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 Post subject: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 4:18 pm 
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Greetings,

Has anyone tried these 'dirt cheap' faceting machines. they are $300 to $500 and to me they look like they would fail soon and not be accurate at all. Maybe better as a paper weight.

Is there any merit to them?


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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:50 pm 
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Are we to just do a generic search on amazon and figure out which machines your talking about, just any that fall in that price range? Can you provide specific one(s) that can be evaluated in some way.

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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 6:49 pm 
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I stumbled across something like that yesterday. I'll see if I can retrace my steps. Didn't read about them, saw the price and wondered if you were buying just the pictures or the plans to make your own. :lol:
Don't laugh...my FIL, rest his soul, bought a watch that would 'last a life time'. Trouble was, when it came, there were no innards, so nothing would ever break down... ergo..last a life time. :smt044
LOl, and the cut your bills in half plan...receive a small pair of scissors.

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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:15 pm 
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Here we go... retraced my steps and the ad for this popped up again... no I'm not endorsing.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Gem-Faceting-Machine-Rock-Polisher-1800RPM-Gem-Cutting-Machine-Jewelry-Polisher/184359508965?hash=item2aecaedbe5%3Ag%3AnrcAAOSwgZZfCE4D&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=705-53470-19255-0&campid=5337996411&customid=2abb1632-e0c7-485d-bd17-cbb8776f3f48&toolid=10049

eta.. there's another one for about 4o bucks more with a dig readout.

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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:30 pm 
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So Vevor brand... with no hard angle stop or fine height adjustment, I don't see how anything more than single cuts would be feasible on this?

May be better off with a jamb-peg in comparison, like this one. It at least, has a height adjuster dial at the top by the looks of it.


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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:31 pm 
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mehoose wrote:
I stumbled across something like that yesterday. I'll see if I can retrace my steps. Didn't read about them, saw the price and wondered if you were buying just the pictures or the plans to make your own. :lol:
Don't laugh...my FIL, rest his soul, bought a watch that would 'last a life time'. Trouble was, when it came, there were no innards, so nothing would ever break down... ergo..last a life time. :smt044
LOl, and the cut your bills in half plan...receive a small pair of scissors.

LOL!
I had a gentleman come in last week who bought a cheaper Chinese faceting machine that is arriving without dops and many of the other required items needed to facet. Had to now go and order and was told it would be 2-3 months for delivery, I do not think he was dealing in the Amazon platform.

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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:41 pm 
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mehoose wrote:

The mast head and quill less digital readout, looks exactly like the one the gentleman I referred to in my prior post purchased. I see this ad does not include dops as well.
He brought it in seeking dops, if it is the same it takes 6.0mm diameter. All I can say is it was very shiny, the mast head, quill and mast base that is. Hard to tell how accurate it can be by a photo, would need to have it on the bench, setup and able to check the tolerances.

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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:05 pm 
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glhays wrote:
The mast head and quill less digital readout, looks exactly like the one the gentleman I referred to in my prior post purchased. I see this ad does not include dops as well.
He brought it in seeking dops, if it is the same it takes 6.0mm diameter. All I can say is it was very shiny, the mast head, quill and mast base that is. Hard to tell how accurate it can be by a photo, would need to have it on the bench, setup and able to check the tolerances.


I noticed some things that look like dops but they had incredibly skinny ends that you'd have to put a teensy bit of rough on.
Didn't go in depth but not even sure what the index is, nor if you could even buy other sizes.

It would be a wonderful foot in the door IF everything works how it's supposed to.

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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:36 pm 
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Shifter55 wrote:
So Vevor brand... with no hard angle stop or fine height adjustment, I don't see how anything more than single cuts would be feasible on this?

May be better off with a jamb-peg in comparison, like this one. It at least, has a height adjuster dial at the top by the looks of it.



I actually have a jamb-peg that looks just like that one. It fits perfectly on my Facetron (or Ultra-Tech) faceting machine, and works great. Fun to cut on, and very efficient.


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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:50 pm 
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1bwana1 wrote:
Shifter55 wrote:
So Vevor brand... with no hard angle stop or fine height adjustment, I don't see how anything more than single cuts would be feasible on this?

May be better off with a jamb-peg in comparison, like this one. It at least, has a height adjuster dial at the top by the looks of it.



I actually have a jamb-peg that looks just like that one. It fits perfectly on my Facetron (or Ultra-Tech) faceting machine, and works great. Fun to cut on, and very efficient.


I do not think I can use it on my scintillator, I can change out the mast rail to the facetron-ultratec rail, but the 12" height is not going to give me much, maybe to do girdles, and that's no fun. Although I could always retro-fit my MDR box to accept the plate and use one of these. They always have looked intriguing to use.
In quick thinking I can always use a risor block of some sort under the plate. Nahhhh to much fuss.

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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 12:44 pm 
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glhays wrote:
Are we to just do a generic search on amazon and figure out which machines your talking about, just any that fall in that price range? Can you provide specific one(s) that can be evaluated in some way.


You are correct, that was my lazy assumption and I am sorry. I would not go searching for it if there was no link too.
There is not just one. I am wondering about all of these on this link. In general, I don't think these can work as well as the more expensive professional machines.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=faceting+machine


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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 4:01 pm 
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Facetnator wrote:
glhays wrote:
Are we to just do a generic search on amazon and figure out which machines your talking about, just any that fall in that price range? Can you provide specific one(s) that can be evaluated in some way.


You are correct, that was my lazy assumption and I am sorry. I would not go searching for it if there was no link too.
There is not just one. I am wondering about all of these on this link. In general, I don't think these can work as well as the more expensive professional machines.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=faceting+machine

It looks very similar to the ones on ebay, so I stand with my earlier comment it is hard judge a machine solely on images.
But usually you get what you pay for.

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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:59 pm 
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I put myself through Geology school cabbing and faceting on one of these machines that came from the Sears Catalog back in the early 1970s. I still have some stones cut on this machine, and they are not bad at all. Youth, ignorance, and ambition make up for a lot of other things sometimes.


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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:26 pm 
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It is almost exactly the same as my father's B&I machine that I just donated to Justin Prim's collection. Except that I did not have the faceting attachment.

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 Post subject: Re: Amazon.com Faceting machines
PostPosted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 2:04 am 
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This also reminds me of the fact that John Sinkankas has several large stones in the Smithsonian that he cut on a slightly modified Lee machine.

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