Here is another result of initial experiments with the fantasy tools. This 12.98 ct. smoky quartz was cut with v-groves on the pavilion instead of the rounded concaves that have been used for previous stones.
Gems
Finishing 2018 rough
This 4.58 ct. Amethyst is among the last stones cut from rough purchased in 2018. The stone is 11.0 mm in diameter and has concave facets on the pavilion. Now it is time to start working on the new rough purchased during my 2019 Tucson adventures.
Beginning Attempt with the Fantasy tools
After a number of failed exercises trying to get up to speed with the V-groove tools that came with the ULTRA TEC Faceting fantasy machine, this stone was a step in the right direction.
The grooves were more curves rather than straight sided and my attempts to polish were only partially successful.
The stone is smoky quartz, 6.68 carats, 11.4 mm across
Other Tucson Rough Purchases
The Tucson rough I bought wasn’t all green. Here are a couple other parcels that followed me home.
This is a parcel of garnets from Malawi brought to the USFG event by Dan Lynch. The purchase price was going to finish a children’s library in one of the mining communities. When these are cut, sales will go to a UNICEF sponsored program for high school scholarships for Malawi girls.
This is a handful of lovely amethyst obtained from Farooq Hashmi. His handful was a few more than this.
The madera citrine from Steve Ulatowski is incredibly clear. Maybe I should have taken a handful of those as well.
Oregon sunstone. I’m still not sure about sunstone. Probably will know a lot more by the time these are cut.
Back from Tucson
I have returned home to a wet and chilly CA Central Coast from Tucson 2019 and trying to get back into reality and a normal routine again.
Nothing serious broken this year except possibly my budget. That does mean I have a lot of new rough to facet during the rest of 2019.
My initial purchases tended to be green. (Mali Garnet, Chrome Diopside, Arizona Peridot, Prasiolite)
