Getting Started | The Tools | Pendant Creation | Finished Pendant | Sculpture Creation | Finished Sculpture
Vancouver, BC Nov 21-23.
This is my journey. It was a LOT harder than I expected and I spent WAY too many hours and too much $$ on this. LOL But I am a artistically driven fool so… 😉
I ran by my local lapidary shop and found a nice supply of some old nephrite jade from Wyoming, US. The owners father collected these a long time ago. Even the stickers were yellow with age. I lost track of time browsing through the treasure trove there but luckily I was able to find a few pieces that I deemed worthy before they kicked me out. 😀
The next day I grabbed a few of the smaller pieces, started up my Dremel flexshaft and got to work testing out the material. Let me tell you, I really like working in jade! I’m a very tactile and jade fills my senses. It’s visually beautiful. It has a luxurious feel to it. AND it has a very delightful chime sound when clicked. I was hooked.
Then I set them and posted them to Etsy.
Next I wanted to try my hand at carving so I made this wing. (Also on Etsy)
I love my wing. It worked great and let me know that I really COULD do this! BUT, once I pushed my attempts further I run into the limitations of my tools. The problems I ran into was that the Dremel creates a lot of chatter on the stone making it difficult. It also has less torque than is recommended for lapidary work creating unrealistic time requirements for me. But most importantly was that it seriously limited me on size. I mean, think about it. The largest cutting disk I could find was 2″. That means I’ve only one an inch before my cut is stopped by the mandrel. It just wasn’t going to work.
So I began my search for tools. Click below on The Tools to continue.
Getting Started | The Tools | Pendant Creation | Finished Pendant | Sculpture Creation | Finished Sculpture
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