Flyer with more information

Cont'dfrom
From Rock to Gem
front panel:
Guild members gather at 4 annual meetings and other
general Island lapidary shows where the group often
demonstrates and displays their members' work.
While most faceters have a working knowledge
in general lapidary work and maintain memberships in
local gem & mineral clubs, it is not necessary to have
such a background. Faceting can be a "self-contained"
hobby. Depending on equipment, it can be clean, quiet
and quite portable as welL
Members are kept in touch and informed with
the Guild's newsletter, "Meet Points", which announces the meetings, contests, workshops, social
events and other happenings in the both the VIFG and
the larger faceting world. There are several dozen
faceting guilds in the world today
and many of them communicate new
ideas and information through the
.
.
. exchange of their own newsletters,
•
•
Faceting material can come
from various sources, everything
from precious gemstone crystals
to broken coloured bottle glass or
common marbles has beenfaceted. There are also man-made
synthetics which are very attractive and can stand up to daily wear injewelry.
The material is cut or ground into the rough size and
shape ofthe desired finished gem and is then mounted
on the end of a rod that is inserted into the faceting machine "head". Using one of thousands of available design sheets, the cutter follows the precise directions of
angles and degrees of rotation in order to cut and then polish the actual
flats, or "facets" in their correct locations around the material.
These faceting diagrams are
highly accurate blueprints that make
the gem cutting process both simpler
and very interesting.
1
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.. . . .
It is interesting to note that
there are a number of other Guilds in
Canada including The B.C. Faceters' Guild of the B.C.
Lower Mainland area, the Calgary Faceters' Guild and
the North York Faceters' Guild from the Toronto area.
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"FACETING": the placing of ffat polished surfaces
on transparent gem material, usually crystals, so
that they can show the sparkle and colour that the
material is capable of producing,
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72
Gemstone Faceting
42
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Square Emerald Checker Cut
Some of the many different shapes and
styles of gem cuts that hobbyists can produce:
by Fred W. Van Sant
Angles for R.I. 1.760
45 + 8 girdles::: 53 facets
2-fold, mirror-Image symmetry
96 Index
lJW = 1.000 TIW ='0_200 UIW
PIW =0.492 CIW =0.189
Vol.lW' = 0.277
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The art of faceting has been around for more
than 300 years in one way or another. Early faceters
often worked only for royalty and guarded their processes jealously within families or inside secretive craft
guilds.
In that era, a cutter would begin actually producing
cut gems only after years of training and practice. The
hand-fashioned gems were crude and imprecise by
today's standards and the styles and shapes of the
gems were very limited.
Today things are much different. There are no
more secrets and machinery and methods have been
developed to take the labour and imprecision out of
the process. Today's amateurs have all the knowledge
and advantages that professional gem cutters have.
Amateur faceters, in fact, are able to produce a superior cut gem than those cut by
"production" faceters. This is quite an accomplishment considering that hobby faceting was virtually
nonexistent 75 years ago. Since that time, amateurs
have done much to improve most aspects of the craft
by developing new techniques, better equipment and
designing more beautiful gemstones.
The Vancouver Island Faceters' Guild
PAVILION
1
2
41_00'
41.26'
60.00'
90.00'
5
90.00'
CROWN
1
2
3
60.00'
34.00'
28.00'
4
5
6
7
25.50'
18_40'
13.24'
0.00
0
12-36-00-84
04-20-28-4452-68-76-92
96-24-48-72
96-24-48-72
12-36-00-84
96-24-48-72
12-36-80-84
07-17-31-4155-65-79-89
96-24-48-72
12-36-60-84
96-24-48-72
Table
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The V.I.F.G. was established in 1986 to allow faceters residing in the Vancouver Island area to
share, learn and grow together. The group has members scattered across the Island but has the bulk of its
membership in the Victoria area.
Cont'd on back panel .....
Monthly Birthstone Chart
MONTH
GEMSTONE
COLOUR
Astrological Birthstone Chart
?~J4~2~:
ATTRIBUTES
How long does it take to facet a gem?
January
gamet
dark red
fidelity
February
amethyst
purple
March
aquamarine,
bloodstone
aqua, green
elegance
diamond
crystal
invincibility
May
emerald
dark green
joyousness
June
pearl,
moonstone
white
good luck
No. Many faceters work in their apartment.
There are machines which are more portable than others and can be moved as
needed
July
ruby
red
pride
Is faceting noisy?
August
peridot
lime green
friendship
Sept.
sapphire
dark blue
loyalty
No. Today's modern machines run fairly
quietly.
sobriety
"(.
April
October
Nov.
Dec.
opal,
tourmaline
multi
fidelity,
religious
topaz,
citrine
golden yellow
cheerfulness
turquoise,
blue
love,
luck
turquoise,
zircon,
tanzanite
In the beginning it will likely take you about
20 hours to cut and polish a stone, depending on how complicated a pattern you chose.
Is the equipment messy?
s
Is faceting expensive?
Can faceters sell their work?
A popular faceting machine, the "Facetron" shows
the complete setup with head, mast,
base and driptank.
Yes, some cutters are able to sell their work
and recoupe some of their expenses.
MEETINGS & CONTACT INFORMATION
The four annual regular meetings are held outside Nanaimo. Also, the North Island members
hold four extra workshops in the Black Creek
area.
Contact persons:
Karl Maldaner
723-6561
Dan Mooney 724·2832
ATTRIBUTES
DATES
Aquarius
Jan 21 - Feb 21
Pisces
Feb 21 - Mar 21 amethyst
Aries
Mar 21 - Apr 20 bloodstone
wisdom
Taurus
Apr 20 - May 21 sapphire
nobility, virtue, justice,
loyalty, protects from
mental disorders
guarantees true friendship
garnet
protects from extremes
.of passion
Gemini
May 21 - June 21 agate
Cancer
June 21 - July 22 emerald
eternal joy
Leo
July 22 - Aug 22
protects from loneliness
and unhappiness
onyx
Virgo
Aug 22 - Sep 22 carnelian
Libra
Sep 22 - Oct 23
Scorpio
Oct 23 - Nov 21 beryl
Sagittarius
Nov 21- Dec 21
Capricorn
Getting into a new faceting machine and all
the accessories can be pricey. Many beginners will start with a hand faceting machine
(about $200) while they watch out for a used
unit.
STONE
SIGN
Dec 21 - Jan 21
crysolite
long life, health & wealth
guarantees success
frees from an evil spell
topaz
protects from tears of
sad repentance
cheerfulness
ruby
will never know trouble
"Nuts & Bolts":
Seen below is a picture of the "mast" and "head"
of a modern precision Faceting Machine. This is
how the crystal material is rotated and precisely
angled to put the cuts in the exact right place. The
mast and head designs vary from machine to machine but their job is the same.
.
Different minor features and precision will
usually determine
equipment cost.
The final part of the
machine, the motorized
"base", serves to rotate
cutting and polishing
disks called "laps"
against the gem being
cut.