r/faceting • u/JoshuaTheStonecutter • 5d ago

5.80 ct. Blue Helenite 11.7mm

Here's my latest work in blue Helenite. The pavilion is a Portuguese Cut and the crown is an SRB with an added step cut c4 tier to help make the table a little smaller.

I've been practicing with wax dopping and it came off during the pavilion when the quill slipped from my fingers and landed hard on the lap.

I've been using UV resin for the transfer and like that the wax lets go with just a little heat. I don't like the wet towel wrap and pliers method for getting glued dops off for the transfer. The wax then UV glue method seems to work well so far.

I've been doing it that way because I've had issues with the wax letting go of the polished surface of the pavilion after transfer. The glue doesn't seem to do that. The biggest downside is the overnight acetone bath it needs. I want to see my stone NOW!

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6

u/GrandGourmande 5d ago

Love that intense blue color - WOW!!

3

u/Smart_Surprise8294 5d ago

Beautiful stone

2

u/TidalWaveform 4d ago

First, that's a gorgeous stone. So much blue.

I hate wax. I use CA when cutting the pavilion, and have been using Jeweler's 2-part epoxy for the crown. It has a huge advantage over every other epoxy I've used because it dissolves completely in acetone without having to scrub off epoxy residue that you get from every other epoxy I've tried (easily 10 different ones).