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Post by stoner on Jun 7, 2004 1:53:45 GMT -5
Hi all. Got a question. I read somewhere that jade is difficult to polish and there are different methods used to get a good shine, but I didn't bookmark the page. I've been searching, but haven't come up with anything yet. Anyone with any jade experience care to share the secret? Or if anyone has a link to follow, I would appreciate it.
Thanks, Ed
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Jun 7, 2004 3:36:04 GMT -5
When you say "hand polishing", do you mean polishing jade by rock tumbling, or are you polishing carved jade sculptures?
If it's rock tumbling, I just posted a polished jade photo in the member photo section, under the title "crystal ID needed", or something similar. If you go there, take a shot at identifying my crystal photo! (As for the rock tumbling, I just used a standard 4-stage polishing routine, nothing out of the ordinary that I recall...it was a few years back).
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Jun 9, 2004 0:48:02 GMT -5
Stoner,
I don't know if this is of much help, but on the silicon carbide or diamond wheels Jade has a tendancy to undercut pretty bad and it gives the stone an orange peeled look. The orange peeling is caused by a combination of factors: the type of polish that is being used, the amount of pressure that it being applied to the stone (the most common problem as too much pressure and lack of moisture causes heat) and the speed of the polishing wheel.
I generally polish Jade at somewhere between 400 and 600 RPM with very light pressure on a leather polishing pad and use Rapid Polish #61. There is another polish specifically designed for stones that have a tendancy to undercut, but I have not used it and I am not sure of the name.
If you contact your lapidary supply store, ask them what other polish, other than Rapid Polish works well on Jade, they should be able to offer some options for you.
Enjoy,
John
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Post by sandsman1 on Jun 9, 2004 0:59:19 GMT -5
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Post by stoner on Jun 9, 2004 1:08:28 GMT -5
Hey John and John. Thanks for the info. I do have a multi pulley setup on my grinder, so I can slow it down some, but I'm not sure how much. Will the jade polish using diamond pastes? (I have 1400 thru 50K)
And thanks John, I'll try checking out Kingsleys website.
Later, Ed
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