Cutting Assistant: Overview

Cutting Assistant guides you through the cutting sequence — tier by tier, facet by facet — once you're at the lapidary machine with your rough and cutting head ready.

What is the cutting sequence?

A faceting design like Round Brilliant has 57 facets organized into 6 tiers. You can't cut them all at once — you cut in a specific order:

1. Girdle first: Set the blank size and the outline edge.
2. Pavilion: Cut the bottom tiers from steep to shallow.
3. Crown: Cut the top tiers from shallow to steep (or in another order depending on your machine's geometry).
4. Final polish: Each facet gets a final light pass to remove any scratches.

The sequence matters because:

• The girdle sets the stage — everything else is cut relative to it.
• Pavilion mains determine pavilion depth.
• Pavilion breaks and the culet fill in below the mains.
• Crown mains sit above the girdle.
• Crown breaks fill in toward the table.

Cut out of order, and you'll have geometry conflicts or wasted effort.

The Cutting Assistant tool

Cutting Assistant walks you through this sequence:

• Shows you the current tier: angle, distance, cone angle, how many facets, how many copies you've cut so far.
• Walks you through each facet in the tier so you don't lose track.
• Lets you mark facets as done as you cut them.
• Calculates progress (how many facets remain).

It's a checklist + timer, letting you focus on the actual cutting instead of juggling notes.

How to use it

Open Cutting Assistant when:

• You've loaded your design into the Developer and confirmed the angles.
• You've exported the PDF or loaded the .facet file into your machine control software.
• You're about to start cutting at the lapidary machine.

Click through each tier, mark facets as you go, and Cutting Assistant keeps you on track.

See Cutting Assistant: Following the Sequence to get started.