South Florida Faceters?

[monte]

Hi!
My name is Nick and I live in Oakland Park. I started shaping semiprecious stones with sandpaper a few years ago (after a lifetime loving minerals in all forms), and now I’m obsessed with lapidary. I graduated to a small bench grinder that has allowed me to trim, shape, and polish rough into (mostly sphere-based) freeform shapes and practice cutting traditional cabochon designs. After a bit of research I resolved to buy a Raytech Shaw faceting machine, saved for over a year, and placed an order.

While waiting for the unit to arrive I want to gather as much knowledge as possible in order to hit the ground running, ergo this thread.

Are there any Guild members in South FL?
Does anyone near me have experience with a Raytech Shaw or Handpiece-style machine?
Has anyone purchased a machine from Pete at Westerngems.com?

Best wishes and happy cutting!

[Tim Smith]

Hi Nick. I too am new and spent many, many hours watching youtube videos. I can’t speak to anything organizations in S. FL, but videos by Moregems and Bopie’s Diamonds have proven to be very usefull. Those cutters use mast machines, but there’s still a TON of knowledge shared. Specifically for the handpiece-type, check out videos by Justin Prim. Good luck!

• This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by Tim Smith.

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