I bought a gem faceting set up, Im going to assume my thermolock or california red pitch wont work?
Dropping wax or CA glue come to mind. Go to Kingsley North or Ultra Tec and see what they sell. What machine did you buy and from whom? Good luck…Rob
What type of faceting set up did you get? So cool!
A lot depends on the stone, if it’s heat tolerant, solvent tolerant, the size, etc. I’ve seen everything from dopping wax, UV cure resin, to layers of 2 part epoxy being used. I use two part epoxy in layers but am thinking of switching to the UV cure resin because then you eliminate the overnight waiting and can get to it right away. Dop wax, especially the softer ones (grey or dark green are good), sometimes has a habit of releasing prematurely especially if you accidentally bump the stone. I just bought an UltraTec VL myself (upgrading from the Jool tool GRS fixture which is great for honing and sharpening gravers but for gemcutting not so much, though it seems to be popular with the overseas cutters in Asia). Set to arrive early January and I can’t wait to start making headway on all the rough I’ve accumulated over the years. Are you following any gemcutters on Youtube? I can send you links to some really good ones.
i use uv curing glue bought at, oddly enough, amazon. it came with a uv light as well. it works well. i like using a small amount of glue, short cure -seconds- checking to see if the alignment is ok, putting more glue on, curing with a handheld uv light for 30 seconds and finally a 2.5 minute cure. i cut the stone off with a woodburning tool with a premounted xacto blade to remove the uv glue.
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