How Do You Rough Cut A Gemstone?
When miners discover raw gemstones, they need to be sent to professionals to turn them into beautiful faceted gemstones that can be used for jewelry for retail sale. The process of rough cutting a gemstone will dictate the end result. Depending on the initial shape or the raw stone, a gem can be rough cut for one of the many gem shapes available today. Inspect the raw gemstone. You must rough cut a raw gem using its natural shape. If the gemstone is long and narrow, you may have to separate it with the diamond saw to produce two stones or simply rough it for an emerald cut, which is more shallow than a round cut. The natural shape of the rough gemstone will determine its final cut style. Mark guidelines on the gem and follow these as you cut. They determine the direction of the grain and help you eliminate waste. The larger the final gemstone, the more money it will fetch. Turn on the diamond saw. There are three basic sizes for the saw. The biggest is a slab saw, typically 16 to 24 in
