jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 16, 2017 15:53:05 GMT -5
I just ground on this tough little rock rockpickerforever. You think the label will stay on it after coarse grit and finishing abrasives lol. Some fine jade. Stubborn to grind, thought it would be soft. Do you know any way to test for jade. There is a big Asian marketplace here in Atlanta. I see a lot of what looks like old pieces with blocks of fine looking jade incorporated in various decorative accessories. Some are broken, some ugly. But have what looks like wicked fine jade. I would break or saw it into pieces and tumble it. Hopefully Buddha won't catch me. I think some of it may be serpentine, some fake, some plastic. Then again some look like Ming-dynasty-valuable (very)old stock jade.
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wampidytoo
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Post by wampidytoo on Dec 16, 2017 23:26:54 GMT -5
If they will let you access the back with a 400/600 grit diamond disc or knife sharpener and a drop of water you should be able to work up some white foam. Practice at home to figure how wet it needs to be. Too much water and the foam washes away and too dry you get powder like other stones. I don't know of any other stones that foam this way but all the jade I have worked with does. Jim
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 17, 2017 1:05:17 GMT -5
If they will let you access the back with a 400/600 grit diamond disc or knife sharpener and a drop of water you should be able to work up some white foam. Practice at home to figure how wet it needs to be. Too much water and the foam washes away and too dry you get powder like other stones. I don't know of any other stones that foam this way but all the jade I have worked with does. Jim Perfect Jim. Got said disc. Will practice on this piece. Jim, the cuts from the coarse 30 grit diamond wheel shine. The deep gouges, the have a sheen. There are giant flea markets in Atlanta. I see a lot of Asian artifacts, seems like they are not wanted. Some what looks to be large jade carvings that have been broken. At give-away-prices. The jade trade in Asia has a bloody history. Maybe the govt controlled it at times. Is this the foam you are talking about(with a knife and wet)
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wampidytoo
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Post by wampidytoo on Dec 17, 2017 4:11:31 GMT -5
I believe you got it James. you might try a couple of other stones the same way to prove that I am not talking out my ..... I have not tried this other than when I am grinding and polishing. It just came to mind when I read your post. I have a habit of guessing a lot but I really hope it works.
Do not break up anything that looks old and repairable. Most people here do not have a clue to the value of some of those old pieces are. Find the right one and you can retire. Jim
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 17, 2017 8:23:41 GMT -5
I believe you got it James. you might try a couple of other stones the same way to prove that I am not talking out my ..... I have not tried this other than when I am grinding and polishing. It just came to mind when I read your post. I have a habit of guessing a lot but I really hope it works. Do not break up anything that looks old and repairable. Most people here do not have a clue to the value of some of those old pieces are. Find the right one and you can retire. Jim Between the foam test and a scratch test using a 30 grit diamond sintering I figure i will get it right Jim. The reflection in the grooves of the coarse diamond wheel abrasions are something I have never experienced with other rocks. i'll try a video to see if it shows these reflections. In the very rich part of Big Atlanta is a shop containing collections of ceramics and carvings from Chinese dynasties going way back. Looks like a place for the rich and famous to unload some big money. There is jade, and there is jade. some of the jade in that shop is scary fine. Huge Chinese population here in Atlanta. and Atlanta is one of the worlds biggest distribution cities in the world. Perfect place for a white trash scrapper to find damaged and lost merchandise that can be really valuable. Jade and talc are both magnesium based metamorphic rocks and both reflect at abrasions(welder's marker) check out video:
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wampidytoo
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Post by wampidytoo on Dec 17, 2017 18:21:32 GMT -5
Jade is unique and wonderful stuff. So wonderful that the Chinese have perfected a way of making fake jade so real it takes an expert to tell them apart. Met a lady in China that quit dealing in jade rings and bracelets because she could no longer tell the real from fake and she had over ten years experience. Something you might want to work on is a non rotary tool for carving jade. A friend there that owns a shop was quizzing me about a way to use a diamond to carve by hand. My diamond knowledge could be put in your eye but he told me that jade hand carvings are way more valuable than machine carved jade. Yes, the Chinese are very picky when it comes to stones and carvings but I guess that is to be expected because those people will finance a stone the way we finance a car. Some people here think they are rock crazy but they have no idea how much crazier the Chinese are and their carvings will back it up too. Not jade but still extremely valuable especially this piece because it is considered a four color stone. The chickens inside the cage are carved too. No opening. My favorite carving from the trip. About three feet tall and I do not remember which way it was but either it took two men three years or three men two years to carve this. My friend sold this while I was there for $15000. He said he sold it cheap so he could buy out his uncle's part ownership of the shop. This is the type of carving I am working on now. The learning curve will be over in another 20 - 30 years. Jim
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 17, 2017 21:06:48 GMT -5
wampidytooThose carvings are on another level. Being a salvage person I will attend the giant Scott's Antique Market and keep an eye out for some old jade finds. A good bit of it sold there. As mentioned, most are broken. But the old stock jade may be a treasure. Hope that any pieces I find are before the artificial jade age. I would take photos and post them here just to make sure they are not too valuable for tumbling. Carving a rock thru that cage ? Who does such ?
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Post by youp50 on Dec 17, 2017 23:43:52 GMT -5
Not jade,but on the Chinese carving. During the 70's Uncle Sam had me in the Middle East, there were ivory carvings that started as an elephant tusk. People were 3/8 of an inch high. Totally amazed me, I would stand are look for along time. Gardens, pagodas, trees, formations and things I cannot name. I never bothered to ask a price. I have no trouble believing a carved chicken in a basket.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 18, 2017 7:13:35 GMT -5
Not jade,but on the Chinese carving. During the 70's Uncle Sam had me in the Middle East, there were ivory carvings that started as an elephant tusk. People were 3/8 of an inch high. Totally amazed me, I would stand are look for along time. Gardens, pagodas, trees, formations and things I cannot name. I never bothered to ask a price. I have no trouble believing a carved chicken in a basket.
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wampidytoo
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Post by wampidytoo on Dec 18, 2017 19:31:42 GMT -5
Not jade,but on the Chinese carving. During the 70's Uncle Sam had me in the Middle East, there were ivory carvings that started as an elephant tusk. People were 3/8 of an inch high. Totally amazed me, I would stand are look for along time. Gardens, pagodas, trees, formations and things I cannot name. I never bothered to ask a price. I have no trouble believing a carved chicken in a basket. If you happen to run across any of the type stone I posted I would be very interested in purchasing it. Much softer than jade so it can be scratched with any metal. Naturally waxy. I should have brought some back with me other than one little piece to carve and a carved baby dragon for my daughter. Still have not finished carving the little piece but take it out once in a while when I have the mind set to handle something really intense and precise. Jim
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 18, 2017 22:37:50 GMT -5
If you happen to run across any of the type stone I posted I would be very interested in purchasing it. Much softer than jade so it can be scratched with any metal. Naturally waxy. I should have brought some back with me other than one little piece to carve and a carved baby dragon for my daughter. Still have not finished carving the little piece but take it out once in a while when I have the mind set to handle something really intense and precise. Jim could it be serpentine ?
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wampidytoo
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Post by wampidytoo on Dec 19, 2017 16:23:13 GMT -5
Not sure. The hardness is more like alabaster. My understanding is the only place it has been found is in China and all that is left is what people rat holed a long time ago. It sounded like a lot of the older family members that did the hoarding are dying off and the young ones are selling it to buy cars and such which has helped the supply. Also sounds like the Chinese have turned over just about every stone on the planet trying to find more because they really hate change. Most of the art they are producing now is the same as what they were making a thousand years ago.
Things are way different and hard to figure out over there. I brought back what they call soap stone and it is almost too hard to carve by hand. Another stone I carved over there that is similar to our alabaster is considered dirt and only good for carving practice by students. Carves and polishes great. I will dig out a photo of some of it that I carved. Jim
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wampidytoo
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Post by wampidytoo on Dec 19, 2017 16:34:20 GMT -5
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Post by youp50 on Dec 19, 2017 23:36:15 GMT -5
That is nice carving. I wish I had the eye for it.
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wampidytoo
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Post by wampidytoo on Dec 20, 2017 0:52:39 GMT -5
That is nice carving. I wish I had the eye for it. If you have not practiced a little you won't know. I was building a deck for my ex down in Texas (long story haha) and they were putting some soft limestone as decoration on some new houses. I picked up a bunch of scraps to use for decoration and figured out I could carve it with what screw drivers, rasps and chisels I already had. Random shapes at first that resembled a smooth rock. Easy peasy so I started making common shapes like a hip roof barn, tomb stone for a young friend with wife and kids names on it, you know, fun stuff. I left there and went to Missouri. Found some soft stone along the rail road tracks and butchered it for a while. From that I went to soap stone that I bought on the net and ended up buying some alabaster. That was heaven compared to what I had been carving because I could get a lot more intricate without it breaking. Figured out I was good at carving mushrooms so I made a bunch of those and made the solar flare about that same time. That was random too because all I did was cut out the shape, round filed all the inclusions out of it then polished it. I have zero drawing experience so I had to transfer a picture onto the stone with carbon paper. The piece I am working on now is the first piece to have a picture drawn on the stone by me. I would puff out my chest but I would start coughing. I will admit that I have six pencils sharpened and a big fancy erasure stuck on top of all of them. Need some scraps to play with, message your addy and I will send some for seven dollars postage. I just bought a new batch. Jim
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 20, 2017 3:01:33 GMT -5
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 20, 2017 3:07:27 GMT -5
Not sure. The hardness is more like alabaster. My understanding is the only place it has been found is in China and all that is left is what people rat holed a long time ago. It sounded like a lot of the older family members that did the hoarding are dying off and the young ones are selling it to buy cars and such which has helped the supply. Also sounds like the Chinese have turned over just about every stone on the planet trying to find more because they really hate change. Most of the art they are producing now is the same as what they were making a thousand years ago. Things are way different and hard to figure out over there. I brought back what they call soap stone and it is almost too hard to carve by hand. Another stone I carved over there that is similar to our alabaster is considered dirt and only good for carving practice by students. Carves and polishes great. I will dig out a photo of some of it that I carved. Jim I will keep my eye out. I may go find that shop and take photos of some of the stone carvings. So it is this cream/red/orange/brown stone you are interested in ? And jade of course. I tumbled some of that nephrite you sent me years ago with success.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 20, 2017 3:36:44 GMT -5
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 20, 2017 10:20:11 GMT -5
I just ground on this tough little rock rockpickerforever . You think the label will stay on it after coarse grit and finishing abrasives lol. Some fine jade. Stubborn to grind, thought it would be soft.
Probably about time I chime in on this thread, lol, whadayathink, James? Do you have it tumbling yet? I don't understand about keeping the label on it? You mean, where I wrote, "maybe jade?" Seriously, I don't think anything would come out of a tumbler still legible.
The reason I thought it might be jade (and I am certainly no expert), was because #1 - color, #2 - softness, and lastly, #3 - the hackly break. But I just don't know for sure. I know it is not serpentine, I sent some of that to you as well, but it was marked as such.
Another way to test for jade that I heard of (works better on a boulder of it), is to wrap a hair tightly around it, then hit it with a lighter. If it burns right away, it is not jade. If it is jade, something about the rock will keep it from burning. I don't remember, but I think it dissipates the heat? Like a big heat sink?
Did I send you another small a slab of jade? If I did (and I don't guarantee I did, but I meant to ), that was one I got in Q a couple years ago. It was from BC, Canada.
Well, whatever it is, I am looking forward to seeing it once you have tumbled it!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 20, 2017 10:37:17 GMT -5
I just ground on this tough little rock rockpickerforever . You think the label will stay on it after coarse grit and finishing abrasives lol. Some fine jade. Stubborn to grind, thought it would be soft.
Probably about time I chime in on this thread, lol, whadayathink, James? Do you have it tumbling yet? I don't understand about keeping the label on it? You mean, where I wrote, "maybe jade?" Seriously, I don't think anything would come out of a tumbler still legible.
The reason I thought it might be jade (and I am certainly no expert), was because #1 - color, #2 - softness, and lastly, #3 - the hackly break. But I just don't know for sure. I know it is not serpentine, I sent some of that to you as well, but it was marked as such.
Another way to test for jade that I heard of (works better on a boulder of it), is to wrap a hair tightly around it, then hit it with a lighter. If it burns right away, it is not jade. If it is jade, something about the rock will keep it from burning. I don't remember, but I think it dissipates the heat? Like a big heat sink?
Did I send you another small a slab of jade? If I did (and I don't guarantee I did, but I meant to ), that was one I got in Q a couple years ago. It was from BC, Canada.
Well, whatever it is, I am looking forward to seeing it once you have tumbled it!
Jade is high in magnesium, a super heat conductor. Wonder if that has anything to do with it. thanks for the test, I'll try that. Nice non-destructive test. Jim told me the foam trick, it foamed. Strangely. I'll be looking for some old Chinese material. Maybe a broken carving. Asian art is not vogue now and the prices are low. I just dropped it in w/crazy lace yesterday. it should grind way quicker. I have a trove of softies from you. I don't remember another jade, serpentine yes. what I an anxious to do is the slick lepidolite, purple alien stone. Sure is soft, be happy if it polishes. Had a boss from BC. When living in Vancouver his next door neighbor owned a jade mine. Said neighbor had a couple of several ton chunks in the front yard as a landscape motif. Al said it was high grade gem stuff. Did you know that some serpentines are dead poisonous to plants. Was studying serpentine. Serpentine is a magnesium mineral, but cobalt and some other obnoxious metals makes it toxic. The word 'serpentine' is sorta generic. It more describes a family of minerals.
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