Hi, my name is Penny Smith and I desperatly need instructions for an
American Facetor. I bought it through ebay. Before I bid I asked the
seller if there were instructions. She replyed that she would send
everything she had with the faceter.I’m afraid that I let my
enthusiasum blind me to the ambiguity of that statement. I have never
faceted a thing and have no idea how the index gears are attached and
what the heck is a “precision electronic micrometer” and how do I use
it? I’m really getting frustrated looking at this thing
and not being able to use it! Hoping for some help, Penny Smith
Penny- you can get parts and operating instructions from Dennis
Marinac at AquaDennis@aol.com very nice guy, and helpful too!
Elizabeth, Do not expect any instructions you receive with the
machine to tell you how to use the machine, they will not. Most
faceters come with very rudimentary instructions or none at all.
Faceter manufacturers expect you to know how to use the machine
before you purchase. You need to find some one locally to help you.
The best place is the local gem and mineral club. There are several
sites and magazines like the Lapidary Journal that list clubs.
If nothing else works contact me at @Gerry and I will try to
help. I have a lot of experience on faceters, but none on the
American Faceter. Anyone buying lapidary equipment should do some
background checking. Be sure the model you are buying is still in
production. Just because the manufacturers name is on the machine
does not mean the manufacturer will fix your model or even give you
help to use the model. If the manufacturer is still in business call
them and check if they will work on the machine in question. EBay is
being used as a dumping ground for equipment that is no longer in
production. A lot of this equipment has calibration problems which
make them near impossible to use. Parts that are needed to fix the
worn machines are no longer being manufactured so the equipment will
be very expensive to fix.
Buyer beware takes on a whole new meaning in the lapidary field. It
is more buyer be extremely knowledgeable or get taken for a ride.
Gerry Galarneau
HI Penny, A good place to ask for the American Facetor Instruction
book and ask ANY question you have about faceting is on the LAPIDARY
ARTS and FACETERS DIGEST. Go tohttp://www.gemcutters.org and sign
up. I am sure you can find the answer to ALL your questions there. John
Penny, I have complete instructions for the American
Faceter…including the micrometer. Our Gem and Mineral Society has
an American with the micrometer, though we rarely use it. I will try
to remember to bring the instructions home on Thursday from the
Society and make copies for you.
Meanwhile, I have faceted several stones with the American and find
that the engineering was quite advanced for its day. The tiny
footprint is exceptional and the parts were quite well made though
the protractor tends to self-destruct after a while. I had to make a
new one for our machine and then recalibrate it. I attempted to
teach one of my students to facet with it but it was not successful.
I still don’t know if it was the student or the machine but he never
seemed to grasp the functions. I don’t think it was the
instructor…maybe but don’t think so as I have taught many others
to facet on other machines with no problem.
Anyway, for the novice, the American is a bit difficult to master
but after doing so, should provide good results. The micrometer is a
real plus. I have been told by an engineer who studied the device
that it was 20 years ahead of the technology. I found it made the
machine much easier to use over the manual stop device and resulted
in greater accuracy.
Anyway, will try to get the instructions put together for you and,
if you send me your snail-mail address, will post to you.
Cheers, Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelry! @coralnut2
Hi Penny. I have a copy of the original instruction book for the AF
in the UK. Do you want hard copy or email? Let me know if you haven’t
already found one.
Rgds
Roger Stone
Hi Penny!
What a coincidence. For about 15 years I have been looking at Dad’s
old “American Facetor” thinking one day I shall try and cut a stone
and two weeks ago decided to give it a try. Fortunately my father
kept all the paperwork neat and tidy. The instructions that came
with the facetor itself are extremely brief but I found amongst the
papers photocopied step by step instructions for cutting a brilliant
cut quartz on this machine. Also it had good info on the different
laps required etc etc.
All the other “recipes” for cutting various stones were collected
from various Lapidary magazines though I am sure one could buy a
book somewhere with plenty of these.
If you have no luck in getting good instructions I will be happy to
photocopy enough to get you started and cut the first stone (like I
did) and send it to you. It was excellent fun and though it would
not pass inspection by an expert I proudly show it to anyone I think
might be vaguely interested.
Contact me offline if you need to. Cheers and good luck, Renate in
Adelaide, Australia where it is currently too cold altogether for my
liking.