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-- NEW PRODUCTS - a CONCAVE FACETING MACHINE, and a
FANTASY FACETING MACHINE.
-- The CONCAVE FACETING MACHINE
-- Some Features of the CONCAVE FACETING MACHINE
-- The FANTASY MACHINE
-- Some Features of the FANTASY MACHINE
-- A "PRETTY ROCK" COMPETITION
-- EXHIBITION IN SRI LANKA
Greetings!
Welcome to the December 2009 copy of the Some Times
Newsletter.
We hope you enjoy catching up with the updates from
the World of Ultra Tec each month!
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NEW PRODUCTS - a CONCAVE FACETING MACHINE, and a FANTASY
FACETING MACHINE
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Yes, TWO new things - two, because they just "go
together". We thought about these, and we spoke to
professional cutters, and we got a very good response
-and we were blessed with several "wish lists" in terms
of the features they'd want. We were blessed with good
engineering ideas, too. We knew-and they confirmed--that
precision and repeatability were critical elements-just
as they are on a standard faceting machine.
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Andy Gulij of San Diego was a major contributor-and when
he was involved as the "test pilot" for the prototype
units, he brought a number of important details to our
attention-a longer range of travel, a higher speed of
reciprocating-practical hands-on advice.
Not the least important was the top item on his
wish-list: a "Cheater" (I like to call it a "tweaker")
that provides fine adjustment of a concave facet's
position-linear and radial--directly analogous to the
cheater on a flat faceting machine. We did it.
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Another key feature was on the wish-list of the late
Jeff Graham. We discussed it a year ago and Jeff was
immediately interested in the project, particularly the
Fantasy Machine - he said he had designs in mind that he
wanted to pursue.
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Jeff provided the idea of accurate and repeatable
horizontal angle indexing - something we've accomplished
by means of a mechanism similar to the Index Gear on the
Faceting Mast.
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The direct precision and calibrated settings of these
machines save time, but, in general-depending on
complexity, these stones, as compared to flat faceting,
take a much longer time to finish (you will see that
they command a high price, reflecting that situation).
But, results can be spectacular, and your efforts and
patience are dramatically rewarded.
We will be at the TUCSON GEM AND MINERAL SHOW in
February-you may want to see them there. You may have
questions now-email us. We'll answer all.
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The CONCAVE FACETING MACHINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
The CONCAVE FACETING MACHINE allows for the adding of
concave curves to facets previously cut on a flat
standard design. This is a pretty straight-forward
operation that any faceter, with some practice, can do
nicely. There aren't many instruction diagrams-there
will be more on the way--but mostly, the faceter makes
judgments on which facets to do, and soon develops an
understanding of "what happens" to the appearance-and
soon develops more ingenuity and originality to the
design.
When the preliminary work on the faceting machine is
complete-essentially, a preparation of the perform--the
Mast is transferred to the Concave Machine (as shown in
the photo)
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Some Features of the CONCAVE FACETING MACHINE
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An Alignment Tool positions the Quill to the Tool axis-
setting a "home position" in less than a minute
Tool rotation speed is controlled independently from
speed of tool reciprocation-separate motors
A "Rigidizer" fits to the Ultra Tec Mast, eliminating
swing (which needs to be held steady for the concave
faceting) and flexing of the Riser Block-it takes less
than a minute to mount, and all functions remain
operable
The Mast mounts on a "Tweaker" Block (a "cheater", if
you like) with angular adjustments of +/- 2 degrees, and
linear adjustment of +/- 2 mm
Adjustable Splashguard height position
Electrical operation: 110VAC/220VAC
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Certain features of the Fantasy Machine can be
subsequently installed-for example, the calibrated X
control (in-out).
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The FANTASY MACHINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The FANTASY MACHINE allows for "whatever you can think
of" in terms of the stone design-(including that it can
be used as a Concave machine--when the faceter is not on
a flight of fancy). Most typically, a relatively simple
perform is made on your Faceting Machine, and then your
Mast is transferred to the Fantasy Machine (as shown in
the photos). Then-it's what you can dream of. In
combination with the faceting Mast, there are the three
linear positionings (XYZ) and three angular positionings
(axial, radial, and planar)- all settable and
repeatable.
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The Tool Motor can mount in two positions, one, so that
reciprocation is in line with a cylindrical tool (as
shown in the photo below) and a second position (lower
photo) in which reciprocation is in line with a grooving
type (like a saw blade) tool. The stone's design is
limited only by the faceter's imagination. The stone can
be asymmetric-curves, dimples, holes, grooves,
channels-whatever. There are no standard designs-(but
many fantasy cuts can be seen on the web-stimulation for
directions to go)
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Some Features of the FANTASY MACHINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
An Alignment Tool positions the Quill to the Tool axis-
setting a "home position" in less than a minute
Tool rotation speed is controlled independently from
speed of tool reciprocation-separate motors
A "Rigidizer" fits to the Ultra Tec Mast, eliminating
swing and flexing-less than a minute to mount
The Mast mounts on a "Tweaker" Block (a "cheater", if
you like) with angular adjustments of +/- 2 degrees, and
linear adjustment of +/- 2 mm
Adjustable Splashguard height position
Dial-in positioning of Y direction and X
direction-allowing fine adjustment and repeatability. Y
travel (in-out) of 150 mm. X range (faceting range on
long stone), +/- 25 mm.
Dual positioning of the Tool Motor-at 90 degrees-
maintaining reciprocation in line with the cutting axis.
Repositioning of Motor takes less than a minute
Planar angle setting through 180 degrees, in 5 degree
increments
Tool Reciprocation range adjustable, 0 to 30 mm
Electrical operation: 110VAC/220VAC
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The photos in this announcement are all from the pilot
run, and these machines are all spoken for. Deliveries
of production units are planned for February.
Modifications? All the operational mechanical
features are proven, and are as you see them -- we've
been testing and testing. There are several
configuration changes scheduled for production units.
For example: the X setting length will be increased an
inch (Andy Gulij, in testing, said it felt a little
tight); the metal enclosure for the reciprocating motor
will be reduced in size: and several others (including
configuring the CONCAVE unit so it can upgraded to some
of the features of the FANTASY unit).
The Concave Machine, item number 2627.7, price $2,280.
The Fantasy Machine, item number 2648.7, price $3,680.
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A "PRETTY ROCK" COMPETITION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Devin McRorie has announced a new idea in faceting
competition-an almost revolutionary idea in faceting
competition.
Devin's business IS "Pretty Rock" - (He's located in
North Carolina, and his interesting website is
www.prettyrock.com
), and the Competition is appropriately named "Pretty
Rock". It has an interesting twist to it. On the
website, Devin writes: "Unlike many faceting contests,
this is not about perfection. This is an old-fashioned
beauty contest. After all we are PrettyRock.com not
perfectrock.com! If you cut a stunner of a stone, but
some of the meetpoints don't match, you still have a
solid chance of winning.
PRIZES! Even if you don't enter the contest, you'll
enjoy reading about it-the approach to judging is novel.
Read about it on his website. Many cutters steer clear
of competitions-it makes them nervous-but here's one not
to be nervous about.
Read on... |
EXHIBITION IN SRI LANKA
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"JEWELS 2009" is the name of the Gems, Mineralsand
Jewellery exhibition and competition being held on the
12th and 13th December at BMICH Colombo. There will be a
free gift of a gem with every entrance ticket of Rs
50/=.
The exhibition is organized by the Gemmologists
Association of Sri Lanka (further details 0117202032 or
info@gemmology.lk).
Ajith Siriwardena, Past president of the Gemmologists
Association of Sri Lanka-and the Ultra Tec
Representative in Sri Lanka will be there.
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Ajith Siriwardena, Past president of the Gemmologists
Association of Sri Lanka-and the Ultra Tec
Representative in Sri Lanka will be there.
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL-FROM ALL OF US AT ULTRA TEC!
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Quick Links...
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Our Website
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