Watch this Jeweler Facet and Polish a Gemstone Without Any Machines
Australian Charles Lawson of Lawson Gems is a geologist, gemmologist and jewelry designer. He shared this fascinating video on how to facet and polish a gemstone without any machines. It is certainly possible especially with a soft stone like fluorite.
It is rudimentary. Charles said it is a "great way to dabble in the art without forking out 1000's of dollars and spending countless hours on it." But it takes some elbow grease to basically sand facets and then polish them up.
Fluorite is only a 4 on the Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness. So the hard ones like rubies and sapphire (they are both the same mineral, corundum) as well as topaz at 9 and 8 respectively (just below diamond at 10) will require machines!
Charles does list the following gemstones as doable with the manual technique. The under 5's will be easier and less time consuming those in the 5-6 range.
Lapis Lazuli 5 - 6
Turquoise 5 - 6
Apatite 5
Chrome Diopside 5 - 6
Obsidian 5 - 5.5
Larimar 4.5 - 5
Charoite 4.5 - 5
Rhodochrosite 4
Variscite 4 - 5
Ammolite 4
Fluorite 4
Azurite 3.5 - 4
Malachite 3.5 - 4
Sphalerite 3.5 - 4
Calcite 3
Coral 3 - 4
Verdite 3
Lepidolite 2.5 - 3
Pearl 2.5 - 4.5
Chrysocolla 2 - 4
Seraphinite 2 - 4
Amber 2 - 2.5
Before You Go:
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Wire JewelryTips -Jewelry Business Tips
It is rudimentary. Charles said it is a "great way to dabble in the art without forking out 1000's of dollars and spending countless hours on it." But it takes some elbow grease to basically sand facets and then polish them up.
Fluorite is only a 4 on the Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness. So the hard ones like rubies and sapphire (they are both the same mineral, corundum) as well as topaz at 9 and 8 respectively (just below diamond at 10) will require machines!
Charles does list the following gemstones as doable with the manual technique. The under 5's will be easier and less time consuming those in the 5-6 range.
Lapis Lazuli 5 - 6
Turquoise 5 - 6
Apatite 5
Chrome Diopside 5 - 6
Obsidian 5 - 5.5
Larimar 4.5 - 5
Charoite 4.5 - 5
Rhodochrosite 4
Variscite 4 - 5
Ammolite 4
Fluorite 4
Azurite 3.5 - 4
Malachite 3.5 - 4
Sphalerite 3.5 - 4
Calcite 3
Coral 3 - 4
Verdite 3
Lepidolite 2.5 - 3
Pearl 2.5 - 4.5
Chrysocolla 2 - 4
Seraphinite 2 - 4
Amber 2 - 2.5
Before You Go:
- The Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness
- Sapphire Mining in Sri Lanka
- Diamond is Not the Hardest Substance Anymore
______________________________
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Wire JewelryTips -Jewelry Business Tips
I am absolutely gobsmacked!
ReplyDeleteI dropped a beautiful cabochon and broke it and have looked at those two pieces for over a year wondering what to do with them. Now I know!
Only thing is - I think my shoulder is going to hate me for it...
Is it a soft gemstone? If so, maybe it won't be so bad.
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