Category Blog

I am no longer offering faceting lessons due to my schedule. I would recommend buying my book, FACETING WITH JIM PERKINS which is a good starter book for those who want to learn how to facet.

I also have a book for FACETRON OWNERS, LEARNING TO FACET IN THE 21st CENTURY USING THE FACETRON. That book is available from JARVI TOOL FACETRON or Kingsley North Lapidary Supply.

We will have faceting designs featured in ROCK & GEM MAGAZINE quarterly starting in 2019.

JULY 3, 2018

PLEASE NOTE: THE CURRENT PRICE OF THE FACETRON MACHINE WITH ALL STANDARD FEATURES IS: $3495.00  I WILL PAY SHIPPING INSIDE THE CONTINENTAL U.S.A.

WE DO NOT SELL FACETRONS OUTSIDE THE U.S.A. THOSE MUST BE ORDERED DIRECT FROM THE FACTORY.

If you want a sample of some of my latest designs. Watch for them in Lapidary Journal/Jewelry Artist Magazine. EASY PEAR, HEART OF THE GRIZZLIES and JIM PERKINS ANTIQUE CUSHION FOR PERIDOT (THIS DESIGN WILL ALSO WORK FOR GARNET OR CORUNDUM WITH NO ANGLE CHANGES).

I am also working on a great article about TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FACETERS. Previously I have taught people from all over the world from 16 years old to 80 years old how to facet. Recently my 11 year old granddaughter showed interest and I asked her if she’d like to try faceting. She cut a beautiful 12 millimeter amethyst with no more help than I’d give any student and was anxious to do more. I am going to teach her to cut a trillion for her second stone from lab created ruby...

list of our books: These prices supersede all past prices.

1. 50 DIAGRAMS POTPURRI

2. BETTER ANGLE CHOICES

3. DESIGNED FOR QUARTZ

4. DESIGNED FOR SAPPHIRE

5. GEM BOOK I

6. GEM BOOK II

7. GEM BOOK III

8. GEM BOOK IV

9. GEM BOOK V

10. MY FAVORITE FACETING DESIGNS

11. FROM ONE QUARTZ CUTTER TO ANOTHER

12. FROM ONE QUARTZ CUTTER TO ANOTHER VOLUME 2 – AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 25, 2015

13. THE GARNET STUDY

14. SYLLABUS FOR GEM CAD FOR WINDOWS & GEM RAY FOR WINDOWS

15. FACETING WITH JIM PERKINS (NEW JUST RELEASED)

16. FANCY FLASH CUT FACETED STONE DESIGNS (54 DESIGNS – JUST RELEASED)

17. EASY AND FUN FACETING – I’m using a new method of designing that allow you to cut to a single center point, even for double cut pavilions.  I think faceting should be fun and easy not confusing and frustrating...

Splash Guard in the closed position.

Splash Guard in Open Position. See Splash Guard to the left of opening.

Here is a picture of the SPLASH GUARD I use on all my machines.

It is manufactured and sold by Terry F. Gump 

814 Capital Street Spencer W.VA. 25276

Enclose your check for $24.95 to Terry and he will mail one out to you.

Then just cut an opening smaller than the SPLASH GUARD and install it on your splash bowl. When cutting on the girdle, slide the SPLASH GUARD open.

When cutting on the pavilion or crown slide the SPLASH GUARD closed.

By Jim Perkins (with Bruce Harding)
Copyright 2010

I am often asked how to choose good angles for faceting. Some of the answers were published in 19751 and are now available on the Internet at the address provided in the footnote.  One subject is ‘windowing’, which means that light passes directly through the gem without internal reflections; generally when the table is tilted from ‘normal’ (perpendicular) to a line from the viewer’s eye.

This was discussed in the subject article2, which provides charts for common materials. Each of these lists pavilion slopes across the bottom, and the maximum angle of tilt without windowing is listed across the top. Since nothing else matters in the subject of windowing, these data can be listed simply as below:

Note that quartz with 43° pavilion mains...