Etsy versus Storenvy

My wife, having used Etsy to purchase a few things over the years, recieved an email the other day offering 20 free listings on the site.

 I figured that since it was basically a 'Free Trial' type offer, I would give it a go and see if it was worthwhile running an Etsy store on a permanent basis. So I set up my brand new Etsy store a couple of days ago

I looked at Etsy when I first set up Jaka Gems, but what concerned me the most about the system was the fees involved. Basic costs involved with Etsy are 20 cents per listing, then they take a 3.5% cut of each sale. Add to this the charges that Paypal adds, and you are getting hit with quite a few fees from your sales.

My thoughts so far (compared with Storenvy):

1. I appreciate that I have only just set up the shop, but considering that this is a paid platform, I honestly would have expected more traffic to my items when they first went up. On my Storenvy store when an item is first listed, it tends to have quite a bit of visibility, I see a spike in store visits which correlates directly with the time the item is listed.

Etsy stats screen shot

Storenvy Stats screen shot

2. The dashboard information on Etsy is far more comprehensive than the Storenvy dashboard. The shop stats and visitor information are far more detailed and show me exactly where people are visiting from and how they found my store. You are also able to break down the information easily to get a comprehensive idea of what people are looking at.





3. Etsy allows me to list my items in Australian Dollars which, as it stands at the moment, is a clear advantage over Storenvy as this platform currently only allows listings in American dollars. I am based in Australia so would much prefer to be listing my items in $AUD. I should point out, however,  that there are whispers floating around that Storenvy is looking to add a feature that allows international currencies.

4. Storenvy is still completely free. I know the old adage 'you need to spend money to make money' is probably ringing in your ears (as it is with me!) but Storenvy is FREE, and you get similar features as those that are offered to you on Etsy. Paypal are still taking their small cut of my sales, but on its own, this is very little. The thing I dislike the most about the payment system that Etsy use is that it seems to be a double up. They take a listing fee, then take a cut of the sale as well. Why not pick one and stick to it? This is something that has bugged me with Ebay as well for some time.

5. Both platforms have a very 'Community' based ethos, with store owner forums and the ability to follow users or shops. This is a fairly important feature of both platforms with each having similar ideas behind how they run it, although I think Storenvy does it slightly better with a more impressive 'news feed' of those that you are following. I think this feature has a lot to do with the spike in visitors when a new item is listed.

6. Both platforms can easily be linked to my Facebook page within a couple of minutes.

It is very early days, so I am not going to give you a final opinion on which one is better just yet. At first glance I would say that Etsy is a superior platform compared with Storenvy in some respects, but this is to be expected for something that you are paying for as opposed to something that is free. In saying this, however, the fees associated with Etsy (when added to that of Paypal) is somewhat of a turn off. I will certainly be giving Etsy more of a run than that of the couple of days that I have had it so far. I will wait and see how it pans out over the next few months before I decide on my final opinion.

What platform do you use? Have you used Storenvy or Etsy to sell your wares? What are your thoughts on the two platforms? Do you prefer a completely different platform? I would love to hear from you!

Trialling a new Supplier

I recently purchased some sterling silver settings and bails from a new supplier as a bit of a trial. I had been thinking about making some matching sets of pendants and earrings for a while so went on a bit of an internet search for companies supplying sterling silver settings which would be suitable.

I managed to track down a business based out of Israel called ZDP Findings. I had actually purchased some silver plated settings of these guys some time ago via Ebay, but didn't realise they also had a website with a more extensive range.

Sterling Silver Settings for Earrings and Pendants

After browsing their website for a while, I decided to get a couple of different bits and pieces. I ended up choosing some 10mm round earring bezel settings, some 20mm round pendant bezel settings, some 30mm round pendant bezel settings and some pinch bails.

Although the package took longer to arrive than I would have hoped, I would certainly recommend the companies customer service which has been great. I am also more than happy with the products themselves, particularly the earring settings.

Sterling Silver Rhodochroste Pendant and Earrings matching set

Sterling Silver Boulder Opal Pendant and Earrings Matching Set

So far I have put together 2 of the matching sets. The first set that I can was the pink Rhodochrosite set (seen to the left). This material originates from the Broken Hill region of New South Wales (Australia) and has some great patterns. The bright silver of the settings sits quite well with the bright pink of the stones. This set is available here for $75.




The second set which I cut was the Queensland Boulder Opal to the right. Unfortunately due to my poor photography skills, the colour play  of the stones doesn't quite show in the photo. These stones have magnificent green and blue flashes throughout and again, the bright silver matches well with the stones. This set is available here for $125


Thanks for checking us out here at Jaka Gems! Feel free to browse through our other posts and don't forget to Share! Bye for now!

Turning a hobby into a business

Rhodochrosite pendant

It has been nearly 4 months since I created Jaka Gems. I had been considering it for some time and on 13th September 2012, I created the first piece of Jaka Gems - a Facebook page. This was the day that my hobby became a small online business. My intention is not, and has never been, to make a fortune (lets be honest, cabochons are a very small niche market item which can be supplied far cheaper through Asian markets, particularly China), I simply set out to share my love of lapidary and stones with anyone that was interested, and hopefully the hobby would end up paying for itself.


Agate Cabochon - The first stone cut on my new machine


I had been cutting stones for many years, but not publicly. Many of my friends were surprised when Jaka Gems began.

None the less, I bought some new equipment in August after taking a bit of a hiatus from cutting. Needless to say, I have been really enjoying cutting again and have been trying quite a few new things. I have now started making simple jewelry items, cut scales for a Swiss Army Knife, and even cut scales for a large bread knife. The next big step in this little adventure will be to put my wife through a silversmithing course so that we can create together! I am really looking forward to that!

Ironically, the first stone I sold as Jaka Gems was the first stone that I cut on my new machine - The agate cabochon you see here.

Silver Banded Obsidian Cabochon (Free Form)

The very first thing I learnt in this caper was that running a small online business is hard. Very hard. Trying to get exposure is an ongoing battle, you cant afford to slack off because as soon as you do, your online reach drops off dramatically and you have to work your way back up again.

Mahogany Obsidian finished with a Sterling Silver bail

There are thousands of blogs out there that tell you how to increase exposure for your online business. I've got to admit, I have read quite a few of them, some of them have been helpful, others not quite so. And honestly, if I did everything that these blogs and websites say I should do, I wouldn't have time to create my stones!

But as I said earlier, It has only been 4 months, I am still working on getting an idea about what works and what doesn't. One thing for sure that I can tell you is that this blog has been a great assistance! 'Create consistent and high quality content' is the general idea that gets bandied around when it comes to blogs. Well I hope that what I have been producing for you as part of this blog is keeping you interested in what I do. Perhaps I will let you know the secrets of internet exposure one day, of course, I need to figure out what those secrets are first! Until next time!

Picture Jasper Cabochon - Free Form

New Equipment for Christmas

Prior to Christmas, this is the tool that I had been using to drill holes in my stones:

'Ozito' Rotary Tool

It is a cheap little 'Ozito' rotary tool which I bought for about $30 from Bunnings. The flexible shaft that came with it broke some time ago, and I am pretty sure it is on its last legs.






But my Wife, being the lovely lady that she is, bought me a new piece of equipment for Christmas!

Dremel 300 Series Rotary Tool

This is a Dremel 300 Rotary Tool: I am told that Dremels are the bee's knees of rotary tools so I am pretty excited about it.

What makes this present even better are the accessories that my Wife bought with it!

Dremel 220-01 Workstation

This is  photo of the Dremel housed in its 220-01 Workstation!

This thing is great! It turns the Dremel into a drill press which makes drilling holes in the stones much easier and far more accurate, not to mention neater holes. I can also turn the Dremel so that it is horizontal which will make carving easier when I get around to teaching myself how to do that.

Dremel Multi-Vise

This bit is a bench vice which the Dremel also hooks into. Again this will be VERY helpful when it comes to teaching myself stone carving!







So thank you very much to my wife for this new equipment! It is VERY much appreciated!

A Jaka Gems Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! Jaka Gems created quite a few unique Christmas gifts this year which were handed out yesterday.

Bread Knife with Stone Scales

Handles/scales for this bread knife were cut out of a form of Jasper for my Mum - It was very well received with Mum taking it straight out to the kitchen!

Swiss Army Knife with Stone Scales

This customized Victorinox Swiss Army Knife with Marble Bar Jasper scales went down an absolute treat with my Dad. His comment was 'I will treasure this! You can have it back when I die!'. I thought that was fantastic as he clearly appreciated it!









I received a last minute message from a good friend of mine on Sunday hoping to get a couple of pendants to give to her Mum. She couldn't quite decide between a couple of items in my online store so we worked a few things out and decided that instead of ready made pendants, I would cut some custom ones for her. She had been eying off a tiger iron pendant and a green banded jasper pendant in the store. I still had plenty of both materials left so she decided on one of each.

Tiger Iron and Green Jasper Pendants with Sterling Silver Bails

The Tiger Iron free form pendant on the left and the 30mm round green banded jasper pendant on the right are the ones that were given to her Mum. The one in the middle is a free form green banded jasper available for purchase through my store here.

My wife's family had a Kris Kringle this year where the theme was 'Home Made'. The person I ended up making for was my Sister in Law. As cutting stones is the only thing I am competent at as far as handmade goes, I obviously decided to make some jewellery. I ended up cutting 2 x 25mm round Northern Territory Prehnite cabochons. I set one in a round bezel pendant setting, the other I set in a round bezel ring setting so she had a matching set. I did however, forget to take a photo! If I manage to get a photo of these pieces I will update this entry! The pendant is similar to this one.


Update 28/12/12: I managed to get a photo of the ring/pendant set:

Northern Territory Prehnite Cabochons set in silver plated settings

There were many other pieces from the Jaka Gems store that went out as Christmas presents for others. I hope that the recipients of these enjoyed their gifts as much as I enjoyed creating them! If you recieved a Jaka Gems stone for Christmas, drop us a line and let us know what you think of it!

Until next time, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and I hope everyone has a safe holiday season!

Things don't always work out how you hope - Broken Knife Scales

This post is to show that, like anything in life, lapidary and stone cutting does not always work out as one would hope it does.

As Christmas is almost upon us, I have been working on a few little projects that will hopefully end up as very personalised gifts for a few members of my family. I recently cut some scales for a Victorinox Swiss Army knife for my Dad - I decided to take this idea one step further and cut larger scales for a larger knife for my Mum in the hope that she would end up with a gift that was not only aesthetically pleasing, but also useful in her daily activities.

I went on a search, and thanks to a couple of the guys on the Aussie Lapidary Forum, I located a business based out of Tasmania - AKC Mail Order Knives. These guys were brilliant by the way! Extremely helpful and friendly and I had the knives in my hand within a couple of days!

I bought 2 knife blanks from them, one being a large bread knife which I considered one of the more usable knives for my Mum:

Bread Knife Blank

My initial problem with this knife was the size of the scales needed. I had quite a few slabs of material which were large enough to accommodate 2 scales big enough for this particular knife, but very few of them were in good enough condition. Many had cracks running through which would effect the integrity of the scales, others had holes and pits throughout. I ended up choosing a large slab of Jasper which appeared to be in pretty good shape. I went to work by marking up the scales using the knife itself as the template and created the pre formed shapes:

Pre Form Stone Bread Knife Scales

Around 4 hours after initially marking out the shapes on the stone I ended up with 2 scales for the knife. I was relatively happy with the resulting large cabs, even if the material itself didn't end up with the shiny finish I was hoping for (this particular jasper did not polish as well as others I have cut):

Stone Bread Knife Scales

This was where my happiness ended and everything turned sour! I was in the midst of bluetacking the scales to the knife to ensure that they were the right shape and size when this happened:

Broken Stone Bread Knife Scales

A natural weak spot within the stone gave way and one of the scales snapped in two! Several curses were thrown, none of which can be repeated in this forum, and I realised that not only did 4 hours of work go down the drain, but possibly the only material that I had which was of suitable size turned out to be useless!

So as the title of this entry suggests, not all of my projects turn out the way I plan. I have a collection of half cut cabochons, broken cabochons or slabs that are cracked or broken and have been discarded because of some weak spot or crummy looking pattern. Most of these rejects can, and probably will be reused at some point, but generally get sworn at or thrown at the time!

I have since turned my shed upside down in search for more suitable material for this particular project. I have located a couple of different options for attempt number 2 - I figured I needed at least one back up plan! I will be sure to keep you all updated as it progresses, but I am certainly running out of time before Christmas arrives to get this one finished! I will hopefully get it done this weekend without any further hiccups!

Keep an eye on this blog and my Facebook page - I will upload photos of the finished project when I get it completed!

Until next time!

Update: Check out the finished piece here! I managed to get the knife done in time for Christmas and my Mum loved it!

How to cut a stone cabochon - Bloodstone Cabachon

A How-To Guide on Cutting Gemstone Cabochons

So how do you make a cabochon out of a rough chunk of rock?

Cutting a cabochon involves cutting and polishing a semi precious gem stone into a polished piece of rock with one flat side and one domed side. It is a fairly simple process once you know what you are doing, but it does take quite a bit of practice to perfect.

This is my quick guide on how to cut a stone cabochon which will hopefully give you some sort of idea on how the process works.

Equipment:

Essentially, the equipment that you will need is a lapidary trim saw (or a converted tile saw) and a cabochon machine. The other bits and pieces that are needed include a template and a scribe to mark out the shape of your cabochon on the stone. You may also want a waterproof apron because of the spray from the machines.

Safety Note: It is also worth noting at this point that precaution needs to be taken when cutting some stones and as a result, safety equipment such as eye protection and face masks may be needed. A couple of examples of this would be Nephrite Jade (which is closely related to asbestos) and Bumblebee Jasper (which has a high sulphur content).

Robilt Trim Saw

This is my trim saw, it is an old Robilt machine that belonged to my Grandfather. I recently had to rebuild the base. It is equipped with a 6 inch diamond blade and has a reservoir of water to keep the blade and stone cool whilst cutting. I also use an anti corrosion agent mixed in with the water to help lubricate the blade and to keep it all from rusting. 

CabKing Cabochon Machine

The cabochon machine I use is called a CabKing 6v3 (www.cabking.us). It is set up with 6 vertical wheels of varying grits and a polishing pad attached to the right hand side. These machines can be purchased via Aussie Sapphire (www.aussiesapphire.com.au) for around $2000.

The other machine that you may need is a slab saw (I have an old Robilt one that also belonged to my Grandfather) but slabs of rock are easy enough to come by without worrying about the expense of a large slab saw, which can become quite costly. Head to any gem show and you will find plenty, or search online.

If you don't like the sound of the $$$$ for the machines, a simple and cheap alternative is to join a local gem or lapidary club who have all the required equipment and plenty of experienced people to teach you the tricks of the trade.

Start up:

Heliotrope (Bloodstone) Rough

Captain Obvious: Start with a chunk of rock!


This is the piece we will work on today, it is a piece of Heliotrope (commonly known as Bloodstone) which originates from India. Heliotrope is a form of chalcedony which gets its nickname from the red inclusions of iron oxide or red jasper which look like blood splatters (see below).





Heliotrope (Bloodstone) Slab

The first step is to slab the chunk of rock into thin slices. It is generally accepted that either 1/4 inch (6.3mm) or 1/2 inch (12.7mm) is the standard thickness for a slab. My preference is for either the 1/4 inch or the 1/2 inch slabs, depending on the size of the cab (the thicker being better for large cabs and thinner better for smaller cabs).
 

The next step is to mark out your preferred cabochon shape and size using a scribe and template

Bloodstone slab marked for cutting

For this example I decided to go with a simple 35mm x 18mm oval standard cabochon. When being taught at a gem club, the simple oval shapes are generally the first that are taught with your first stone most likely being a 30mm x 40mm cabochon.

Basic Shape:

Heliotrope (Bloodstone) Rough 'Preform'

Using the trim saw, roughly cut out the general shape of the cabochon from the slab. It's best to remember that a saw blade is a bucket load cheaper than new wheels for your machine, so the more you take off the stone at this point, the less you need to take off with your diamond wheels.




Now it is time to move on to the cabochon machine. The most important part of the cabochon process is that you need plenty of water running over the diamond wheels. Without water, you will ruin your diamond wheels which can be a very costly mistake!

Metal Bonded Diamond Wheels on a Cabking 6V3

The first three wheels of the machine (pictured to the right) are used to shape the stone into a domed cut stone. The first two wheels are metal bonded diamond grinding wheels, the first is 80 grit and the second is 220 grit. The third wheel is a 280 grit resin bond diamond wheel.





Grind the remainder of the excess material from around where you have marked the shape, remembering to use plenty of water.

Bloodstone Shaped 'Preform'

At this point in the process, many people will attach the stone to what is known as a 'dop stick', which is basically a piece of dowel. You attach the stone to the dop with jewelers wax (some use 2 part epoxy glue, particularly with smaller stones) making sure that the stone is level and the dop is centered. I prefer not to dop, but that is simply a personal preference. I do however need to dop smaller cabs, ones that are too small to handle on their own. It is also common practice at this point to mark the center of the stone (on the top side) and to mark a line around the girdle just above the base of the stone. This helps the cutter maintain a standard height of the girdle around the edge and to help cut towards the middle of the dome. Again, all of this is personal preference.

Creating the Cabochon:

Cutting of Bloodstone Cabochon

Using the diamond grinding wheels, grind away the sharp edges of the stone, starting at a 45 degree angle.
You will end up with a 'flat' face right the way around the stone, and you will also end up with 2 edges instead of one.

Cutting of Bloodstone Cabochon

Follow the same process to remove the 2 new edges.
Keep working on the edges that are created by the grinding wheels by working the stone around the wheel.

Cutting of Bloodstone Cabochon

Eventually you will end up with a domed piece of stone................

Which looks something like this when dry:

Cutting of Bloodstone Cabochon

If you look closely, the white bits on the picture above are actually scratches made by the tiny diamonds in the wheels. You can only really see them when the stone is dry, but with experience you will be able to feel them when the stone is wet and wont need to dry it each time you need to check if they are still there. The next wheel (the 280 grit resin bonded wheel) cleans a lot of these bigger scratches off. In this following picture, you can see that I have run the top half of the stone over that 280 grit wheel:

Cutting of Bloodstone Cabochon

Cutting of Bloodstone Cabochon

The stone after the 280 grit wheel:

As you can see, all of those bigger white scratches have been removed by the 280 grit wheel. If you were to look closely, you would see that the stone is still covered with tiny white scratches, but they are a lot smaller than in the photo above. This is why the stone still looks quite dull.

Pre Polish: 

Resin Bonded Diamond Wheels on the Cabking 6V3

The next three wheels on the machine are for the pre polish. All three are resin bonded wheels with grits (left to right) of 600, 1200 and 3000. Essentially what each wheel does is put finer and finer scratches on the stone to give it a shine, these wheels also smooth off any ridges or edges left by the courser grit wheels. Again, you need plenty of water running over each of the wheels to lubricate.

Cutting of Bloodstone Cabochon

The stone after the 600 grit wheel:

Cutting of Bloodstone Cabochon

After the 1200 grit wheel:

Cutting of Bloodstone Cabochon

 And after the 3000 grit:

Final Polish:

2 Gram Syringe of 14,000 Grit Diamond Paste

For the final polish I use a canvas polishing pad coupled with 14,000 grit diamond paste which is purchased in 2 gram syringes. Many cabbers will follow the previous steps up to 100,000 grit, then polish with cerium oxide paste.

Canvas Polishing Pad attached to end of Cabking 6V3

The pad attaches to the side of the CabKing machine (as seen in the picture to the right). The final polish is the easiest part of the whole process, but if you have missed any scratches in the previous steps, they will stick out like the proverbials after the polish! You simply start the machine and run the whole stone over the polishing pad for a couple of minutes. Water is optional at this point, however if you decide not to use water you need to take care to ensure that the stone doesnt heat up too much as this may cause the stone to crack or break.

Don't forget to put a small beveled edge (on a 45 degree angle) on the back of the cabochon to avoid chipping:

The final product:

Finished Heliotrope (Bloodstone) Cabochon

All that is left to do is take a nice photo of the cab - I am still working on this bit - my wife is a far better photographer than I!

Finished Heliotrope (Bloodstone) Cabochon

Thanks for checking out my blog! I hope that you have got something out of this 'crash course' in cabochon cutting. The above stone is available for purchase through my store here along with plenty of others. Please also check out my faceboook page aswell - www.facebook.com/jakagems

Feel free to leave some feedback, let me know how I can improve this how to guide, or let me know if you have any questions!

Until next time!

The beginning of the end perhaps?

I probably should start this blog with an explanation as to what Jaka Gems is and what it means to me.

I have been surrounded by rocks in various forms for as long as I can remember. My Grandfather started a business some 50 years ago selling rocks, minerals, crystals, fossils and all other related goods. He continued with the hobby until the day he died. I have collected rocks, mainly mineral specimens, for many many years and have quite a large collection at home, and ended up with most of the stock from the shop when my grandparents passed away.

But my real passion lies with Lapidary:


lap·i·dar·y  (lp-dr)

n. pl. lap·i·dar·ies

1. One who cuts, polishes, or engraves gems.

2. A dealer in precious or semiprecious stones.

adj.

1. Of or relating to precious stones or the art of working with them.

2.  a. Engraved in stone.

     b. Marked by conciseness, precision, or refinement of expression: lapidary prose.

     c. Sharply or finely delineated: a face with lapidary features.

I have been cutting stones and cabochons for more than 10 years, a skill that I have picked up from various people, not least of which is my Mum, whom I regard as one of the best opal cutters you will come across. I was a member of the Diamond Valley Gem Club for a number of years (located in Greensborough - a North Eastern suburb of Melbourne) until I moved house. Diamond Valley is where I learnt to do things properly, even trying my hand at some silversmithing. These days I am a member of the Ballarat and District Gem club, but rarely have the time to get there.

It is a pleasure to turn a rough piece of rock into a polished piece of art, and it is one of the most relaxing activities I have ever come across. It is something I have been able to lose myself in, and I quite often lose track of time in the process, something which my wife is none to pleased about.........

It was mid September this year (2012) that I decided that I would share this passion with others and start a small hobby business. My wife said to me that she had thought about it previously and that it should be called Jaka Gems (Jaka coming from our two first names JAmes and KAte), and thus my little venture was born! I started out by creating a facebook page (www.facebook.com/jakagems) and it has now grown into an online store via Storenvy (www.jakagems.storenvy.com). It has been suggested by a couple of people that I should start a blog that goes hand in hand with these sites, so here it is!

This is, and most probably always will be, a part time thing. Purely a hobby that I am hoping to share with others (and perhaps make a little bit of pocket money on the side!). Through this blog I will be sharing with you some of the pieces that I cut and some of the experiences that I have. I will also try and impart some of knowledge about stones that I have learnt over the years.

Here is a bit of a taste of what I do:

This is a small Rhodochrosite cabochon that I cut for my 3 year old daughters birthday on the weekend just gone. Rhodochosite is a mineral found worldwide (this particular piece originates from Broken Hill in New South Wales) and is quite soft in nature. High quality specimens can be blood red and very stunning. The bail on this piece is a sterling silver pinch bail, I simpy drilled a small hole through the cabochon to attach the bail.

 

Update 12/11/2012 - I cut a few more Rhodochrosite cabochons this afternoon and have attached similar bails, the bails on these are slightly bigger, as are the cabs. Rhodochrosite is one of my favorite materials to cut. It is soft which makes it easier, but still takes a really nice shine, which in my experience is uncommon for softer materials.

If what you read above interests you, feel free to follow my blog, or to checkout either of my facebook page or my Storenvy store. You can also contact me via my email address: jakagems@hotmail.com

Also feel free to comment!

Until next time,

James