I am admittedly a ‘‘Learning Faceter’’. Having cut several hundred stones from soft to hard. I even attempted a few diamonds initially, ruining many cheap diamond discs. Unfortunately, I never had the capital to invest in a large name-brand Facet table or machine. Solely surviving on eBay junk and even my own table designs.
To the point, I NEED A QUALITY FACET MACHINE—preferably American-designed. But I am open-minded to alternatives as well. Ultimately, I would love to purchase a brand new $5,500 machine plus shipping. Alas, I’m without funds to match. I have just over half that and am okay with purchasing a "lightly used’’ higher-quality deck. For some odd reason, whenever I search for ‘‘faceting_Machines’’ online, generally speaking, the only ones that come up are foreign and a poor design. Even now, when I search, only one name brand comes up. The other ones are either out of business or impossible to contact. The only other alternative I have found was a reasonably priced one, which looks like a decent machine. Yet they wanted a $400 shipping cost which is a red flag to me. Usually, shipping calls are not refundable, even when purchasing on a guaranteed buying platform.
I do not know if you are still looking for a high quality used machine or not, but just in case I’ll give you my “2 cents worth”. The best machines are made by Ultra Tec in California. The fact that you won’t find many used machines for sale is an indication of how popular they are (as soon as one is available - it is sold).
I have not found any listed on eBay or other auction sites.
I would recommend joining the United States Faceting Guild and a guild that is local to you. Many of us “old-timers” eventually (or our families) will need to find someone to take our well loved, well used machine. The first place they will be listed would be through our guild newsletter.
Ultra Tec machines maintain their value as does Facetron (also US made). Both are mast machines. Depending on configuration (analog or digital) expect even a used ultra to be over $3K. A used Facetron might be available for $2K and above. If you purchase a used machine, I would still recommend contacting the manufacturer to arrange for them to recalibrate them to factory specs. Both Ultra and Jarvis (manufacturer of Facetron) have good reputations and are eager to make sure that even their used machines don’t fall below expectations.
If you are still searching, I hope this helps.