Anonymous wrote: As the owner of an VJ, i can only say if you can stretch your budget to get one, just get it. Its the Rolls Royce of machines. As for the person that said they need to stand to use it, i know what they mean but its its just a mater of getting the right height adjustable chair. the best chairs are called draftsmen chairs as they can go higher than the average office chair. you wont regret it. My machine has cut dozens top quality stones. they are a dream to use. Good luck Hi Stuart, I will look into it. Looks like a great machine. I would prefer to buy a Aussie machine. I searched the for any video on the machine to see how it operates, but couldn't find any. I'll email or give you a call sometime as I have a few questions I wish to ask. I've spoken to some members at my local gem club, although none own one but the VJ come highly recommended. They all thought a VJ was $7000 outlay. Seems like it has come down in price. Regards Cliff
As the owner of an VJ, i can only say if you can stretch your budget to get one, just get it. Its the Rolls Royce of machines. As for the person that said they need to stand to use it, i know what they mean but its its just a mater of getting the right height adjustable chair. the best chairs are called draftsmen chairs as they can go higher than the average office chair. you wont regret it. My machine has cut dozens top quality stones. they are a dream to use. Good luck
Hi Stuart, I will look into it. Looks like a great machine. I would prefer to buy a Aussie machine. I searched the for any video on the machine to see how it operates, but couldn't find any. I'll email or give you a call sometime as I have a few questions I wish to ask. I've spoken to some members at my local gem club, although none own one but the VJ come highly recommended. They all thought a VJ was $7000 outlay. Seems like it has come down in price. Regards Cliff
No prob I must of got lucky when i got mine only paid 1800 with a huge amount of gear and accessories. i had great success in my first ever competition. They are great, but they are very heavy and not really portable.. They also have a concave faceting head they sell to go onto the machine. Plus digital readouts on angles. but i didn't really need that, they are accurate enough to get to 0.02 or 0.01 of a degree if you need.
You shouldn't need a digital readout on a VJ, the dial is calibrated to 0.1 degrees and being round you can create a vernier scale with the drawing tools in Microsoft Word.
Measure the arc created by the 0 to 1 degree graduations on the dial. It has been aIong time since I have looked at this part of a VJ so bear with me. If it is a full revolution, great.
Measure the diameter of the dial and draw a circle in Word that is 1cm bigger.
Mark the position of 0 and 1 degree on the circle. Divide that distance on the circumfrence into 9 segments. Draw lines from each mark to the centre of the circle and number each line at the edge of the circle, sequentially 1 to 9.
This is the vernier. Mark the position of 0 on the dial, Remove the dial, cut out the vernier and stick it on the machine with 0 at the 0 mark and replsce the dial. When a 1 tenth graduation on the dial alligns to a graduation on the vernier, the 100th of a degree will be the numbered line on the vernier. E.g. if the 10th degree line lines up to the 5 and the 10th degree closest to the 0 is 3, the reading is 0.35 degrees. It Is More Accurate Than The Digital Readout As any slop in the Readout Will throw It Out. I Saw A VJ With 0.02 Degrees Slop Meaning That It At 0.1 It Would Read anywhere Between 0.08 And 0.12 Degrees Depending On Which Side You Approached From. ( Sorry Not Shouting, The Brouser Is Playing Up And Adding Extra Characters And Capitalising Each Word).
I did something similar with my facetron, except ihve a 1/4 inch window so drew a 10 scale 63mm high and shrank it 10 times to a qtr inch. It lets me guess where the hundreths are using the edge of the numbers.
Regards
Gordon.
Gordon,
As you say it is some time since you looked at a VJ and you obviously failed to understand the function of the digital readout .
The feature which you called "slop"is nothing to do with the digital read out . It is a function of the backlash in the gears that move the quadrant. This backlash is a deliberate feature to move the quadrant with minimum effort . It is common to VJ's whether they have the digital or manual degree setting .
The VJ manual specifically advises that when setting the degrees , always turn to the final setting in a clockwise direction . This takes up the backlash in the gears and will give a correct setting. By your use of the word "slop" a reader may think that the VJ machine is of sloppy construction - a description that would not be agreed to by the many satisfied VJ users ( and competition winners)
John
see the new model below
Ed
I agree with the last 2 comments . I will never sell mine.
Ed,
It looks less cluttered and lighter than the 6yo model Mt Gravatt has. With the current exchange rate I would be getting one if I was buying a new machine.
Anonymous wrote:Been contemplating which faceting machine to purchase next. Having read about the pros and cons on various machines, which is based on others experiences and opinion, making a future choice seems quite difficult. My initial thought was a Halls extra. However, there appears to be some supply issues. Having spoken to a fellow faceter, a 6 month wait is in order. Also, it appears future servicing and parts could also pose to be a issue. The VJ is currently out of my price range ( maybe when my son finishes Uni), it looks like a excellent machine. The major drawback is- I read that VJ will not be making new machines but will be supporting older machines (mid 2016). So looks as VJ may not be worth worrying about in regard to a future purchase. So maybe a Gemaster is worth considering? It also appears to be in a waiting queue? So this also makes me wonder about future servicing and parts, as current supply appears slow also. This makes me ponder about the Aussie faceting industry in general. Although these manufacturers seem to produce some fine machines and demand is out there - why is output slow? Meanwhile, some dealers do not support these manufacturers because of these issues. Yet, Facetron a USA based manufacturer get all the ticks of approval with supply and service by them. I find this quite odd in a time when many Aussie manufacturers are closing doors, meanwhile Aussie Faceting Machine manufacturers seems to be struggling to keep up with demand. Either, they are backyard hobby industries and they are happy to make machines at their pace and make a living, or they are suffering from a very bad business model. As a Australian, I would prefer to buy a Aussie machine, else it may have to be a Facetron (which is not my first choice). So I'm wondering if other gem cutters have thoughts on their future purchase or their grail Faceting Machine? As a side note - Has anyone owned a "Alpha taurus faceting machine"? If so, I would like to hear your thoughts about this machine. Regards Cliff
So maybe a Gemaster is worth considering? It also appears to be in a waiting queue? So this also makes me wonder about future servicing and parts, as current supply appears slow also. This makes me ponder about the Aussie faceting industry in general. Although these manufacturers seem to produce some fine machines and demand is out there - why is output slow? Meanwhile, some dealers do not support these manufacturers because of these issues. Yet, Facetron a USA based manufacturer get all the ticks of approval with supply and service by them.
I find this quite odd in a time when many Aussie manufacturers are closing doors, meanwhile Aussie Faceting Machine manufacturers seems to be struggling to keep up with demand. Either, they are backyard hobby industries and they are happy to make machines at their pace and make a living, or they are suffering from a very bad business model. As a Australian, I would prefer to buy a Aussie machine, else it may have to be a Facetron (which is not my first choice). So I'm wondering if other gem cutters have thoughts on their future purchase or their grail Faceting Machine?
As a side note - Has anyone owned a "Alpha taurus faceting machine"? If so, I would like to hear your thoughts about this machine.
Regards Cliff
Hi Cliff
I have an older Gemmasta and another club member has a Hall's machine we fitted an optical digital encoder with a read out screen. Both of these machine work great. The accuracies of these machines are 0.018 of a degree. If I were in the market for a new machine I would buy a Hall's.
1. It has less moving parts
2. Weight of this machine is light compared with most machine.
3. Easy to fit a optical digital encoder. ( Works better than the dial indicator)
Bob
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