Build it Yourself: "Attachment Of The Hardware"

By this time, Your hand built stylus is complete and looking pretty much ready for use. First, One will need to cut an assortment of Dops sticks in lengths of 1 1/2" to 2" long and grind the ends to be used flat. If the 1/4'' steel rod is not as useable in the setup., One may cut them down or acquire a smaller steel rods and make Dops for the smaller stones. For larger stones, Adding more doping wax until the stone has a good sized and sturdy base to it. You can also use regular epoxy glue for doping as it has become quite accepted and used in the lapidary industry for this purpose.


Image: Variety of Dops all made from 1/4" steel rod and cut to the above described length.

After Doping up a stone, Insert the jam peg into the stylus, (don't forget to tighten the locking collar but not too tight) Your now ready to start cutting and faceting some stones.

At this point, You'll need something to cut the stones and gems on. Most factors use a lap machine, which is simply a perpendicular rotating wheel that is attached a motor and allows for an adjustable speed control. I have yet to construct this device on my own, but one may wish to Google this process from another sites or search for "Faceting" equipment or "Lapidary" tools.



Wizard has elected to rotate his home made faceting tool, horizontally or 90 degrees in order to achieve many of his facets. You can read more about his adventures here: "Shoe String Lapidary"

Slight modifications to any device can be used as a faceting wheel. Revelations of the wheel need not achieve high speeds, But I have been achieving better results at lower speeds. The lower speeds or revelations may take a bit longer to cut or shape the facets, but the facets will retain their sharpness and their flat surfaces.

The important thing you need is a method of control of the angle of cutting. This was originally done in Jam Pegging with the Peg. The Peg is simply a block of wood with a lot of holes in it and in the video included in the original post it shows how it was used.


Image: Simple method of a Control Arm. The Control Arm is very simple to make, But assembly and installation must be precise.

The Control Arm is made from 1" Aluminum stock measuring 4" inches long and two other stock arms are needed measuring 1 1/4 inches long. The stock items once assembled, will rest on a threaded rod with two lock nuts holding it in place. The thickness of the threaded rod isn't necessary, But I used 1/4" because it was available at the time and retains is shape and stiffness. A wing nut is used to allow for ease of adjustments.

Cut or file two channels in the 1 1/4" pieces to allow a 1/4" steel rod to pass with very little movement. Once you have made the channels place the 2 1 1/4" pieces at one end of the 4" rod and glue them together. Next, A critical installation is required. Make sure that the 2 side pieces are exactly 90 degrees to the 4" piece and once solidly fixed in place with glue be sure that the bottom of both channels in the exact same distance from the 4" piece. Mounting the control arm approx. 2 - 3 inches away from the cutting wheel, will achieve the proper angle correct facets.

A drilled hole is required in the control arm for the threaded rod to go through and the placement of this hole depends on where the rod is fixed in relation to the cutting wheel. You do not want this hole to be too close or too far. Taking your stylus, rest the arms of the small steel rod under it's belly in the two slots you have made and with a Dop stick in place place it on the cutting wheel.

Moving the control arm up, down and side to side, Will help you align the nuts then tighten in place. If the end of the jam peg's dop sticks extends past the cutting wheel, more adjustments are necessary to the control arm by lower or raising then retightening the loss housing and lock nuts.

To Be Continued: Faceting The Gemstone

Edited by: Wizard

Build it Yourself: "Jam Peg" Part II

Now that the parts have dried overnight, Your completed tube should now be ready to use. The next step in this installation, Placement of the stylus hinge on the control tower. The accuracy of the installation is not as important as the sturdiness with which the part is adhered to the stylus.

Taking one of the pipe hangers and carefully bend the arms that are now 90 degrees to the center so that they are straight and form a nice clear line from the bend to being straight. Place the pipe hanger on the stylus right up against the end cap with the Index gear and glue it in place. It is advisable at this point to support the stylus between two objects, Allowing the arms of the pipe hanger to fall straight down.



When the pipe hanger has dried, Take the 1/4” steel rod cutting it to approximately 1 ½” in length. Then file the nail opening in the pipe hanger so that they accept the rod making sure that you file each side evenly and the rod sits at 90 degrees to the pipe hanger arms. When you are certain that the rod sits at exactly 90 degrees to the body of the stylus glue it in place.

You should wait for all parts to dry thoroughly before proceeding as the possibility of knocking one of them out of alignment at this point is quite possible. The next piece installed MUST be done with great care and accuracy!

Place the second Pipe Hanger either in front or behind the one already installed, Depending on your preference and the length of the metal, you're currently using as the locking bar. Once you have decided where the Hanger should be placed, You now can cut the piece of metal to desired length and drill the holes for the grip. Using nut and bolt combination to hold it in place. Once in place, tighten and check for any irregular movement and make any necessary adjustments.

With the stylus sitting on a flat surface, Using a protractor or right angle device, Make sure the locking bar is installed with the Index gear at 0 degrees under the bar and the bar absolutely 90 degrees to the arms of the Pipe Hanger. Glue into place and avoid moving styles/jam peg. Check on the position of the bar at regular intervals during the drying time to ensure that it has not moved.

Once this setup has been allowed acquit time to dry, You can now loosen the locking nut and bolts. The locking bar should now able to move freely. Do not loosen the locking nuts too much or the styles/jam peg will assume sloppy placement and affect your facet cuts.

Edited by: Wizard

Build it Yourself: "Jam Peg"

Very few of us that are attracted to the hobby of gemstone cutting can afford at first one of the expensive cutting machines that range in price from $2,500 up to $20,000. I am one of those people.

Sitting down and researched the art of gemstone cutting, I found that the oldest and still most common method of cutting stones is with an outfit called a Jam Peg. Here is a detailed list of items you will need to complete this project: 

• (1) 1/2'' copper tubing (approx. 16'' -18'' long)
• (2) 1/2'' copper end caps
• (2) 1/2'' copper pipe holders
• (1) 1/4'' steel rod (approx. 4''-6'' long)
• (1) 32 gear index wheel (adding more or less index teeth for more or less facets)
• (1) 1/4'' locking collar
• (1) 9/32'' copper tubing
• (1) 6''-8'' length of scrap metal used for the gear placement locking leaver.

I have constructed and have been using this jam peg system myself and they are as accurate as anything you can buy through a lapidary retailer and will cost you a lot less. The only drawback is that most facetor’s today use a 96 or 120 Index wheel and because of the nature of Jam Peg, Using a large gear/wheel would make the stylus almost impossible to use. So you are restricted to 32, 40 and 48 index wheels which are readily available from Mr. Gerald Wykoff's YouTube Page. But never fear I have converted a number of cutting diagrams to 32 Index and will provide those later.

The tools you will need to assemble the stylus are a drill with a ¼” metal bit, something to cut the copper tubing with, some files to take the sharp edges off and some Epoxy Steel glue. If you do not like the idea of the glue you may attach the Copper pieces together by way of soldering.

First set the length of the Copper tubing, ideally it should be no more than 5 ½” long with the end caps in place. Next cut the 9/32” Brass or Copper tube so that approximately ¼” of tubing will extend past the end caps when installed. The smaller tubing will be placed inside the larger one.

Next drill ¼” holes in the end caps as close to being center as possible, accuracy here is paramount. The caps are not that expensive so make sure you have two caps drilled with the holes as close to center as possible.

Makes sure the 9/32” tubing will fit through the holes, file them out slightly if needed but keep the tolerances tight without being restrictive. Dry fit the caps on the ½” tubing and slide the 9/32” tubing into the holes. Make sure the inner tube can rotate freely and that the ends protrude the width of the ¼” lock collar which can be purchased at most good hobby stores. Assured everything fits properly, you can now remove the inner tube and glue the end caps in place.

In this instance, I've use Epoxy Steel glue because I found it is the best two part epoxy for the job. It can also be removed with some hot water and persistence if you make a mistake and have to take it apart. Set up for a couple of days and the glue is as good as steel.

Now comes a tricky part, the locking collar has a small screw in the side of it to set or hold it in place. This screw will hold the dop sticks in place and lock the tubing and the dop together. You must cut or file a small opening in the end of the 9/32” tubing just large enough for the screw to slide inside of. You slide the lock collar over the tubing and insert the dop then tighten the screw and all is held in place securely. 

Important: DO NOT GLUE the lock collar in place! Trust me on this one. You may find yourself filing the inside of the lock collar down a bit for it to slide over the tubing with ease. Also, you'll need this fit snug but not tight, the dop stick has to slide in and out easily.

Dry fit all the parts you have been working on and see how they now fit. With these parts in place slip the Index gear over the 9/32” tubing and allow a little bit of play up and down. Mark the tubing where the gear fits correctly. Then place a mark on it as so that the zero on the gear is in line with the nut on the locking collar. You will find that this becomes a very nice marker for centering the dop sticks. I did not do this with my original one but from here on out it is a must for me.

Now remove the inner tube and glue the index gear in place being careful not to smear any glue on the area close to where it will meet the outer tube when assembled. this part is critical make sure that the gear is at right angles to the tubing. You do not want the gear to be lopsided as this will bind when adjusting the gear for the facets to be cut. Allow all glued parts to dry over night.



Edited by: Wizard

In The Beginning

"Everyone starts this hobby with only a basic knowledge, if any, of the ancient art of cutting gemstones"

We've created this blog to share what little information we have gained over the years of attempting new an home made faceting devices. Since beginning this addictive pastime, We've found that there are plenty of sites hosted by very skillful people, but none that could compare to the amateur level of Wizard and myself.

Once we became familiar with the ins and the outs of this blogging aspect, We will post many articles that show how to create your own DIY Jam Peg outfit along with other home made lapidary equipment. For now, We will open the blog with this short statement and begin the real work of getting the DIY article ready for posting.

Enjoy.

Post edited by: Wizard