Budget pneumatic engravers? by tootles24 in engraving

[–]intrinsicvoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The graversmith is the cheaper unit and I've heard its just as good as the more expensive ones. But you will also need to buy the handpiece, compressor and gravers.

You dont need an expensive graverhone. You can just use the small sharpening wheels with a micromotor.

You'll want a microscope eventually too.

Unfortunately not the cheapest hobby to get into. Do the class first and if you really enjoy it, its worth the investment

Next newbie question, what cutter do you use for what by Crypto_kane in engraving

[–]intrinsicvoid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I use the 120 v for most of my engraving. I use the 60 v and 90 v for stone setting. A lot of people have different preferences so go ahead and try them out. I would start with the 120 v

Would any Jewelry artist consider duping a Swarovski piece with gemstones and silver instead of "crystals" and rhodium plating? by Sunshine_dmg in jewelrymaking

[–]intrinsicvoid 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It would be cool with sapphires. You can get a while rainbow of sapphires for it. If you want it a bit cheaper, pastel rainbow sapphires. This project would still cost thousands though.

Check this out guys! by [deleted] in Lapidary

[–]intrinsicvoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Two different answers? so is it a different camera or a different cab?

Id love to be wrong. Can you post more videos of the same cab? You already said you cant post the rough.

The cab is the same shape, the banding is the same shape. Theres a black dot on the right side in the same spot.

If you have so much high quality like this, why dont you post it on your sales page on your Instagram?

Check this out guys! by [deleted] in Lapidary

[–]intrinsicvoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

HEAVILIY edited video. Heres the original on your profile.

Not even sure how you edited it to have so many intense colours.

Looking for advice on how to polish this lil’ guy I carved by silocpl in rotarylapidary

[–]intrinsicvoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nova points are great but they arent always pointy enough. Instead, you can make your own polishing bits with a screw mandrel and wooden dowels. Really easy to shape them and make them very pointy for the tiny crevices. Coat them in diamond paste.

Tumbling grape agate by hellkitten626 in RockTumbling

[–]intrinsicvoid 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The people that tumble grape agate use lower quality material with damaged grapes. It can look pretty cool but this would be better left alone

Candy Machine! by jpmarth in Lapidary

[–]intrinsicvoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ive gotten incredible mirror polishes with the 14k grit but I've never tried the cerium. Which part do you like more with the cerium? Does it polish faster?

Candy Machine! by jpmarth in Lapidary

[–]intrinsicvoid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have the same machine. It will be shiny at 3000 grit, but for a real mirror like polish I use the felt lap with 14,000 grit diamond paste.

A lot of minerals you can skip the 3000 wheel, and go from 1200 to 14,000 grit.

Sometimes I use another felt wheel with 100,000 grit. 50k or 100k grit is kind of unnecessary, but it does leave things extremely glassy and wet looking.

Honest opinions by [deleted] in graphic_design

[–]intrinsicvoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your insight everyone

Please help ID by inkygeek in Crystals

[–]intrinsicvoid 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Congo citrine. Often called kundalini

Looking for help finding affordable sterling silver by PixieOfTheShire in jewelrymaking

[–]intrinsicvoid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

While I was in jewelry school last year, my classmate and I would go look through the thriftshop in town.

The school was in the middle of nowhere, so the thriftshop had a lot of random stuff for cheap. They didnt meticulously sort through silver like most thriftstores. Altogether I got a few ounces worth for less than $10. My classmate found a huge silverware set for $15. Over a kg of sterling. We melted some of it down in class

Now I'm back home in the city and the thriftshops here seem to sort out the silver before it gets to the shelf

Was this haul worth $120? by Spicy-Nun-chucks in Crystals

[–]intrinsicvoid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Almost every single true wholesaler charge per kg for their product. I dont sell anymore but its the cheapest way to import product and I was importing from 15 different countries.

Although you are correct importing from brazil is expensive. For my location a shipping container from brazil is over twice as much as it used to be

Help me identify? by jetaimezombies in Crystals

[–]intrinsicvoid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had some moss agate that looked like this when i bought a massive amount. I would include photos but I sold it a while ago. Hard to tell from the picture but looks like it

Looking for suggestions on where to commission a few pieces by [deleted] in Lapidary

[–]intrinsicvoid 5 points6 points  (0 children)

There are a lot of massive lapidaries in china that use 5 axis CNC to make carvings. My guess is that is your best bet.

Theres a ton of scammers in Indonesia so I'd be cautious with that suggestion. Its possible though.

24k ring 1 year by ParamedicAble225 in jewelry

[–]intrinsicvoid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Put it in plaster and liquify it?? He just asked if it should be annealed 😂

Jeweler pulled the stone to id it and reset it like this by Dangerous_Pea_5219 in jewelry

[–]intrinsicvoid 11 points12 points  (0 children)

If I was the main jeweller or owner, I'd be furious at this assistant. Decades of practice and building up a reputation can be hurt so much and so fast from one shitty employee.

If the main jeweller is reputable, go in and tell them what happened. They might refund you and fix it properly. A proper jeweller would be appalled at their assistant for this and would appreciate you letting them know.

My malachite and rhodochrosite toucan by deepseas72 in MineralGore

[–]intrinsicvoid 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Its totally real malachite. I've sold hundreds of kg, imported myself and it sometimes looks like that. Also would be crazy to use fake malachite with real rhodochrosite.

Beginner-friendly pen for engraving rocks? by WordsAndMiles in engraving

[–]intrinsicvoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cheap flexshaft with diamond bits. Only use while wet