturday 13th September 2014
th
Saturday 6 December 2014
Meetings are held at Townsville Gem and Mineral Club
house in Money Street.
Contact: Gary Cattle. gmcattle@bigpond.com
Home 07 4774 5192. Mobile 0417 828 972
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH
New members and visitors are most welcome. Should you
require further information please do not hesitate to contact
our club chairman Bob Kay on 08 8261 6722.
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN BRANCH
Contact Richard Dunn, Warnbro, WA. Phone 08 9593 0834
SYDNEY BRANCH
The Sydney group meets again on May 18 for its’ next
workshop & general meeting. There are 2 more workshops
planned for the remainder of the year:
Aug 17
Nov 16
So come along and have a great day. For information phone
the Secretary, Paul Sabolta, 0415211478 or e-mail
atlobas53@yahoo.com.au
All meetings will be held at the Parramatta Holroyd Lapidary
Clubrooms, 73 Fullagar Rd, Wentworthville, NSW.
NORTH-EAST NSW GROUP
WIDE BAY BURNETT BRANCH
The next meeting of the North-East NSW group will be held
on Saturday 31 May at the Lismore Gem and Lapidary Club
rooms (Lismore Showground) beginning at 10am. The
meeting is one week later than normal because of the
Lismore GEMFEST on May 17 and 18.
The main topic will be “Use of gemmological equipment”. All
members are invited to bring along such equipment and offer
advice on its use. We will also have some equipment
borrowed from Gemcuts for the day.
Information is available from Barry Chapman on 0407 628
910. Email: bardachap@hotmail.com - Use Subject line
AFG.
Contact: Bruce Copper Phone 02 6688 8280
The competition stone is amethyst – cutter's choice of design.
32
Facet Talk
Number 197
Letters to the Editor
Please send your comments and any answers to
questions to the Editor for publication in Facet Talk.
Disclaimer
Opinions expressed by contributors to Letters to the Editor are not
necessarily those of the Guild or its officers. Further, neither the AFG, the
Board of Directors nor the Editor of Facet Talk is responsible for liability
arising from errors, omissions or mistakes contained in these letters and
readers are warned to proceed cautiously, especially with respect to any
technical information or advice for which the Guild and the Editor does not
warrant the accuracy and disclaims all liability. For the purposes of brevity,
accuracy and clarification the Editor may reword and/or correct parts.
Judging & Rules Report
I would like to hear from members on how they
measure “Girdle Thickness” when cutting stones for
competitions. I put an article in FT193 on this issue
with regards to using a graticule loupe and how to work
out the girdle thickness from the GemCad diagram.
I have received some comments that some competitors
feel they were penalised unfairly and would like to get a
broader picture of the concern from as may cutters as
possible.
Please send comments to J&R Chairman, Paul Sabolta
via e-mail vicepresident@facetorsguild.com.au
What’s On
Please let me know of AFG Workshops and Gem shows
in your area so that they can be listed.
MAY
24
31
Mt Gravatt Gem Show, Mt Gravatt Club House
8am - 4pm 1873 Logan Rd., Mt Gravatt.
Gunyah Club Lapidary Display, Mt Cootha 9am 4pm
JUNE
21
28
Deception Bay Gem Show, at Community hall
9am-3pm Cnr Ewart St., & Raymond Tce
Gold Coast Gem & Craft Show, 80 Pacific Ave,
8.30 - 3pm, Miami, Pizzey Park.
JULY
12 - 13 Hervey Bay Club Gem Show Sat 9am - 5pm
AUGUST
2
Ipswich & Dist, Lap Club Show, Ipswich Show 8am-3pm, Grounds Warwick Rd Ipswich
7 - 10 Anakie Gemfest, Anakie Central Qld
15 – 16 Goldfest, Clermont CQ
SEPTEMBER
1 – 12 AFG Seminar (5- 7), Workshops (1 – 4) and
Fossicking (8 – 12), Glen Innes Showgrounds.
13 – 14 Bendigo Gemarama (see below)
27
Sunshine Coast jewellery & Gem Show (below)
2016 International Faceting Competition
The 2016 IFC schedule is in its final draft stages and
should be ready for release at the Seminar in
September.
Hervey Bay Gem and Mineral Club Inc.
Faceting Competition 2014
“Charity Cut For a Cause”
in aid of Prostate Cancer
Cancer Ribbon Cut
All stones entered in the section (O.10.3)
The Cancer Ribbon Cut will be donated to the cause
and auctioned for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of
Australia.
Auction on Sunday 13 July 2014 at 12 noon
All proceeds of the auction are to be donated to The
Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
This is a charity driven competition. We hope you
will get behind the concept and give it your full
support.
For more information and the Schedule contact:
Wayne Kelly. Mob: 0411 105 591
Email: laybackfeetup@bigpond.com
Download the full schedule from:
http:/herveybay.lapidaryclub.com.au
Bendigo Gem Club 2014 annual GEMARAMA
and Exhibition
13 & 14 September 2014
Saturday 10am - 5pm and Sunday 10am - 4pm.
Kangaroo Flat Leisure Centre
Browning St, Kangaroo Flat.
Gems and Minerals for sale. Demonstrations of
Silver smithing, gem cutting and the fun kids
fossicking trailer. Fluorescent Rocks and Minerals.
Traders from up and down the east coast of
Australia and International traders to supply all
your lapidary needs. Refreshments by Y's Ladies.
Adults $5 entry Children FREE.
Sunshine Coast
Jewellery & GEM Show 2014
Saturday, 27 September. 8.30am-- 4.00 pm.
Hosted by Caloundra Lapidary Club Inc.
Held at Caloundra State Primary School, Queen St.
Regent St. and George St.
Well stocked stall holders and dealers are in the
auditorium plus undercover basketball stadium.
Grassed and hard stand areas for large numbers of
Tailgater’s. Polished Agate & petrified woods,
Carvings, Jewellery, Faceted Gemstones, Crystals,
Rocks & Mineral specimens, Fossils from around
the world.
Demonstrations of lapidary crafts and skills.
Supplies, findings, tools Refreshments will be
available, there is wheelchair access and plenty of
parking, ATM on site
For more information 0417634205 Email.
gemshow@caloundralapidaryclub.org.au
May - June 2014
33
34
Facet Talk
Number 197
BOARD OF DIRECTORS - EXECUTIVE
BRANCH & GROUP CONTACTS
President: Graham Kinsela, Bray Park, Qld.
Phone 0417 770 841.
E-mail: president@facetorsguild.com.au
Vice-President: Paul Sabolta, Sydney N.S.W.
Phone 0415 211 478.
E-mail: vicepresident@facetorsguild.com.au
Secretary: Noel Warrell, PO Box 722 ,Warwick, Qld. 4370
Mobile: 0429 860 923. E-mail: secretary@facetorsguild.com.au
Treasurer: Neville Smith, Maitland, NSW.
Phone 0407 016 896. E-mail: treasurer@facetorsguild.com.au
STATE DIRECTORS
New South Wales: Les Sinclair, Armidale, NSW.
Phone: 02 6772 5752. Email: dirnsw@facetorsguild.com.au
Queensland: Graham McLean, Yamanto, Qld
Phone 07 3288 9883. Email: dirqld@facetorsguild.com.au
Tasmania: Lee-Anne Ames-Smith, Newstead, Tas.
Phone 03 6344 2092. Email: dirtas@facetorsguild.com.au
Victoria: Ed Allison, Vic. Phone 0438 788 363.
Email: dirvic@facetorsguild.com.au
Western Australia: Richard Dunn, Warnbro, WA
Phone 08 9593 0834. Email: dirwa@facetorsguild.com.au
South Australia: Bob Kay, Windsor Gardens, Phone 08
,
E-mail: dirsa@facetorsguild.com.au
SPECIAL OFFICERS
Membership Secretary: Steve Elliott Phone: Phone AH: 03
5664 3155. E-mail: membership@facetorsguild.com.au
Supplies Officer: Steve Bell, 22 Kittani Cr. Ashmore 4214
Phone:0409 723 270. E-mail: supplies@facetorsguild.com.au
Education Officer: John Broadfoot, Phone 0429 692 904.
c/o AFG Secretary, PO Box 722, Warwick, Qld. 4370
E-mail: geminfo@bigpond.com
Facet Talk Editor: John Broadfoot, Phone 0429 692 904.
c/o AFG Secretary, PO Box 722, Warwick, Qld. 4370
E-mail: geminfo@bigpond.com
2014 SEMINAR COMMITTEE
Chair: Les Sinclair, Armidale, NSW. Phone 0427 725 752
E-mail: dirnsw@facetorsguild.com.au
Program: John Broadfoot, Innes Park Qld. Phone 0429 692 904
Email: geminfo@bigpond.com
COMPETITION COMMITTEES
2014 Competition Committee:
Coordinator: Bob Boddington, PO Box 414, Drayton North,
4350Ph. 0427 463 012. Email: rboddington2@bigpond.com
2016 International Challenge:
TO BE ADVISED
Please contact the appropriate director or officer for all
general enquiries regarding membership and renewals,
supplies, competitions, etc.
OVERSEAS CONTACTS
USA: Jill Rowlands, Houston Texas Phone 713 728 4912
UK: Anthony Burston, Timsbury, Bath
Phone 01761 471509
CANADA: Alwyn Lawrence, Ontario Canada
Phone 416 269 5010
JUDGING PANEL
Paul Sabolta (Chairperson), Sydney NSW
Phone 02 9674 4641
Graham McLean, Yamanto, Qld. Phone 07 3288 9883
Darling Downs
Neville Kleidon, Toowoomba, Qld. Phone 0419 664 181
Gold Coast
Rod Turville, Ashmore, Qld. Phone 07 5539 4450
Email: rod.turville@bigpond.com
Hervey Bay
Barry Chapman, Hervey Bay, Qld. Phone 0407 628 910
Email: bardachap@hotmail.com
Moreton Bay
Ross Dunlop. Phone 07 3300 1396.
Email: rdun6655@bigpond.net.au
Sunshine Coast
Ruth Grandcourt, Buderim, Qld. Phone 07 5445 3932
Townsville
Owen Wyer, owenw@motoco.com.au Ph. 0409 646 851
Gary Gattle, gmcattle@bigpond.com Ph. 0417 828 972
North-East NSW
Bruce Copper, Jiggi, NSW. Phone 02 6688 8280
Don MacDonald, Pottsville, NSW. Phone 02 6676 1858
Hunter Region
Neville Smith, Maitland, NSW. Phone 0407 016 896
Email: treasurer@facetorsguild.com.au
Sydney
Paul Sabolta, Sydney, NSW. Phone 0415 211 478
Email: vicepresident@facetorsguild.com.au
Canberra & District Group
Alan Leonard, Calwell, ACT. Phone 02 6292 6191
Northern Territory
Kerry Ruff, Alice Springs, NT. Phone 08 8956 9855
South Australia
Bob Kay, Salisbury, SA. Phone 08 7007 7483
Email: dirsa@facetorsguild.com.au
Tasmania
Lee-Anne Ames-Smith, Newstead, Tas. Phone 03 6344 2092
Victoria
Graham Young, Deer Park, Vic. Phone 03 9363 1803.
Mobile: 0487 283 598. Email: Y_graham@bigpond.com
AFG Warragul & District Facetors Group
Contact: Stacy May. Email: angelstace1@hotmail.com
Western Australia
Richard Dunn, Warnbro, WA. Phone 08 9593 0834
Overseas Newsletters and Journals
These websites of our exchange partners are worth a visit as
some material and designs is in the public domain.
United Kingdom Facetors’ Guild - Stonechat
http://www.ukfcg.org
United States Faceters’ Guild
http://www.usfacetersguild.org
Columbia-Willamette Faceters Guild (Oregon USA) - Facets
http://www.facetersguild.com
North York Faceting Guild (Canada)
http://www.NorthYorkFacetingGuild.com
VancouverIslandFaceters’Guild
ROLL OF HONOUR
2004
2006
2007
2007
2007
2007
Ralph Westen
Gwen Johnston
Gayle Merrick
David Evans
Don Randell
June Randell (dec)
Videos on Faceting
http://www.australasiangems.net/faceting-videos/
Charity Cut for Cause Prostate Cancer
Prostate Cancer Awareness Raffle has a $5000 pendent
(pictured below) as first prize. It has an 11.7 ct synthetic blue
spinel (Cancer Ribbon Cut) in 9 carat yellow and white gold
with diamonds. Second prize is a gents 9 ct yellow gold ring
with a 7.25 ct synthetic corundum valued at $2750.
Raffle tickets are $2.00 each
or book of 10 for $16.
Available from Wayne Kelly.
Ph 0411 105 591. Email:
laybackfeetup@bigpond.com
Drawn 12 noon Sunday 13 July at
Hervey Bay Gem and Jewellery
EXPO, Star of the Sea Catholic
School, Hervey Bay.
See page 32 for more details.
Prizes kindly donated and manufactured by Vin Moulds
and Sons, Winstanley St, Carina. Phone: 07 3324 9700
Gatton Gemboree 2014
Tailgaters
AFG News
Kel (Kelpie) Smith passed
away on 2 May. He was an
outstanding contributor to
the AFG and the local Lapidary Clubs and produced
many designs for faceting.
He will be missed by the
faceting fraternity.
See vale page 14.
AFG Faceting Courses move South
Dealers
Ed Allison (Victorian Director) has held the second AFG
Faceting Course at Warragul, Victoria. In a move to expand
and conduct training to other parts of Australia members of the
Guild are encouraged to conduct these courses on behalf of
the Guild. Anyone interested in conducting the courses should
contact the Education Officer, John Broadfoot for further information. Pictured below are the successful participants from
the Warragul area from left: Stacey May, Alicia Cornwall,
Margaraet Ricardo and Ed Allison.
Fossils
Artifacts - Arrow heads
from Rub Al
Kahli in the
Great Arabian
Desert
Silver Filigree
by George
Weier
1st and 2nd in
the Section
Minerals
Tormaline on
Aquamarine