Absolutely fascinating to see such beautiful crystals, minerals & rocks. I’m very new to this & the more I learn the more I realise the less I know 😩 I did just discover some useful geological survey maps of my region of Australia though, that give a very broad overview of the types of rocks found in different areas. One day I hope to figure out the name of the type of rock that literally washes down my driveway from the hill above my house, during heavy rain. It would be nice if it were a valuable gem, but even though it’s not, it’s a beautiful pink to purple rock. One day I’ll learn its name 😊

I cant see how it is Thai style when you are using a mast machine.

Most will also follow Justin Prim. Worth looking at as he has more of a Thai philisophy.

I guess I missed what kind of stone it was ?

0:49 How many sunglasses does this guy wear?

What is the disc being used for polish here? 8:21 And is it charged?

I must add twigs to my list of things to watch out for in Australia

Less accent would make this easier to comprehend.

This is a good skill to pick up. To date, my smallest stone are around 2 mm, less than .1 carets. The 'good skill to know' comes in when you find your own material. I have 2 emeralds now that I found at Crabtree Emerald Mine in Little Switzerland, NC, USA. It is uniquely satisfying when go from found to faceted all by yourself. I have 3 tier dops that are around 1.5mm at the tip. With the emeralds, I cut to the crystal shape. My larger one is a hexagon to maximize yield.

We love you and hope you all are doing well! Cheers from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado USA!

I cant understand yourpreoccupationwith motor torque. It is surface speed that matters.

What machine are you using? Nice video!

So fascinating. Some very beautiful & intriguing specimens

Very cool! It’s always nice when people share their passions and present it so informatively. If you read comments-Do you have any insight on the Topaz out of Utah? There is a high concentration of very clear topaz crystals in the west desert and I’m wondering if you’ve come across any, and how well does it facet, what’s you take on the purity of that locality? 😊

What other polishing laps do you use for sapphires?

I hear an ancient tribe of Amazon-ians have developed a similar technique

Thank u ...trying to learn this skill....it's tough

I just bought one. Arriving in a few days. I bought it because #1 it looks like a good watch for the price and #2 my name is Reginald 😂

Great video

That was very interesting. Thank you

Good song choice here

That’s really beautiful. An amateur like me can’t tell the difference between a diamond & quartz (maybe glass & plastic) but I’d like to know what it’s worth, given the time & skill it takes to create this from a rough stone. Also, could this be possible on all types of quartz, inclusions & all?

Gorgeous, tha.nk you Cliff

I felt sympathy pain watching that dop wax hit the finger lol. These are definitely goals <3

About how thick do you leave your finished girdle at? I know the smaller the stone the smaller the girdle. But is there a standard that you go by? Would a girdle on a 1/4 caret round be the same as a 1/4 caret princess cut or a oval of the same weight? Is there a way to figure what the girdle is going to be on different weighted sones or is it just by guess and hope you don't get it wrong. I do know that if the girdle is wrong your stone is worthless and it has to be cut again. It is not fun to cut a stone a second time because you have to cut everything again and doing that you loose a lot of size and weight. Now its time to go watch another one of your videos and learn something knew. Thank you

The machine that I have is a older machine but you use what you have. I have been bitten by the facet bug bad. I have a bunch of stones that I have bought. Multiple types and various sizes. You have answered so many of my questions but I do have more, I will always have questions. Your videos are very informative. I like the way you explain while you are doing it. All I have been able to facet are the round designs. I have to figure out the ovals and others. Thank you so much for your videos. Now on to the next one and to learn something knew. Thank you

A very good video. As far as explaining while doing this is a super video. You do explain everything out very good. My question is, What is the disk that you are using with the sewing machine oil and diamond powder? I am really just starting out but I have a bunch of small garnets that do need cutting along with other sapphires and stones. I am using a old Lee facet machine. I have been bitten by the facet bug and it is something that I really want to continue to do. Thank you for putting up this video.

Thanks for your video Cliff. Today I was having a lot of trouble polishing fluorite. Can you make another video about it ? Can you use other polishing materials instead of diamond (cerium oxide , tin oxide etc ) Why you are using 14000 diamond grit instead of 50k or 100k .

Can you explain the reason for using plastic plates?

How are you, our company provides you with all the details about gems and food, accommodation and gems suitable for Sri Lanka.

This guy is amazin, thank u

Excellent presentation 👍 I have really tiny gems out of paydirt. They’re probably 0.5mm. I’m thinking they are far too tiny to attempt to facet. If one came off the dop, it would be lost forever.

I did 4, 3 day trips to Sapphire and didn't find anything until the last day of my 4th trip. I found a zircon so I was happy but not too excited. After a few more trips I got a small collection of gems and bought a cheap faceting machine off ebay. I cut a couple of gems and I was actually not doing too bad a job (with quartz off ebay) My next job I was going to practice on my "zircon". I decided to visit a local jewellery store in Airlie Beach. I shown them my collection of sapphires and they said I had some pretty good stones and then I shown him my zircon that I was going to practice on next. He tested it on his testing machine and said " M8, that's a pink sapphire worth about $3500." I'm now waiting for delivery of a professional machine before I go anywhere near it. lol

Was studying in Revelation 4 and Jasper was mentioned, so I looked it up and came across your video. Thank you for helping me see some jasper.

like 👍

What do you think of the “sapphire & zircon” soil bags you can buy from our Aussie sellers? I got some from Etsy &; I found some glassy/waxy looking stones that really stood out from the dried mud-like dirt. They were heavier & hard as hell to cut & had a mix of colour from green, blue, grey & red - tan. Some look black but silvery lines. I’ve tried to learn how to identify sapphires, zircons, etc but not too sure. I also have trouble cutting & polishing using only a cheap dremel with new diamond burs & sandpaper but just can’t manage that shine, only a dull shine that shows colour in the sun. I need advice on polishing with this method. Or should I just keep going until it shines?

Excellent tutorial, thank you for sharing this. Small rough is about all I have access to currently. A gemstone faceting friend of mine gave me a ziplock freezer bag of off cuts, small rough, included and fractured rough that he wouldn’t bother with, but I figure there is a small gemstone hiding in each piece of rough. I am just starting my gemstone faceting journey and so videos such as yours are absolutely invaluable. As a content creator myself for sterling silver jewelry I know how important content that encourages artists is. I really appreciate your technique with the smaller gemstones. ❤

Hello, I found a stone in nature and it is very similar to the color of the diamond in your video. I would like to get your opinion about the stone in my hand, can you share your e-mail with me?

YES! Definitely cut it! Without a point, it's really not worth much. The clarity does give it some value, but to the people who revere and pay big money for crystal quartz want in tact points. You'd be doing that thing a favor by cutting it. Just found your channel, btw. and subbed straight away!

Thank you, just purchased 80 ct of Colombian raw emerald, working on building my table and start cutting. I choose to buy the jamb style machine arm.

The way I gasped when the purple color shot through the table of the stone- Wonderful work for us younger generations

I enjoyed the video Cliff! Well done!

Ever think about getting one of them new fangled machines for cutting concave facets? As one who has cut steel with similar high RPM devices, I can barely imagine your frustration with the skipping and slipping... I notice that you seem to have no trouble polishing quartz with diamond, while most will say to use cerium oxide, your thoughts?

17:00 and now what?

Nice.

Hi sir ! I need your WhatsApp number

Is there contact information so we can buy from them?

Great vid. I’m going through longwood on Friday just filled the Christmas list. Thanks.

I have a large alluvial pebble I was told is topaz. it cut like sapphire until I got to pre-polish then it acted more like quartz or glass. I switched to cerium oxide and it polished like a dream. is that normal for topaz? seemed hard on on the sintered lap, and soft and scratchy on diamond and oil. I'm still not sure what the material is.

Question, do you need to charge that tin lap before use? Or is the sewing machine oil and diamond compound?