In 1990 I purchased this jig from a gentleman in B.C., a double dovetail adjustable dop.
It came with a couple of 6 mm dops, 1" long. I cut the last 1" off a few other dops to get other sizes.
Don't know if he is still around, but the idea is.
That's very similar to an oldham coupling! If you can cut dovetails you could easily make some of these. Those grubscrews look like they just hold the dop in place, but you could have another set that puts pressure on a pair of internal plastic blocks to control friction in each joint (and allow you to not rely on the dovetail for friction).
I have a polymetric scintillator which has standard round dops. Not altogether satisfied with it, had one about 15 years ago that seemed to be a better build. Love the facetrons, if they brought a model out with a stronger motor and overall improved features I would go for it in a flash.
Good luck on the machine building and I'm looking forward to seeing your first dop prototype.
Ho Abeck - not sure if I 'get' how that works but it looks that it may be good for center adjustment but then you would have a difficulty with radial as the stone will be twisting as it moves over. Have you used it? Does it work?
Oldham couplings and goniometer heads are beyond me
Ross Clark was part of the BC Faceters Guild which has more or less shut down since 2014. I'm not sure where he's living now, but he's an elderly gentleman who I doubt is still machining parts.
I'll look and see if I have his contact info and ask him for more info about this device.
-Allan
_________________ Allan Aoyama http://www.omnifaceter.net <- Omnifaceter is back online!
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:04 am Posts: 257 Location: Idaho
gembug wrote:
Ross Clark was part of the BC Faceters Guild which has more or less shut down since 2014. I'm not sure where he's living now, but he's an elderly gentleman who I doubt is still machining parts.
I'll look and see if I have his contact info and ask him for more info about this device.
-Allan
Ross is a great guy - I met him at a Northwest/International Faceter's Conference in McCall, Idaho in 1990. Kurt Nassua and Art Grant were the featured speakers. A couple dozen Facetron users ("Facetron Users Anonomous") got together and discussed machine issues, and Ross offered both the offset-dop jig and a dial indicator for the facetron which also replaced some troublesome parts of the mechanism. Very talented man and machinist!
Thank you, Allan!
Allan (my name too...)
_________________ Lapidarist by Passion Goldsmith by Necessity
Facetron x2 Polymetrics OMF GemCad/GemRay/Gem Cut Studio Matrix 9/Rhino 5, 6, 7 REVO A (still hanging on...) B9 Creator Core 5 Series XL Indutherm MC-15
I just heard back from one of the others. Ross passed away in 2012 (I thought he had but wasn't sure). He was a good faceter with a nice collection of large finished stones. I don't recall this but he had a lot with frosted designs on the pavilion.
So, unfortunately, you have a collector's item that is no longer available. It's too bad because I would have liked one myself!
-Allan
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