After you have cut your first few cabs you are faced with the question of what to do with them. You can mount them in factory-made findings or you can display them in a display case, but most people want something more. Fabrication is the art of working with metal directly, hammering, sawing, soldering, etc. Casting is the art of working with a secondary medium, usually wax, and then converting the secondary medium to metal. They are frequently displayed at home or in display cases at local club shows and libraries.
Some collections are good enough to be loaned to museums.
Tumblers Many times the starting place for the beginner is a tumbler, polishing up stones they have collected. Sometimes this interest is expanded into making tumbled stone necklaces or other artful endeavors. Faceting Diamonds are the stones most people think of first when faceted stones are mentioned but faceting diamond is almost never done by the hobbyist. The equipment is too specialized, the experience required too great, and the cost too high. The equipment is not cheap but it is affordable, and although there is a lot of experience required for a good stone, most anyone with enough patience can do it.