A prolific faceter and faceting design artist, John Bailey has been featured in both print and television media. He is known for developing and sharing innovative faceting diagrams; for creating two polishing systems; and for promoting the value of high-precision facet cutting. He was a featured presenter at the CWFG International Faceting Conference in 2009.
This year, John Bailey will hold ONE Boot-Camp-style Faceting class for the beginner to intermediate level faceter who wants to learn fundamental and essential aspects of faceting for fun and profit.
I say the Boot Camp is a zero-to-fun-and-sparkle-in-one-week experience like nothing else you'll do.
I created the Boot Camp experience because people wanted to learn Faceting, but they didn't want to spend months or years getting to "the fun part" (the way I had to).
You see, when I started Faceting, it was with the intention to change careers. (I was a private investigator and security consultant). I wanted to achieve professional-level competence and build a business. And, I wanted to do it rather quickly.
But, there was nobody available to teach me professional-level Faceting, let alone the critical business skills to make a go of it. So, I faced a load of problems - some that you may relate to:
The machine was complicated, and delicate. In the first months, I damaged my machine - and ruined stones, dops, and laps.
Have you ever read Faceting books? They're like technical manuals for machinists - not introductory primers for the new faceter.
Have you ever had trouble keeping stones on the dop? Or, have you glued them so tightly they couldn't be removed? Have you ever ruined a sensitive stone because you didn't know how to cold-dop? I sure did.
How about cutting sequence? Have you either left too much stone - or too much damage, so the process went maddeningly slowly. How much time did I waste in those first years?
And, polishing can be a nightmare, can't it - with different lap and polish recipes for different types of stones - and no good reference for that. Most polishes are messy. Then there is all the mythology about scoring laps or not; how to do that, etc.
One thing that was really troublesome was thinking a stone was perfect - then after it was off the dop, finding a scratch. I didn't know "how to see" - how to use light skillfully to see the quality of meets or of polish.
Have you ever tried to understand designs? Which design to use for a stone? Why? How about needing to change the angles for a different material? How about GEMCAD - even for this computer-geek, that was intimidating.
And, nobody wrote or taught the economics of Faceting - even as a self-sustaining hobby. How to evaluate rough, economically. How to set prices. How to go about doing work for jewelers, etc. I was lost there, too.
If you can relate to any of the above - whether as a want-to-be-faceter or as a novice wanting to jump past frustration into fun and maybe even profit, you may be interested in a few of my other discoveries.
Information
Over the years, I found out that having loads of books wasn't very useful because finding the specific information needed takes a long time. So, I organized the important information for quick access. That information is presented in a quick-access format and in special sections of the exclusive Boot Camp Training Manual, available ONLY to Boot Camp students.
Cutting and Polishing
Sequencing and pre-polishing shouldn't take forever. It should move along in a rewarding and enjoyable way. With my simple 8x8 rule for sequencing, there's no need for a "cheat sheet" to remember which way to cut which material. And, there'll be no frustrating trying to polish facets after a nasty "orange peel" pre-polish from using the wrong lap.
Ask any Faceter about the most frustrating part of the art, and they'll tell you "getting a great polish". And, they probably have a whole collection of expensive polishing laps and messy polishes taking up space in their shop. They may even use a reference sheet to remember which one to use on which material (I did at one time).
Then, I developed Voodoo Magic Polish - the near universal polish that works on everything from hardness 4 to hardness 9, is now used world-wide, and by some of the best cutters on the planet.
Voodoo works on nearly any lap, but was formulated to work on the cheap and available Corian material. Boot Camp attendees receive a full set of Voodoo prepolish and polish - and learn how to polish as quickly, easily, and consistently as grinding.
More recently, I've introduced XXX Professional Polishes for more advanced cutters who want to save money and polish EVEN FASTER than Voodoo. All Boot Camp attendees, including the alumni (who can return FREE OF CHARGE, space permitting) get to test and use XXX at the Boot Camp for free.
Quality Control
If you've ever squinted at a stone, thinking the polish was good - only to discover a scratch or pit after it was off the dop, that experience is mostly caused by a misunderstanding of how to use light in examining the stone. I've had GIA Graduate appraisers tell me that I can see better with the naked eye than they can with a 10x loupe. And, that may be true, because I use a specific technique - one that I'll teach every Boot Camp attendee - to insure they achieve the quality of workmanship they desire.
Dopping
There's a pile of misunderstandings about dopping. Some people use really harsh glues - or are afraid to use wax. I've learned that there are different ways of dopping for different circumstances - and I teach all of those, hands-on during the Boot Camp.
I teach the right (and easy) way to use Superglue for reliable and fast dopping - just the way Norm Jarvi (designer of the Facetron Faceting machine) taught me.
I share the incredibly easy secrets of which epoxies to use and how to release epoxy from larger stones - the way Carl Unruh (one of the famous Daredevil Faceters) taught me.
Many people, if they drop a stone from the dop, will re-start the entire process of cutting, losing time and valuable material. A competent Faceter should usually be able to re-seat a stone with minimal loss of time or material - and I share the tricks for this.
Magical Mystery Stones
If you've ever cut heavily dichroic Oregon Sunstone, you may have discovered that nobody (else) teaches how to orient it. I ruined many a nice Sunstone trying to guess or to follow less-than-accurate advice from other people before I developed a specific, physics-based system that allows accurate orientation of dichroic Sunstone with scientific accuracy. EVERY TIME. Boot Camp attendees learn this method - in about fifteen minutes - and will always be able to orient dichroic Sunstone perfectly.
If you've ever given up trying to cut Spodumene - or other sensitive or challenging materials, you're missing out. Spodumene can be acquired inexpensively, and can be quite profitable when properly cut. (I once made over $20,000 from cutting a single Spodumene crystal...) And, it can be easily cut, with a little patience and understanding the tricks of direction that I'll share at the Boot Camp.
Photography
So, you've got some nice cut stones, but how do you sell them? It can be difficult to sell stones if you can't photograph them for display. And, it's nice to keep photos of your nicer work, too. Luckily, I majored in commercial photography way back when, so I know getting good-quality photos of your work isn't difficult. And, it doesn't require expensive extras: Boot Camp attendees learn how to replace the $499.00 "cloud dome" gadget with a common household item that costs about forty-nine cents. It does the job BETTER, and it stores in your POCKET.
In the Rough
Whether a hobbyist or a starting professional, most Faceters have suffered losses from investing in rough that wouldn't produce a profitable return - whether because it was badly-shaped, or badly-colored, or too light or too dark, or simply too expensive to allow for a profit after working. I know I suffered many such losses - and had to consider each one of them a partial tuition for learning how to select rough investments. I now have a system for evaluating rough for all of the features necessary for profitability. At the Boot Camp, you will learn the three most essential lighting techniques for determining rough viability, as well as my system for virtually guaranteeing profitability of a rough at the time of purchase. If the profit isn't built in at the time of purchase, it's not likely to happen.
Self-Sustaining Hobby or Business
In these times, nearly everyone wants to make some "extra" money. But, most artisans don't like doing sales. That's the source of the "starving artist" syndrome. I've suffered pricing and sales problems at shows large and small - and in dealing with jewelers as well. During the past decade, while serving Fred Meyer Fine Jewelers as an outside colored stone vendor, I had the good fortune to work with thousands of customers face-to-face - and to be coached in the art and science of "value building" by professional appraisers, diamond brokers, and regional managers of Fred Meyer Fine Jewelers. I even received some coaching from one of their Vice Presidents, and had other vendors share their secrets. This information has been distilled into a coherent system for interacting with customers to allow the gem artist to sustain their favorite activity - or to turn it into a systematically profitable venture.
Are you too shy to do cutting work for others? Doing commission cutting for other people, whether lucky fee-diggers who found Sunstone, or unlucky jewelers who chipped a customer's Emerald, can be lucrative way to use Faceting skills and equipment. This is a wide-open marketplace, with all of the professional-grade Faceters I know remaining booked-out for months. I personally remain booked for between four adn nine months - and looking for apprentices to work with me. The challenges in this work are pricing and presentation - and a fear of working with others' stones. At the Faceting Boot Camp, we'll address all of these issues - and train students to deal with customers, plan their work, and to profit by delivering high-quality workmanship.
Uniquely Qualified
John Bailey is uniquely qualified to found and present the Faceting Boot Camp.
Won his first Faceting competition (novice grade) after only two months of lapidary experience.
Developed the scientific way to orient dichroic Sunstone accurately, every time.
Developed Voodoo Magic Polish, including the hybrid Voodoo "Q" - in use by top cutters world-wide
Developed and packaged systematic ways of insuring profitability in the Faceting Business
Successful entrepreneur, internationally-recognized for designs, polishes, technical cutting, and presentations
Sought-after speaker and presenter, having shared the stage with top Faceting speakers including Robert Long, Robert Strickland, and John Franke.
Freebies!
Did I mention the freebies? At Faceting Boot Camp, attendees typically collect hundreds of dollars worth of various rough, some of which they select themselves. They receive a full kit of Voodoo Magic Polish and prepolish ($160 value). Some students may receive Corian laps - or even have some of their stones cut by John Bailey as demonstration pieces.
Curriculum
The Faceting Boot Camp is unlike any other Faceting class. It includes material nobody else teaches, free bonuses nobody else offers, and provides systematic processes for success not found anywhere else. Check it out below!
2010 Faceting Boot Camp: July 08 - 13
Students will receive OVER SIXTY HOURS of classroom instruction in a close, friendly environment
(limited to nine students), covering many fundamental aspects of
both the craft and the business of faceting.
