Scaif
A scaif is a polishing wheel infused with a mixture of olive oil and diamond dust used in the diamond cutting industry. It was invented in the late 15th century by Lodewyk van Bercken in Antwerp. With the scaif, it became possible to both polish and cut facets of the diamond symmetrically and with great precision, also allowing for more complex cuts to be made. This invention revolutionized the diamond cutting industry and, correspondingly, greatly increased the popularity of diamonds. The scaif consists of a hard disk, parallel to the floor. The disk looks like and is rotated in the same way as a potter's wheel. On the top surface a film of olive oil and diamond dust is placed. Surrounding the disk is a circular frame to catch the oil that is spun off as the disk is rotated. Hovering just above the surface of the disk is a mechanical arm to hold the diamond. It can be finely adjusted, to move the diamond into the exact position needed for polishing the facets. As the facets a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Faceting Machine
A faceting machine is broadly defined as any device that allows the user to place and polish facets onto a mineral specimen. Machines can range in sophistication from primitive jamb-peg machines to highly refined, and highly expensive, commercially available machines. A major division among machines is found between those that facet diamonds and those that do not. Specialized equipment is required for diamond faceting, and faceting as an occupation rarely bridges the gap between diamond and non-diamond workmanship. A second division can be made between industrial faceting and custom/hobby faceting. The vast majority of jewelry-store gemstones are faceted either abroad in factories or entirely by machines. (Diamonds are the exception, owing to the training and specialized equipment required to facet them.) Custom jewelry is still commonly made of custom metalwork and mass-produced gemstones, but unusual cuts or particularly valuable gemstone material will likely be faceted o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sri Lanka-Gem Cutting (1)
Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, Sinhalese, Thai, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Assamese, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, Malayalam, Kannada, Sanskrit, Pali, Khmer, and also among Philippine languages. It is usually transliterated as ''Sri'', ''Sree'', ''Shri'', ''Shiri'', ''Shree'', ''Si'', or ''Seri'' based on the local convention for transliteration. In Tamil it evolved to Tiru. The term is used in Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia as a polite form of address equivalent to the English "Mr." in written and spoken language. "Shri" is also used as a title of veneration for deities or as honorific title for individuals. "Shri" is also an epithet for Hindu goddess Lakshmi, while a ''yantra'' or a mystical diagra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diamond Cutting
Diamond cutting is the practice of shaping a Diamond (gemstone), diamond from a rough stone into a faceted gem. Cutting diamonds requires specialized knowledge, tools, equipment, and techniques because of its extreme difficulty. The first guild of diamond cutters and polishers (Diamantaire) was formed in 1375 in Nuremberg, Germany, and led to the development of various types of "cut". This has two meanings in relation to diamonds. The first is the shape: square, oval, and so on. The second relates to the specific quality of cut within the shape, and the quality and price will vary greatly based on the cut quality. Since diamonds are one of the hardest materials, special diamond-coated surfaces are used to grind the diamond down. The first major development in diamond cutting came with the "Point Cut" during the later half of the 14th century: the Point Cut follows the natural shape of an octahedral rough diamond crystal, eliminating some waste in the cutting process. Diamond cut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lodewyk Van Bercken
Lodewyk van Bercken (also known in French as ''Louis de Berquem'') was a mid- to late-15th century Flemish Region, Flemish jeweller and diamond cutter, renowned in the industry for inventing the scaif. The device revolutionized the diamond cutting industry and contributed to increased popularity of diamonds. About Van Bercken was born in Bruges. He is credited with inventing the scaif, a polishing wheel infused with a mixture of olive oil and diamond dust. With the scaif, it became possible to polish all the facets of the diamond symmetrically at angles that best reflected the light. Charles the Bold Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy became the Patronage, patron of van Bercken and in the 1470s commissioned him to cut a 137 carat (27.4 g) stone that later became known as the Florentine Diamond. Van Bercken experimented with three diamonds belonging to Charles the Bold. One stone was the Beau Sancy, another became the property of Pope Sixtus V, and the third was given by Char ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Potter's Wheel
In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, and for applying incised decoration or rings of colour. Use of the potter's wheel became widespread throughout the Old World but was unknown in the Pre-Columbian New World, where pottery was handmade by methods that included coiling and beating. A potter's wheel may occasionally be referred to as a "potter's lathe". However, that term is better used for another kind of machine that is used for a different shaping process, turning, similar to that used for shaping of metal and wooden articles. The pottery wheel is an important component to create arts and craft products. The techniques of jiggering and jolleying can be seen as extensions of the potter's wheel: in jiggering, a shaped tool is slowly brought down onto the plastic clay bod ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mechanical Arm
A mechanical arm is a machine that usually mimics the action of a human arm. Mechanical arms are composed of multiple Beam (structure), beams connected by hinges powered by actuators. One end of the arm is attached to a firm base while the other has a tool. They can be controlled by humans either directly or Teleoperation, over a distance. A computer-controlled mechanical arm is called a robotic arm. However, a robotic arm is just one of many types of different mechanical arms. Mechanical arms can be as simple as tweezers or as complex as prosthetic arms. In other words, if a mechanism can grab an object, hold an object, and transfer an object just like a human arm, it can be classified as a mechanical arm. Recent advancements have been brought about to lead future improvements in the medical field with prosthetics and with the mechanical arm in general. When mechanical engineers build complex mechanical arms, the goal is for the arm to perform a task that ordinary human arms can ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Edward Jay Epstein
Edward Jay Epstein (December 6, 1935 – January 9, 2024) was an American investigative journalist and a political science professor at Harvard University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Early life and education Edward Jay Epstein was born in New York City on December 6, 1935. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in government from Cornell University. One of his professors at Cornell was Vladimir Nabokov. In 1973, he received his PhD in government from Harvard University. Career Epstein taught courses at these universities for three years. While a graduate student at Cornell University in 1966, he published the book ''Inquest'', an influential critique of the Warren Commission probe into the John F. Kennedy assassination. After teaching at Harvard, UCLA, and MIT, Epstein decided to pursue his writing career back in New York City. Epstein wrote three books about the Kennedy assassination, eventually collecte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diamond Cutting
Diamond cutting is the practice of shaping a Diamond (gemstone), diamond from a rough stone into a faceted gem. Cutting diamonds requires specialized knowledge, tools, equipment, and techniques because of its extreme difficulty. The first guild of diamond cutters and polishers (Diamantaire) was formed in 1375 in Nuremberg, Germany, and led to the development of various types of "cut". This has two meanings in relation to diamonds. The first is the shape: square, oval, and so on. The second relates to the specific quality of cut within the shape, and the quality and price will vary greatly based on the cut quality. Since diamonds are one of the hardest materials, special diamond-coated surfaces are used to grind the diamond down. The first major development in diamond cutting came with the "Point Cut" during the later half of the 14th century: the Point Cut follows the natural shape of an octahedral rough diamond crystal, eliminating some waste in the cutting process. Diamond cut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cutting Tools
Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scalpel and microtome. However, any sufficiently sharp object is capable of cutting if it has a hardness sufficiently larger than the object being cut, and if it is applied with sufficient force. Even liquids can be used to cut things when applied with sufficient force (see water jet cutter). Cutting is a compressive and shearing phenomenon, and occurs only when the total stress generated by the cutting implement exceeds the ultimate strength of the material of the object being cut. The simplest applicable equation is: :\text = or \tau=\frac The stress generated by a cutting implement is directly proportional to the force with which it is applied, and inversely proportional to the area of contact. Hence, the smaller the area (i.e., the sharper ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Belgian Inventions
Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language formerly spoken in Gallia Belgica *Belgian Dutch or Flemish, a variant of Dutch *Belgian French, a variant of French *Belgian horse (other), various breeds of horse *Belgian waffle, in culinary contexts * SS ''Belgian'', a cargo ship in service with F Leyland & Co Ltd from 1919 to 1934 *''The Belgian'', a 1917 American silent film See also * *Belgica (other) Gallia Belgica was a province of the Roman Empire covering present-day Luxembourg and parts of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Belgica may also refer to: Places * Belgica Glacier, Antarctica * Belgica Guyot, an undersea tablemount off An ... * Belgic (other) {{Disambiguation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |