New camera and new cut stones

[Barrett]

Some of you have already seen my new camera on another forum as well as my most recent cut stones..lets see number 5-8 stones i ever cut..had some trouble with the topz..couldn''t get a good polish..but I got a new camera to take good photos of small mineral specs. and especially gems..I think it does a pretty good job..i am using G. Finewaters setup for the lighting..still have to tweek some things but it''s probably the best way to photograph gemstones

First new stone i cut was a small green tourmaline my first brillant cut.40cts.

 

[Barrett]

Second new stone I cut..my 6th ever I think stone is a small orange tourmaline .50cts.

 

[marcy]

Looks great! I love the color; I have some sapphires that color.

 

[Barrett]

Next stone I cut was a colorless topaz..didn't seem to get a good polish on this stone..did some weird Jeff graham cut called mumble????
1.20cts.

 

[Barrett]

Next stone i did was a spess..i was thinking of TL when i cut it..wink.wink..was polishing the last half of the facets on the crown and I knocked the stone against the catch basin and popped it off..so only half the crown facets are polished..LOL..it has all those little tiny bubble type inclusions I hear TL mention so now i know what she means..they really hamper the sparkle factor on this stone..color is not that good but what do you expect from a $5 piece of rough...LOL 1.05ct spessartine garnet

 

[Barrett]

Those are the four I have cut recently..i am going to cut a CC garnet next but i need more 3000 grit diamond powder so it will have to wait..here are some stones you might have already seen..since i got my new camera I retook some pics of some older stones..these were not cut by me but pics are by me
ampa tourmalines

 

[Barrett]

This one you have seen before..the 7.9ct. JXR amethyst that my buddy george cut for me before i got my machine..had to take some new photos of it with the camera..hehehe

 

[Barrett]

another shot of the JXR..thanks for looking guys..jason

 

[Fly Girl]

Very nice, amguy! Both the stones and the photos. Way to go and thanks for the eye candy!

 

[Gailey]

Boy are you ever getting good at this Amguy. Look out John Dyer!

 

[Haywood74]

For having a new camera setup.....and being somewhat new to faceting..... I would say you are doing fantastic! I can''t even begin to imagine what the learning curve for faceting would be...

Inquiring minds would like to know, on average, how long did it take you to facet one of these gems?

 

[Barrett]

The first one which was that brazilian ammy I posted took like 16 hours..now the last one was the spess and that took maybe 5 hours but it popped off halfway through polishing so add about 20 more minutes to that..only what 7-8 stones and keep cutting quicker..I will be doing portuguese rounds in 2 hours flat soon...LOL..maybe next year..LOL

 

[oddoneout]

You''re very talented.

 

[Arcadian]

oh wow amguy! the green tourmaline is right up my alley. I love the color (I got a thing for green)

And that amethyst is really great.

The spess is a nifty cut. the inclusons make it really sleepy. If the color were a bit better it would probably make a great pendant stone!

-A

 

[T L]

Date: 9/16/2009 11:19:15 PM
Author: amethystguy
Next stone i did was a spess..i was thinking of TL when i cut it..wink.wink..

Hi Amguy!

Still looks to be a nice stone, a bit yellow, but I like your cutting on it for a beginner.

You''re doing a great job at faceting, and I love that amethyst.

 

[somethingshiny]

Great job, Amguy! I love the green tourmaline. Have you ever posted a step-by-step of your cutting? That''s something I''d love to see.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Looks good AmethystGuy.

Tell me more about the "G. Finewater setup".

 

[cellentani]

Wow amguy - I''m really impressed! I too, would love to hear more about Finewater''s camera setup.

 

[Jypsie]

Amethystguy - your stones are beautiful!! You are doing such an awesome job!

I''m finding topaz to be difficult to polish as well - I''ve started using diamond on it to polish and so far it''s a LOT better! I''ll post a pic as soon as I finish it up.

 

[Barrett]

Yea I think if i would have taken more time on the topaz I would have gotten than mirror polish because i was using diamond really don''t know what it is..maybe the topaz was just not "good enough" or whatever..will take my time more on the next stone..the "G. Finewater" setup as i like to call it is on another forum that some mebers on here frequent..i tried linking the thread before but it got slapped down and a small warning for me from the watchful mods..it was my bad as i didn''t know the policies very well then..I am sure a few of you know which forum i am talking about if you are interested you can PM me over there or any of the other regs. could steer you in the right direction..it''s actually a slight mix of the Wayne Emery and Gary Finewater method..it has to be one of the best ways to photograph stones..it was very admirable of gary to let others know a sort of "trade secret" like that..it covers all the lighting and setup..the only other factor you need is a decent camera

 

[Jypsie]

I use that same setup for taking my pics now. The last set of pictures that I posted here were taken with a Nikon D300 and a Nikon 105mm micro lens.

 

[Barrett]

yep that camera will do it..i almost bought one 2 weeks ago before i found the camera i have now..those dang lenses cost almost more than the camera but they do the job bang up..nice..hey jypsie can you steer me back to your pics so i can have a look..I might have missed them

 

[Jypsie]

Certainly. https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/some-of-my-new-stones.125203/

I am still working on the lighting. I rented the camera, because I don''t want to jump in on a purchase of that significance without trying out a few options first. I was happy with the results of the D300, but honestly, it was a little too much camera for a newbie like me. The lens, while amazing, I think only lent itself to confusion and frustration on my part - let''s just say it took approximately 30 hours of shooting to get the pictures attached to the thread. LOL

Faceting is MUCH easier than taking the pictures of the faceting - at least that''s my opinion.

 

[Nomsdeplume]

Great job! I would buy any of those in a heartbeat.

 

[Deia]

Those are awesome Amguy. Really. You''re very good at this already!

 

[chrono]

Am Guy,
You progress is coming really well. The tourmaline has a lot of brilliance and the amethyst is lovely. I’m amazed you are able to get the spessartite rough for so little. Yes, the topaz looks somewhat dull because of the polish but I’m confident you’ll get the hang of it in no time.

 

[Barrett]

I didn''t like the topaz cut either..it''s called "mumble" reminds me of the transformers symbol..I got 4 rough spess''s for $20 bucks..all over 1 gram..2 had flaws when i cut into them and i still have 1 to mess with..probably the same as that one if it''s cuttable

 

[LD]

Awwww, don''t be mean! That mumble is speaking to me!!!! Actually I do like it (and I''m not a Topaz lover by any means).

You''re very talented especially if you consider those are some of your first cut gemstones! WOW! I can''t wait to see more.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Stone Hunter]

I''d say that you have a talent for gem cutting!

I think they look very nice. And the photos are great. Keep cutting!!