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So yup, my b-day is coming up. Decided to buy myself my own presents.. This time I've gone after a faceting machine. Why? Well a few summers ago I went out to Plush, Oregon & found a bunch of sunstones. Among them was a red about the size of my thumb.. Looked all over trying to find someone to cut it for me & struck out. Then I heard about the Columbia-Willamette Faceters’ Guild & their gem cutting classes at the Rice Northwest Museum.
I've taken the class 3 times & joined the guild- But with the class over and no machine I'm pretty much out of luck when it comes to making all my kinda shiny rocks into sparkly gems. I've been looking for a machine but new ones are rather Hilariously expensive ($3 to 5 K) & sure there's used ones on ebay but... These machines are rather delicate & who the hell knows what might have happened to one while it sat in someone's garage for the last few years.
So thought I was pretty much out of luck till summer & fire season & lots of sales of my fire stuff. Then I find an Australian machine on ebay. Handmade by a guy who facets his own rocks? And with the current exchange rate, a price comparable to used domestic machines? Sign Me Up.
Missed the last couple of auctions but the latest one was "Buy It Now" so.. I did. He builds 'em to order so it will be a few months before it arrives, which is just fine with me as I'm in school for another.. 9 weeks & frankly I do NOT need some shiny new toy sitting over in the corner distracting me.. Bad enough that I'm procrastinating right now as I write about it.
So yeah. I've a new faceting machine. No, it doesn't cut diamonds.. But I don't want to cut those anyway. First it's tedious as hell- Diamond is the only thing that cuts diamond, right? So imagine trying to sharpen a wooden pencil.. With another wooden pencil. Just imagine how long that would take. I'm a patient guy most of the time but that would become SO tedious I'd prolly shoot myself. Plus diamonds are difficult to find in the rough (uncut stones are known as "rough") not to mention spendy and everyone has them. I would *Much* rather take a kinda shiny rock I found & with a little time & effort turn it into a shiny gem any girl would be happy to wear.
Anyway- Soon I'll be cutting my own stones right here in my very own living-room from my very own rough. Now all I have to do is find a market for what I've cut.. maybe once I've gotten a few more cut I'll troll the local jewelers & make a deal with one or more of them. We'll see- Sure would be nice to make back the purchase price of my machine, then I can start tricking it out with better laps (the "sand-paper" used to do the "cutting") & a dial indicator & various other upgrades.
Should be a good time!
2:06 PM
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