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How to Make a Faceting Machine

The polishing of precision-cut gems isn't just for professionals with access to vast machine shops full of equipment. While faceting equipment can run into the thousands of dollars, it is possible to create your own machine at home for a fraction of that cost. The basic parts of your faceting machine should include the lap, or grinding wheel, along with a cheap, portable template faceter to replace the more expensive and labor-intensive fixed mast.

Things You'll Need

Band saw
Drill
Aluminum tooling plate
Motorized grinding wheel (available in machine/metalworking shops)
Carriage bolt
Thumb nut
Aluminum sheeting
Aluminum jamb peg (at least six inches in length)
Spindle (thin enough to fit through the center of the grinding wheel)
Arbor nut
Metal bowl

Instructions

Building the Template Faceter
- 1
  Cut aluminum sheeting into a regular hexagon 3 1/2 in. in diameter, using a bandsaw.
- 2
  Drill a hole in the center of the hexagon with the carriage bolt.
- 3
  Fit the aluminum jamb peg through the hole.
- 4
  Fasten the jamb peg firmly to the base of the hexagonal sheet with the thumb nut.
- 5
  Attach a gem to the end of the jamb peg with wax or glue.
Constructing the Lap Wheel
- 6
  Place the metal bowl on the tooling plate and drill central holes through both.
- 7
  Insert the spindle through the tooling plate up through the center of the bowl, and fasten it with a nut.
- 8
  Place a motorized grinding wheel with AC hookup on the spindle so that the resulting mechanism can spin freely. Make sure that there are at least several millimeters of space between circumference of the lap wheel and the circumference of the bowl.

Gemology