Never touched a faceting machine? Start here.

Day one

• Machine, dop and index: how it all actually works
• Setting angles and cutting to a meetpoint
• Cut and polish your first pavilion

Day two

• Transfer, then cut the crown and table
• Polish, inspect, and take your stone home

Before you come

• No experience needed. Complete beginners are exactly who this class is for.
• Nothing to buy. Machines, laps, dops and rough are all provided. Bring your own machine if you have one and would rather learn on it, with one exception: please do not bring a Vevor. They will not hold an angle or an index reliably, and you would spend the class fighting the machine instead of learning to cut. Talk to us first and we will sort something out.
• One thing to bring: a 10x triplet loupe, or a head mount magnifier, so you can inspect your own stone as you go.

Who is teaching

Several experienced cutters share the class, and the student to instructor ratio is usually one to one or one to two. Every student gets a notebook and a curriculum from the Guild’s education committee. This year’s instructors will be named here nearer the date.

Already at the bench? Two days of cutting alongside other faceters.

The weekend runs as breakout sessions, presentations and group workshops. Everyone works on the same design, so there is always something to compare against and somebody to ask. The rough is provided and preformed in advance, so the room can start together.

Across the two days

• Breakout sessions and presentations
• Group workshops
• Time to try each other’s machines and techniques
• Photos, show and tell, and a chance to talk shop

Before you come

• Around twenty stones cut, give or take. This is a guide to whether you will keep up with the room.
• You can dop and transfer unaided, with wax or a fast-setting glue. That means the initial dopping as well as the transfer. The group finishes a gem in a day, so a 24-hour gluing routine will leave you a day behind by lunchtime.
• Your own machine, laps, dops and supplies. Water is on site, and the rough is provided: it is prepared and preformed in advance so the room can start together.

A word about machines

Because the room cuts one gem to a shared tempo, your machine needs to hold an angle and an index repeatably. The inexpensive imported machines sold under the Vevor name will not do that reliably, and their owners spend the weekend fighting the equipment instead of cutting. If that is what you have, come and talk to us first. We would rather help you sort it out than have you lose the day.

What to bring

• Your faceting machine, laps and dops
• Transfer jig and dopping supplies
• A drain bucket for your machine
• Loupe, calipers, power strip, and anything else you normally use
• Rough is provided, so there is nothing to source beforehand

The Meetpoint Meetup is sponsored by the United States Faceters Guild. Events like this are possible because of that support. If you cut stones, consider joining them. Join the USFG.