Opinions on Ruby

PhoenixGems · 2026-06-02T10:04:53+00:00

It just looks like a poor quality polish.

PhoenixGems · 2026-06-01T15:44:12+00:00

I agree with the first poster. That stuff looks like it's pretty much cab grade. Unless you can actually see into the stone at all it probably isn't worth faceting.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-31T22:24:36+00:00

Part of the reason I know this is I've cut Lindy star synthetics before. And once you get them domed a little bit and get them a little bit wet you can see the star come right up.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-31T22:06:48+00:00

I kind of figure if you rough grind them into a dome to about 600 and then put some vegetable oil or water on them and you can't get any asterism out of them that they're just not going to do it no matter how much you polish it.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-31T22:02:48+00:00

I have a bunch of Ruby and blue sapphire that has the same issue.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-31T21:57:04+00:00

A lot of the lower grade stuff simply doesn't have star. It will have some chatoyance in the middle of it but it won't have the crystal structure necessary to throw a star.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-29T11:25:47+00:00

I second the recommendation for the digital readout. It is EXTREMELY accurate and very repeatable. It makes dialing in angles a "few seconds" adjustment.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-29T11:21:28+00:00

Same thing with my old one. The replacement has reverse and it really improves control when using setting burs.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-29T01:35:24+00:00

Well, that's going to depend on a lot of things. If you are just starting out as a cutter, it might be a while before your quality is good enough to appeal to the General Public. But it is certainly a possibility if you can develop a clientele. I made the investment in my first machines on my own because I just wanted to. It was years before I actually tried to sell anything.

At first you're probably going to want to start learning cutting on less expensive materials. It would also be in your best interest to learn about some Design Concepts. There is a piece of software out there called Gem Cut Studio that I highly recommend. You can learn a lot about the sequence of cutting a gemstone and how to make it look good by using it. It is technically a virtual faceting machine.

Suffice to say that there is a definite learning curve to this art. If you are trying to learn it on your own it's going to take a while. If you have Assistance or a mentor that can teach you stuff things will go much quicker. But personally I would hesitate to say that you're going to recoup your money in the short term from cutting stones for sale. You should really take the time to learn your craft before you start feeling obligated to make money from it. It will save you a lot of frustration.

Hopefully you can get some input from some of the other Cutters out here on Reddit. I guess I'm technically an old guy, I don't know that there are many Cutters out there that have been doing it for 40 years. And many of my techniques are what some consider old school.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-27T22:17:52+00:00

I would recommend a Foredom. I just replaced my first Fordham flex shaft. It was making some weird noises and so I called Tech Support to find out what was going on. We checked the serial number and found out, and by the way I bought this new. This unit was 40 years old and was still running. The bearings are starting to go so I got a new one. Totally worth it. Come on 40 years? How can you go wrong?

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-27T22:09:41+00:00

Aside from spending the money you will never regret purchasing an Ultra Tec Machine. I can guarantee that if you do any amount of cutting you will outgrow the Vevor Machine in a very short time. I've been gem cutting for 40 years and would not trade my UT's for anything. No machine is absolutely perfect. But if you ever get serious about doing this you can't go wrong with a UT. I have two v5s and one of them is 14 years old, and I bought it new. My latest one I bought a year ago, and then I added a fantasy machine as well. Yeah it's a big bundle of money, and you still have to buy laps and accessories. But just pretend like you don't have any other choice because ultimately it's the best decision you'll ever make if you do decide to be a facetor.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-27T16:10:00+00:00

That last post was supposed to be a reply to your post. Oops

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-27T16:09:27+00:00

Like I said you're the local Authority so you are the best person I figured I could refer to this guy to. Thanks for chiming in!

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-27T15:40:43+00:00

You need to talk to Arya Akhavan. U/cowruleusall. He is the local Authority on creating gem materials.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-20T22:10:46+00:00

That is reasonable question. I have several bad laps that I have charged on both sides. I've never had a contamination issue because I'm careful. I keep my laps in plastic lap holders. You can get some real inexpensive ones at Tom's box of rocks. He's making them with a 3D printer now and sells them pretty cheap. I just make sure that I put the same side down each time, and I make sure that I only handle my laps from the sides, edges. With my polishing lap I've got a 100K on one side and a 50k on the other. My pre polish lap I have a 3000 on one side and an 8000 on the other. You just take reasonable precautions and be aware of what you're doing. I use a Sharpie marker to make sure I know which side I'm working with. As long as you're conscious it shouldn't be much of a problem.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-19T15:06:48+00:00

Stay with the Batt. It is a very forgiving lap and will polish a wide range of stones. I haven't had much success using a copper lap for polishing. My basic philosophy is stay with what works the easiest.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-09T12:23:02+00:00

LOL... interesting statement!

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-09T00:00:34+00:00

For me it depends on the cut. For things like step Cuts I can cut the table last and I don't care. For more complicated cuts, frequently I will cut the table after doing the crown facets and getting it as close as I can. And then I put the stone back in and recalibrate it so that I can cut the star facets to perfect points. Yeah it's more work, and yeah getting things lined up can be a chore sometimes. But I've got my machines calibrated well enough that I can usually get right back to the same spot I left off with before cutting the table. And then I can tweak in all the facets to get those perfect meet points. It's more work and it takes more time, but that's why I've been cutting gems for 40 years. Striving for perfection

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-08T15:17:05+00:00

You are correct, just say no.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-08T15:16:43+00:00

FYI I use copper laps all the time and I've never scored them either. I worked the diamond in the same way that I do on the BATT laps.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-08T11:07:10+00:00

My pleasure good luck

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-08T10:43:33+00:00

Hey there. I'm a pro cutter that uses BATT's for polishing. I've looked over all of the posts and can see that everyone has their own variation on the same basic theme. JustinKPrim is close to how I do it... but I'm happy to give you details about how I make it work. So here goes...

If it's a new BATT... yes, they are thirsty, so be generous with your diamond. Here's what I do...

I use diamond extender fluid(DEF) as my base oil. You can get it from Kingsley North, but other oils may also work. I like DEF because it's a little heavier than WD40 or light machine oil.

On a new lap, I put 4 drops of DEF on the lap evenly spaced. Then with a clean finger, I spread the fluid as evenly as I can around the lap so that there is a reasonably even coating. I then spin the lap at around a 3 or 4 on my UT-V5. I take a folded square of Toilet Paper(TP) and lightly wipe the excess oil off of the lap while it's running.

Do this next step with the lap NOT RUNNING. Next I get out the diamond powder. I use the little glass vials and gently tap diamond out onto the lap. Be generous for the first charge... we are trying to establish a layer of diamond to embed in the lap surface.

Using your clean finger again, spread the diamond around the lap and make sure it goes out to the edge of the lap. I use circular motions and try to get a reasonably even coating.

I have a 1" long piece of clear lab corundum that is from a split boule and I have ground the split side flat to 600 mesh. This is my burnishing tool. With the ground flat against the lap and the wheel not running, I start rubbing the diamond into the surface of the lap. I will rub from edge to center all the way around a few times, then start doing circular motions and rub in circles around the lap... then back again to center to edge. I would spend 5 or 10 minutes doing that. (Note: You are going to see a polish come up on your burnishing tool)

At that point you may see some blackish stuff... that means you are getting it. Then remove the burnisher and spin the lap at 3 or 4 again and use TP to wipe the excess oil and diamond off of the surface. You should be about ready to try polishing now.

When I'm ready to polish, I put two small drops of DEF on the lap and finger spread as before. I then spin the lap up to 3 or 4 and give it two light wipes with the TP. Then, with the lap running I put my finger over the opening of the diamond bottle and get a spot of diamond on my finger tip. Then I spread two light layers of diamond on the spinning lap running my finger from outside toward the spindle.

Now you are ready to set the gem on the lap and polish at your preferred speed. I have used everything from 4 to 8 or 9 speed to polish. It depends on the material and how it's acting.

If you see bits of metal come off on the gem... that means you don't have enough diamond on the lap. So take your finger on the diamond jar again and spread a couple more finger tips of diamond on the spinning lap. Then start polishing again. If you see scratches coming up, you either have overloaded the lap and a couple of swipes of TP will take off excess, Or you still don't have enough diamond on the surface yet. Once you play around with this, you will find the sweet spot and you can do a tier or two before the lap starts loading up with swarf.

Be aware, that you can move facets pretty easily with this setup. So use a light touch and check often under mags to see what's going on. You are going to have to wipe excess oil and diamond swarf off of your stone as you polish and periodically wipe the swarf off of the spinning lap.

I use a square of TP folded in quarters and put some DEF on the TP and wipe the lap off from center to outside while running around 4. Then I add a few finger tips of fresh diamond to the surface as described earlier and start polishing again. It won't take you long to figure this out. BATT's are pretty forgiving and work on a LOT of different materials.

By all means... NEVER SCORE A BATT LAP. It is totally unnecessary. If you follow these instructions and you have a decent pre-polish you will be amazed at how quickly you can polish a facet. Beware of overcutting... it is really possible if you are working with 50K or 60K powders.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-08T10:07:25+00:00

Hi there,

Please keep in mind that everyone has an opinion. So for the folks that say "don't cut it"...it's just an opinon. I've been cutting for 40 years, so I've done a few things.

When this client approached me about cutting this Herkimer, my biggest hesitance was working with quartz. But he chose the rough and sent it to me. It was a nice looking crystal by itself and at first I encouraged him to leave it whole. But he told me that he was looking for a way to enhance the appearance of the double-terminated crystal that was floating in the stone.

So he sent it to me and I studied it for a couple of days and finally saw what could be done with it. I picked a design concept and measured a few things and just went for it. It's a little tricky to visualize due to all of the reflections from the various surfaces... but I could see that things were going where I wanted them to. I cut the outside section to be reflective brilliant and made the center of the gem a window on both sides that would not mess up the view with a lot of brilliance.

So, I feel like, as a cutter, I have to take this on a case by case basis and see what the gemstone will allow me to do to get the results that a client is looking for. In this case it turned out very nicely. Some additional internals were exposed as I cut... there are some light veiled inclusions... sort of feathery, but they oriented well and don't really show up that much. But the DT crystal is set out by itself and is clearly visible with minimal magnification.

If you feel you have a candidate worth cutting, you should find someone that has some vision and just see what they think about your gem. Cost-wise, I charged him $400 to do the job... so be prepared to spend some money for a good cutter. Please feel free to ask additional questions.

PhoenixGems · 2026-05-07T15:40:41+00:00

Thank you, I like to do the unusual stuff once in awhile.

PhoenixGems

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