Jade

["Kat" <kreese@xxxxxxx>]

    "British Columbia jade: what the characteristics
    are, how to carve it, what tools to use. And how
    did the art of jade carving start. What were the
    tools of the ancient masters. I've seen Asian
    jewelery and Native carvings out of this
    material, and am curious as how to get a polish
    and shine on it, and how can you tell good
    quality material?"

Good nephrite will ruin you for all other carving
materials. Forget about chipping tecniques, it must be
ground away. It eats Dremels, go with a powerful steady
arbor, decent chuck or collets, water cooling, drill
press is ok. I would buy at least a faceters small
sintered diamond saw blade, this will remove stock as
quickly as you dare. Those diamond tools where the grit
is held in place by plating are of little use, it is
rubbed away long before it breaks down.

I use plasticine to build a dam to hold an abrasive
coolant slurry and move the cutting tool up and down
rapidly, there are machines with cams to do this. A thin
brass tube, slit with a razor saw, and tapped together
with 100 grit industrial diamond makes a great drill,
this can also be burnished into a small spiral woung
guitar string and used in a jewlers saw. Cratex
rubberized abrasives are handy dandy

Each level of grinder must have every scratched removed
thru a series, finer and finer, 100, 220, 3something,
400, 600, worn out 600, polishing compound. I like
Linde-A on a hard leather buff, run fast, dry and hot
for the finish. Possible problems include "orange peel"
and undercuting, the solution is good tecnique at every
step, not some secret..

Old carvings were done with a  spinning bamboo reed fed
with "sand" (garnet, natural corundum, and diamond
fairly early, imo) Partly sawn boulders indicate that
thin slabs of abrasive stone were used as saws.

A finger ring made out of a pierced slab (no metal) is a
wonderful project. Good jade is so tough and durable
(due to the way the tiny crystals are interlocked) that
such a ring will last.

For more information, books for gem cutters will be more
useful than those dealing with stone sculpture.

Hope this gives you a clue, If you have any questions I
will try to help.

Enjoy, Robert