⭐ Show Us Your Cut Stones - Before And After Photos

[Twapster]

Ok finally got my scales delivered so weighed my little beauty

Just over 7 carat uncut so will now send her away to see what comes back. Will be back to the same spot this weekend so hoping some of her bigger cousins are lurking in the dirt.

 

[snafu]

G'day Peter,

The yellow colour you are seeing in your stone is more likely to be the result of the intense brightness of the led light you are using and not necessarily the colour of the stone in the finished cut state.

The frequency of led light will also result in false colouring of many objects, especially those that are transparent or translucent.

To give you a more accurate indication of the finished cut colour you need to know the "on table" colour of the crystal as well as the "cross table colour if it differs at all. A good example of this is with the images you posted of your blue stone that had what you described as a green tinge. At an educated guess, I would say that the green tinge was actually the "cross table" of the crystal and as most cutters would concur, a dark blue with a green cross table will generally result in a very dark cut stone. The best blues are light in colour with a blue cross table.

With some stones the cross table can have the effect of creating incredible colours under different lighting. An example of this effect happened with the stone pictured below shown in natural light. It is a 12.5 ct yellow/green parti which was the tip of a crystal which meant less loss of material in cutting . It ended up as a 6.2 ct round brilliant that was a vivid yellow under daylight and turned to an incredible apple green under artificial light. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the cut stone as it ended up in a pendant for a customer in Germany.

Hope this info helps.

Jeff

 

[Twapster]

Mate appreciate the info. I find out soon how it will cut. Hopefully no dramas!

 

[LD.]

Ok finally got my scales delivered so weighed my little beauty

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1582/1398155955_greensaph1e.jpg

Just over 7 carat uncut so will now send her away to see what comes back. Will be back to the same spot this weekend so hoping some of her bigger cousins are lurking in the dirt.

Hey there Peter!

You may be having it cut in Australia anyway so no probs but I remember reading a few times where Wal suggests not to risk sending anything overseas for cutting that is over a carat.

Cheers,
Laurence

 

[Lefty]

Stunning colour in that stone there Jeff!

 

[Lefty]

This was one of our biggest from Russian gully, went 155 carat. Most of it seems a bit dark unfortunately. Cutting these windows was as far as it progressed, this is as far as dad has gotten with it in the 30-odd years since he found it.

 

[Kingsolomon]

Looks like it has potential to me. Possibly a few stones to cut from an epic size stone , maybe just keep it for another thirty . Don't stumble upon those everyday....

 

[Lefty]

What do you reckon about that electric blue piece in the top Kingsolomon? Might cut a nice stone out of that bit? It seems to go right through - I would be stoked if the entire stone was that colour.

If it gets kept for another thirty years, I should inherit it

 

[Kingsolomon]

Looks like ( I'm assuming it has) a green cross table , which usually cuts dark stones. There's nothing wrong with dark cut stones . Some of the best cuts I've seen are dark. The piece at the top will probably cut lighter , but then again more of it might too. Haven't had much experience or seen many stones off that size. I'd say you would probably get more out of it than you think... Optimism!
That could be a white or light blue pipe , which will brighten that section..

 

[Kingsolomon]

Like this 7 k stone a friend gave me to cut ... Has a lovely white pipe in the centre , shape like a triangle...

Could be something similar in your stone...

 

[Varts]

Lefty

Now that is a beauty!!

Hey kingsolomon did you finish that gem you were cutting?

 

[Kingsolomon]

Lefty

Now that is a beauty!!

Hey kingsolomon did you finish that gem you were cutting?

Almost .. Have started some others also . Ill post e few finished ones up early next week...

 

[Varts]

Cool

I cut two stones at the same time
Two hand pieces saves changing changing the wheel so often

How do you charge your copper with dust

My father showed me how he charges it with sowing machine oil and a big round river stone ,a bit of a task.

 

[Kingsolomon]

I use a dual polishing lap... A special alloy, it has a section for 3000 and 50000 diamond paste/grit that I burn in with a piece of leather. This need to be cleaned and replaced with new grit as it lends itself to sticking to the stone.

 

[Wally69]

I use a dual polishing lap... A special alloy, it has a section for 3000 and 50000 diamond paste/grit that I burn in with a piece of leather. This need to be cleaned and replaced with new grit as it lends itself to sticking to the stone.

Do you go straight from 3000 to 50000? Job done! Or are there more steps?

 

[Lefty]

Looks like ( I'm assuming it has) a green cross table , which usually cuts dark stones. There's nothing wrong with dark cut stones . Some of the best cuts I've seen are dark. The piece at the top will probably cut lighter , but then again more of it might too. Haven't had much experience or seen many stones off that size. I'd say you would probably get more out of it than you think... Optimism!
That could be a white or light blue pipe , which will brighten that section..

Not too sure about the cross table, will have a close look at it next time I see dad. I do seem to recall that a fair few of the stones from the old claim were fairly dark blue with a green cross table. I think he ended up getting a fair few of them cooked. The greens seemed to be a bit lighter and cut nice, bright stones without any heat treatment but blue stones were the majority. He pulled a few nice yellows from that hole as well.

I see what you mean about the white pipe, it does lighten the stone - is the "white" actually colourless? I remember finding a little blue about that shade with a completely colourless tip.

Lefty
Now that is a beauty!!

Cheers Varts. He actually pulled a couple of larger ones from the same claim over about 10 years - about 200 carats - but they were all bombs. That one is the only one over 100 carats that might have some good cutting material in it.

 

[Kingsolomon]

I use a dual polishing lap... A special alloy, it has a section for 3000 and 50000 diamond paste/grit that I burn in with a piece of leather. This need to be cleaned and replaced with new grit as it lends itself to sticking to the stone.

Do you go straight from 3000 to 50000? Job done! Or are there more steps?

Haha ..
Yeah heaps more , that's just polishing ( finishing the stone) watch a youtube clip or something to give you a better idea ...

 

[Kingsolomon]

I see green in the stone .. Which lends me to the idea of cross table being that colour .
The white pipe is as it sounds .. White . Looks like yours might have a light blue one.
Love yellows , lucky to get them.

 

[Lefty]

He finally got rid of one of those yellows a while ago that he's been hanging onto for so long. A mate of his is a jeweller who had a customer ask him for a stone that was a little bit different to set in an engagement ring. One of his yellows had cut just over 5 carat and had green feathers through it - very pretty and a little unusual looking. The customer was very happy with it.

A bloke commented to me a little while ago that so many of the stones from the Central QLD field were too dark - there certainly are some overly dark ones but I think he might be unaware of the variety of colours and shades the place produces.

Excited to be getting back into this again! We spent a lot of time on the field when I was little, now at the age of 40 after a long absence from fossicking I've pegged my own claims there (paperwork! Unbelievable! Just to be allowed to dig a couple of small holes in a small patch of dirt! ). Hopefully persistence will pay off!!

 

[Kingsolomon]

Actually it can be a lot easier than it used to be.. Peg your claim and have to wait 12 months ! Now you can get through the process in about 2 weeks ... Or is this not the time frame your experiencing ?