[Will Dikel]

Hi All,

I bought some raw jadeite (hardness 7, like quartz), and could use some advice:
-Where can I get very rough grit (e.g., 36 grit) large (e.g., one inch spherical and cylindrical) burrs?
-Since with burr vs. jade, jade tends to win, should I get embedded vs. electroplated burrs (e.g., with diamond below the outer surface? Where do I get those kind of burrs?
-I have a "Diamond Genie" which is a lapidary tool for making cabochons, which is good for grinding and polishing flat surfaces, but not good for carving. It has water constantly running on the wheels. If I work jade with a Fordham and diamond bits, do I need to have water running on the jade as I carve, or can I just keep dipping it into water?
-Any tips (besides "Pick an easier stone to carve")?

Thanks,

Will Dikel

Attached image(s)

• 
• 

[marcel beaudry]

Will Dikel, on Dec 18 2008, 02:10 PM, said:

Hi All,

I bought some raw jadeite (hardness 7, like quartz), and could use some advice:
-Where can I get very rough grit (e.g., 36 grit) large (e.g., one inch spherical and cylindrical) burrs?
-Since with burr vs. jade, jade tends to win, should I get embedded vs. electroplated burrs (e.g., with diamond below the outer surface? Where do I get those kind of burrs?
-I have a "Diamond Genie" which is a lapidary tool for making cabochons, which is good for grinding and polishing flat surfaces, but not good for carving. It has water constantly running on the wheels. If I work jade with a Fordham and diamond bits, do I need to have water running on the jade as I carve, or can I just keep dipping it into water?
-Any tips (besides "Pick an easier stone to carve")?

Thanks,

Will Dikel

Go to www.jadecarver.com

And yes you will need water . If you do small carving with the foredom hold your carving in a wet sponge and every time you carve squish a little water on your carving if you see white powder squish it again . now for electroplated burrs it all depend on how much you are willing to pay for your tools . Electroplated tools dont last as long as sintered tools and cost less if .It is a small project use electroplated you can even use them to carve anything wood, stone, shells,amber,steel. The trick with electroplated tools is do not use any pressure let the tool do its work , if you put to much pressure you will force the diamond loose and they will just fly away .Now with sintered you can put a lot of pressure and the diamond will sink in the subtrate to make them cut again you take a silicon carbide stone and touch the edge and it will cut just like a new wheel you will need a constant water supply with this wheel because your stone will heat faster and some stones will not accept this heat opal is an example . Jade is very forgiving when it is thick not when it is thin . Make sure your wheels turn strait or they will hammer your stone and break it you must not feel vibration when you carve.

Marcel Beaudry

[Will Dikel]

P.S.
The carving illustrated is an example of Mughal carving- Shah Jahan's jade wine cup in the Victoria and Albert Museum:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/obje..._cup/index.html

[musket]

Try Mountain Mist. Their Jade Eaters and Jade Hogs should do the trick.

Mountain Mist

They are not cheap, but will last a long, long time. Electroplated burs, as marcel has noted, will not last long by comparison. Many electroplated burs do not have a consistent mesh grit size, which is another good reason not to use them on lapidary materials.

I don't know if anybody even makes a 36 grit bur. If you have that much material to remove, best do as much of it as you can on a trim saw. You can also remove a lot of material by using the edges of the 100 grit wheel on your Genie, if you have a steady hand.

If you put too much pressure on a bur of any kind, you may bend the shank. Even with sintered burs, the idea is the same as marcel noted for electroplated burs-- let the abrasive do the work.

[TomFinn]

Will Dikel, on Dec 18 2008, 10:47 PM, said:

P.S.
The carving illustrated is an example of Mughal carving- Shah Jahan's jade wine cup in the Victoria and Albert Museum:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/obje..._cup/index.html

Hello Will,

This cup is also Nephrite "Jade" not Jadeite "Jade". Nephrite is not quite so hard but much tougher and therefore able to be cut to the thiness exhibited by this piece. Beautiful.

I would be leary of using tools as coarse as 36 grit other than for the primary roughing. Percussion "fractures created by such a tool can be quite deep, so experiment.

Tom

[Debbie K]

Will:

I am a new member but this is something I know about. KEEP IT WET. Jade is tough, it doesn't crack or break like other stones will, but when it heats up it has a tendency to craze like old china. I use Dremel (higher speed) and Grobet flexible shafts and hold the stone in a shallow pan of water and use a toothbrush to remove the slurry and keep it wet. I know that it can be difficult to see what detail you are getting under all that water. I have lately stumbled on a solution.

I belong to HGMS (Houston Gem and Mineral Society) and we made a bulk purchase of diamond grit from Russia. I use the loose diamond powder with bur oil and brass bits that I made myself from hobby brass rod. It's easier to see what you are doing with the oil than it is with the water, and the oil seems to keep the jade cool enough to keep the cracks at bay.

Since I didn't order the grit myself, I'm don't know the name of the supplier, but if you want me to I will find out. I know small portions of it (usually in tubes) are available to faceters which I believe Dan Lopacki in New Mexico sells at www.lopacki.com.

Hope this helps.

DebbieK

[Will Dikel]

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I added a post today in the materials section about Guatemalan blue jade- check it out!

Will

[dante lopez]

Will Dikel, on Apr 18 2009, 07:26 AM, said:

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I added a post today in the materials section about Guatemalan blue jade- check it out!

Will

hi usualy my wife written for me , so forget my english , I carve mustly jadeitte from guatemala , the way I solv that problem is using e diamon blade cuting tile machine I raise the disc as much the machine letme whit lots of wather and use the disc as carving beat yu will remove lots of material use the side of the disc (wear glases) is bery efective and fast you have to ave e berry strong grip on your pice if you cut deep no more the 1 inch then do every half inch vetwin une cut ,and you can remove by chiseling do some xperiments and see if it worcks for you I try to post some pictures of that Im teling you but in the mid time chec in you tube " agat carving in india or china " the way they use the disc is graet well the best of look if I can be of any other asitand let me know