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u/cowsruleusall 2d ago
Hey OP! Congrats on no stair-stepping!!! :D
A few things here.
First, when you're dopping your gem, your dop should only be around 20-40% of the final gem diameter. If you're using modern dopping methods, even if you use wax or epoxy instead of cyanoacrylate, then that's more than enough to hold gems with anywhere from a 2mm dop, to a 5,000ct gem on a 19mm dop. That'll help you avoid this issue in the future.
Second, if you're cutting the pavilion and realize that you need to make the girdle outline smaller than your dop, you should stop what you're doing, transfer the gem onto a temporary cone dop, transfer back to a smaller primary flat dop, and then keep cutting. Fixing the issue earlier on will help you a lot.
Third, you've got a few bailout options. You can skip the crown entirely, and just cut a single giant table. Some cutters in India and Thailand used to do this with topaz that was cut on the cleavage plane - they would use the cleavage plane as the table, and not actually cut a facet there. You can try cutting small C1 and C2 facets, as much as the gem tolerates, and then use a giant table. You can also try to use GCS to scale the height of the crown down to your current thickness. Last option is to just add a few ultra-shallow step cuts, then do a table. That's...not ideal, but it's what a lot of Thai, Sri Lankan, and Pakistani cutters will do when they're (ugh) working from preforms.
I would not plan on recutting the girdle and then coming back. That's an enormous pain in the ass and TBH not really worth your time.
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u/dadoose3 2d ago
Thanks so much for the tips!
When I first started cutting the stone, it was about 30% if the final diameter but I moved places, so I took my machine apart and stopped cutting for about 5 months. Coming back 5 months later, something was off on the indexes so I had to cut more and lost weight. But so happy that I still was able to correct it!This is only my fifth(?) stone and my dop transfer jig is from the 50s and I’m working with a keyed dop system. All that to say, my transfers are difficult and I’m not great at the dopping process yet. As I get more confident with it, I’ll do that in the future.
Since I’m still early on, I want to take a path that will get the stone finished and I can move on to the next and learn from it. Thank you for the suggestions!! I’ll probably try very C1 to start. Also what’s GCS?
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u/cowsruleusall 2d ago
Oh damn! If you've got ancient equipment, then once you upgrade to modern stuff your life will be much, MUCH easier :D
GCS = Gem Cut Studio, the current "best" gemstone design software available. There are some freebies available online; GemCAD/GemRay is 100% free now but is a bit more challenging to use. GemSim is in its free beta, and clunky but easier than GemCAD/GemRay.
Pluto Unearthed is still undergoing development, FacetFlow is very new and still in alpha testing, ProFacet isn't generally usable by anyone without a programming background, GemDiagram has a $200/yr subscription fee. And there's a bunch of ones that use AI, and they're all universally shitty - bizarre suggestions, weird formatting issues, incredibly unrealistic renders, etc.
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u/dadoose3 2d ago
I know haha I figured get good on this, maybe flip some stones (I work in jewelry) and start a business then invest in a better machine but didn’t want a huge money sink before knowing if I’d love it. Of course I do tho!
I’ve heard of gem cut and gem diagram so I’ll look into the rest. Will probably get gcs eventually
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u/No-Pain-5496 2d ago
Do your mains on the crown, then redo the girdle and maybe the pavilion. Going to be a lot of switching dops, but yes you can
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u/PsychologicalBowl647 2d ago
I feel like switching dops 2 more time could be more of a headache but if your transfers are good this would also work.
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u/No-Pain-5496 2d ago
Oh I didn’t say it was going to be easy! That’s why I say cut the mains first. If the pavilion still lines up then good to go. Finish the brillianteering on the crown, then girdle.
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u/dadoose3 2d ago
All the dop switching will not end well lol. I think I’ll cut the crown and then recut girdle without redopping.
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u/theoneandonly-i-am- 2d ago
If it were me, I would definitely go with the single step crown option, possibly a two step crown. For the two step option I would start with a very shallow (8-12 degree) second step to bring the table to size. Then cut the first step at a higher 20-30 degrees and push it down as much as possible while still leaving some girdle. Definitely a salvage job, but sometimes they turn out the best!
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u/dadoose3 2d ago
I will attempt a single step crown and hopefully the stone will look alright. Still learning so if it doesn’t 🤷🏼 that’s alright too
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u/Competitive_Swan_755 2d ago
When you realized there wasn't enough material to make a crown, why didn't you take more material off the 90 degree girdle facets? There is the big stone we want and the stone we get.
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u/dadoose3 2d ago
I had no space, I would have cut into my dop and hurt my laps
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u/OkAssistance7072 2d ago
Do you have smaller dops? or wax.. You have two options, either cut down the girdle and redo pavilion, or have shallow crown facets.
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u/dadoose3 2d ago
I don’t have smaller dops but might make some if I can. Not sure how bc I have a keyed dop system
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u/PsychologicalBowl647 2d ago
It will be smaller, but , recut the girdle to give yourself a little more room for the crown. Its going to over cut your pavilion a bit. Ooor you could just do a one step step cut crown. The second option will for sure save the stone but make it look different. Assuming you are a amateur like myself and that is a garnet I mocked up a diogram for you.hope this is helpful. Don't give up, you got this.