A
good gem to start out with would be something in the quartz family,
such as amethyst, lemon citrine (a very good choice and affordable)
citrine or one of the other quartz varieties. Also a good option are
garnets or beryls. They are more easy to find for a reasonable
price. I would not recommend Rose quartz or any other gem with a slight
haze to it because your finished gem will not be as bright as it would
be without the "haziness". Something around 15mm finished size would
probably be a good beginners gem.
Don't be afraid to start faceting with a large gem. They are
easier to cut because mistakes don't happen as quickly and
in general it's easier to tell
how the gem is developing as you're faceting.
Big
gems also don't fall off the dop as much.
Rough:
When you buy rough it's better to
buy rough that is too light than too dark as it's extremely hard to
rescue dark material in the cutting, whereas light material will show
the cut very well even if it doesn't have ideal saturation.
Especially at first avoid included material as this is much harder to
deal with and often results in lower yield and a disappointing final
appearance.
Equipment:
The Machine: For
flat faceting I use
an Ultra Tec faceting machine. I have used a number of other faceting
machines which have ranged from terrible to mediocre but the best I
have used yet is the Ultra Tec. If you are
interested in purchasing an Ultra Tec machine please contact me. Laps:
For starting out you should probably have a 360 and a 600 grit "topper"
lap (a lap that you put on top of another for support, they are thinner
and cheaper), a 600 grit Raytech Nubond lap and a 1200 grit Raytech
NuBond lap
these will allow you to do most of the kinds of cutting you will want
to do. For polishing I recommend the Spectra Ultra laps for the quartz,
opal and feldspar groups and for most other gems a Tin lap with Linde A
polishing powder. If you are looking to economize and will limit
yourself to fewer gem varieties then this list can be made a but
shorter but in the long run you will probably want most of these. Dops:
The most useful dops are the cone dops and you might want a few "Vee"
dops. Most of the more "exotic" shapes (excluding "emerald dops")
aren't that useful. I
personally like to use Dop Wax for the second side of the gem and a
kind of clay like epoxy for the first side.
Odds and Ends: You
will need an alcohol
lamp, lighter and acetone. You will
also probably want an Optivisor and 10 power
triplet loupe for examining your work. A mm guage is often useful as
well; I like the digital calipers from China that cost about $20.
Reference Book: The
book "Faceting for Amateurs" by Glenn and Martha Vargas would probably
be a good book for a beginner to buy.