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He seems to be doing everything by "feel". I would imagine that if the stone were 3D scanned it wouldn't be difficult to use some software to determine the opti

He seems to be doing everything by "feel". I would imagine that if the stone were 3D scanned it wouldn't be difficult to use some software to determine the optimal orientation to achieve the largest cut stone, for a given cut style.

mitthrowaway2 2y ago
My guess is a skilled craftsman could get within 3% of the optimum solution.
- MichaelZuo 2y ago
  I would agree for all the common shapes, maybe not for some very odd asymmetrical shape.
nickburns 2y ago
great point... but in thinking about your comment, it occurs to me that then it could no longer be considered "hand cut." i found it very interesting that he shared he was hoping for 300+ cts., but had resolved to be satisfied with at least 250. so he did alright after all.
- rkagerer 2y ago
  294.5 cts in the end.
jasonwatkinspdx 2y ago
He's making decisions based on a lifetime of experience. I wouldn't be so quick to assume that can be replaced by a simple optimizer. Additionally, maximizing size is just one goal among many.
- dylan604 2y ago
  The hubris of any software dev is that code can do anything better. For a large majority of things, I would agree. After all, that's why we made computers in the first place. It's also my tenet of workflow automation. I'm not trying to eliminate a person's job. I'm just trying to make the tedious error prone parts of the job less tedious and error prone so that the person is free to spend more time on the things that they are good at and would be difficult to automate.
  - nickburns 2y ago
    'computers' can now rival the greatest painted masterpieces from all of human history with a mere text-based prompt (or less). would you consider those generated works to be masterpieces? or is there something about a work created by human hand and derived from a human mind that can only make them so?
    - abeisgreat 2y ago
      The thing with masterpieces is that they don’t hold that status because they can’t be replicated, they hold it because they were novel, innovative, and unrivaled at the time of their creation.
      - shagie 2y ago
        > The thing with masterpieces is that they don’t hold that status because they can’t be replicated Copying the old masters is often an important part of developing one's own skills as a painter. https://www.sightsize.com/old-masters-copying-older-masters-part-1/ https://www.sightsize.com/old-masters-copying-older-masters-... > The training of painters in past centuries regularly involved copying old master drawings and paintings. To that end, most museums happily allowed students into their buildings for that purpose (some still do). But the practice was not limited to students. Even fully trained old masters copied older masters. Why copying old master paintings is useful - https://youtu.be/91UXW_hSpnU https://youtu.be/91UXW_hSpnU The Art of the Copyist - https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/videos/2023/3/copyist-jas-knight https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/videos/2023/3/copyist... Art: France’s long history of copying Old Masters at the Louvre - https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Mag/Culture/Art-France-s-long-history-of-copying-Old-Masters-at-the-Louvre https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Mag/Culture/Art-Fran... > The practice of copying and recreating paintings by the Old Masters at the Louvre goes back to when the museum first opened in 1793, when any artist could turn up and use a freely available easel to copy a masterpiece. > ... > Not all artists copied works to improve their skills. Some took up the practice professionally, since the demand for copies of masterpieces in the Louvre was high throughout the nineteenth century. > ... > These days only 250 copyists are permitted to install themselves in front of the museum’s art works, and a two-year waiting list shows that there are plenty of hopefuls waiting in the wings to take up a palette and brush. > Those granted access have up to three months to work on their copy.
- WXLCKNO 2y ago
  You can say the same thing about chess/go. A lifetime of experience didn't help people getting beat by computers.
iancmceachern 2y ago
They do this for larger diamonds, it wouldn't make as good of a video though
jccalhoun 2y ago
This is done for some diamonds. About 1:20 in this video you can see them mention how they use computers to aid in deciding how to cut the diamond https://youtu.be/8lk8p0re8Eg https://youtu.be/8lk8p0re8Eg
n1b0m 2y ago
A video posted by another commenter shows someone using a 3D scan of a gemstone to work out how to get the most out of the gemstone he is cutting https://www.youtube.com/@hedronrockworks/videos https://www.youtube.com/@hedronrockworks/videos

mitthrowaway2 2y ago

My guess is a skilled craftsman could get within 3% of the optimum solution.

MichaelZuo 2y ago
I would agree for all the common shapes, maybe not for some very odd asymmetrical shape.

nickburns 2y ago

great point... but in thinking about your comment, it occurs to me that then it could no longer be considered "hand cut." i found it very interesting that he shared he was hoping for 300+ cts., but had resolved to be satisfied with at least 250. so he did alright after all.

rkagerer 2y ago
294.5 cts in the end.

jasonwatkinspdx 2y ago

He's making decisions based on a lifetime of experience. I wouldn't be so quick to assume that can be replaced by a simple optimizer. Additionally, maximizing size is just one goal among many.

dylan604 2y ago
The hubris of any software dev is that code can do anything better. For a large majority of things, I would agree. After all, that's why we made computers in the first place. It's also my tenet of workflow automation. I'm not trying to eliminate a person's job. I'm just trying to make the tedious error prone parts of the job less tedious and error prone so that the person is free to spend more time on the things that they are good at and would be difficult to automate.
- nickburns 2y ago
  'computers' can now rival the greatest painted masterpieces from all of human history with a mere text-based prompt (or less). would you consider those generated works to be masterpieces? or is there something about a work created by human hand and derived from a human mind that can only make them so?
  - abeisgreat 2y ago
    The thing with masterpieces is that they don’t hold that status because they can’t be replicated, they hold it because they were novel, innovative, and unrivaled at the time of their creation.
    - shagie 2y ago
      > The thing with masterpieces is that they don’t hold that status because they can’t be replicated Copying the old masters is often an important part of developing one's own skills as a painter. https://www.sightsize.com/old-masters-copying-older-masters-part-1/ https://www.sightsize.com/old-masters-copying-older-masters-... > The training of painters in past centuries regularly involved copying old master drawings and paintings. To that end, most museums happily allowed students into their buildings for that purpose (some still do). But the practice was not limited to students. Even fully trained old masters copied older masters. Why copying old master paintings is useful - https://youtu.be/91UXW_hSpnU https://youtu.be/91UXW_hSpnU The Art of the Copyist - https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/videos/2023/3/copyist-jas-knight https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/videos/2023/3/copyist... Art: France’s long history of copying Old Masters at the Louvre - https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Mag/Culture/Art-France-s-long-history-of-copying-Old-Masters-at-the-Louvre https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Mag/Culture/Art-Fran... > The practice of copying and recreating paintings by the Old Masters at the Louvre goes back to when the museum first opened in 1793, when any artist could turn up and use a freely available easel to copy a masterpiece. > ... > Not all artists copied works to improve their skills. Some took up the practice professionally, since the demand for copies of masterpieces in the Louvre was high throughout the nineteenth century. > ... > These days only 250 copyists are permitted to install themselves in front of the museum’s art works, and a two-year waiting list shows that there are plenty of hopefuls waiting in the wings to take up a palette and brush. > Those granted access have up to three months to work on their copy.
WXLCKNO 2y ago
You can say the same thing about chess/go. A lifetime of experience didn't help people getting beat by computers.

iancmceachern 2y ago

They do this for larger diamonds, it wouldn't make as good of a video though

jccalhoun 2y ago

This is done for some diamonds. About 1:20 in this video you can see them mention how they use computers to aid in deciding how to cut the diamond https://youtu.be/8lk8p0re8Eg https://youtu.be/8lk8p0re8Eg

n1b0m 2y ago

A video posted by another commenter shows someone using a 3D scan of a gemstone to work out how to get the most out of the gemstone he is cutting https://www.youtube.com/@hedronrockworks/videos https://www.youtube.com/@hedronrockworks/videos