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Post by pauls on Jan 24, 2019 16:08:07 GMT -5
I have tumbled a few pieces and they came out OK, they were thin slices from trimming around a large cab I did. the scraps were 1/4 inch wide and under an eighth thick and 2 1/2 to three inches long, just thrown in with everything else, I thought they would probably break in half or smaller but they didn't, tough stuff. I got a better polish on the tumbled pieces than on the cab, so probably should have tumbled the cab too but it was a commission and they wanted it NOW.
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goatgrinder
spending too much on rocks
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Post by goatgrinder on Jan 24, 2019 18:11:06 GMT -5
If this is Green Mountain Jade greenmountainjade.com/about-gmj/company/ then surely you can purchase a small bag of less expensive jade to run a couple practice tumbles? I think GMJ offers a doable alternative. Sorry I can't get the live link in for you.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 25, 2019 7:56:52 GMT -5
I have tumbled a few pieces and they came out OK, they were thin slices from trimming around a large cab I did. the scraps were 1/4 inch wide and under an eighth thick and 2 1/2 to three inches long, just thrown in with everything else, I thought they would probably break in half or smaller but they didn't, tough stuff. I got a better polish on the tumbled pieces than on the cab, so probably should have tumbled the cab too but it was a commission and they wanted it NOW. If the tumbler gets a fine polish it may be the way to finish jade cabs. Jade has to be in demand. This jade is tough and a hammer is a bad way to make tumbles out of it. Interested to see if a tile saw cuts it easily. One thing good about soft materials is ease of sawing for making better shaped tumbles.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 25, 2019 8:02:55 GMT -5
If this is Green Mountain Jade greenmountainjade.com/about-gmj/company/ then surely you can purchase a small bag of less expensive jade to run a couple practice tumbles? I think GMJ offers a doable alternative. Sorry I can't get the live link in for you. I worked for a man from British Columbia years ago goatgrinder. His neighbor owned a jade mine in BC and made well with it. Even had some car size boulders arranged in the landscape of his front yard. Those saws in the Green Mountain link make drool. Imagine owning a mine like that. interesting that most of their production is sent to Asia. How much for this chunk ?
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goatgrinder
spending too much on rocks
Make mine a man cave
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Post by goatgrinder on Jan 25, 2019 12:25:31 GMT -5
Yeah I like the pictures too. As for cost of the boulder, I think that the potch would be a better alternative. Like the Hogg mine I betcha that the parking areas are just paved with quality crush jade.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 27, 2019 8:02:36 GMT -5
Yeah I like the pictures too. As for cost of the boulder, I think that the potch would be a better alternative. Like the Hogg mine I betcha that the parking areas are just paved with quality crush jade. The Hogg mine used to have no gate and people entered the property freely. This was about 25 years ago. There was a lot of large piles of killer rose quartz and it was fine quality. Tailings from mining beryl. No one ever collected much back then. You could back up to the piles and fill a pick up truck with basketball sized chunks many times. Much of it had beryl crystals in it. Landscapers used to haul it off for decorative work for their jobs. There is another exposure of it if you turn right at Smith's Crossroads coming from I-85 at the first hill on left side of road about a mile down. It is an amazing geological feature. And quartz crystals are common for several miles radius around Smith's Crossroads.
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Post by stephan on Jan 28, 2019 0:36:40 GMT -5
Jade hates me, orange peel... I don't know if you tumble or cab, but for cabbing, there are ways around orange peeling. Usually. Some jade is is more prone than others.
First, you need to keep your wheels clean. I've noticed that it is more likely when the wheels get gummed up. So, I do one of two things. I either wash the wheels often with clean water and light pressure from my fingers, or I get another cab in there to clean the wheels. Agate and jasper work well.
Second, working slowly with light to moderate pressure on the 80, 220 and 280 wheels helps.
Third, on the high-grit polishing steps, I let the wheels get dry and hot, especially the final step (I use super cerium 100k).
Just did some jade today, and it worked well, even though the quality was decent, but not spectacular. I'll see if I can get a pic posted tomorrow.
I've not worked with BC jade (it is on my bucket list, along with Wyoming, NZ and Guatamalan jade). Mostly Big Sur material. I have to admit that the thought of tumbling BC jade hurts my soul.
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Post by stephan on Jan 28, 2019 0:48:14 GMT -5
I have tumbled a few pieces and they came out OK, they were thin slices from trimming around a large cab I did. the scraps were 1/4 inch wide and under an eighth thick and 2 1/2 to three inches long, just thrown in with everything else, I thought they would probably break in half or smaller but they didn't, tough stuff. I got a better polish on the tumbled pieces than on the cab, so probably should have tumbled the cab too but it was a commission and they wanted it NOW. Yes. Jade is one of the toughest materials there is (due to its fibrous structure, it has no cleavage planes). Toughness is different than hardness. Toughness is the resistance to breaking, rather than scratching. Jade (both nephrite and jadeite) are rated as "exceptional" on the toughness scale. Diamond only gets a "good."
Unlike jasper, agate, obsidian or other materials, I have never had a jade cab break from being dropped.
It is the fibrous nature of nephrite that can also cause it to be prone to orange-peeling.
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Post by stephan on Jan 28, 2019 1:01:58 GMT -5
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Post by orrum on Jan 28, 2019 8:28:25 GMT -5
Stephen I have a piece of jade that I have been grinding every once in a while to attempt a knife blade. Supposed to be able to make a very sharp blade from Jade.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 28, 2019 8:29:46 GMT -5
I am into the hardness, toughness, structure etc as it relates to tumble polishing of various materials stephan. And modifying tumbling machines and testing slurries for tricky to polish materials. The Rio Grande valley in S Texas was the source of a myriad of jaspers/agates/woods/rhyolites that I tumbled for years. It was the rhyolites and jaspers that by far varied most in polishable properties. Of all the rocks I ever tumbled silicified coral and chert formed by dissolved silica from diatom bearing limestone was consistently the hardest and/or toughest. Hardness or toughness or a combination of both is an unknown. Those two properties are difficult to differentiate. Brinell, Knoop, Mohs, Vickers, Rockwell - which are applicable ? Another tricky material to polish that has wide variations in properties is glass and obsidian. Glass can be taken thru the tumbling process start to finish in a tenth of the time it takes to run agates and can be sawn up into nice pendant shapes in a twentieth of the time. with almost zero wear on the diamond blade. Apparently silica is a key contributor to most of these materials being polishable. And silica is complicated in itself much less being a component of a complicated organic mixture such as rocks are in many cases. It appears jade has it's own brew of chemicals and unique structure with a reputation for being difficult to polish. So it is on the list to try in the tumbler. And just as important - can it be sawn into pendant shapes easily without eating diamond blades ? What if cabs of jade or any other tricky-to-polish material can be better polished in a tumbler than on wheels ? There are benefits to tumbling.
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NRG
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Post by NRG on Jan 28, 2019 10:27:33 GMT -5
Jade doesn't eat diamond blades. Diamond cuts Jade well.
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Post by stephan on Jan 28, 2019 10:40:34 GMT -5
Stephen I have a piece of jade that I have been grinding every once in a while to attempt a knife blade. Supposed to be able to make a very sharp blade from Jade. At some point, I want to make a knife, too. It seems, though, like the wheels on the Genie are spaced too closely to make anything bigger than a knife-shaped cabochon. It's another project that'll have to wait for the flat-lap. I guess.
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Post by stephan on Jan 28, 2019 10:41:18 GMT -5
Jade doesn't eat diamond blades. Diamond cuts Jade well. Agreed. It can gum them up a bit, but that's easily fixed.
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NRG
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Post by NRG on Jan 28, 2019 12:29:49 GMT -5
Jade doesn't eat diamond blades. Diamond cuts Jade well. Agreed. It can gum them up a bit, but that's easily fixed. Using oil, I haven't encountered even that. I'll count my blessings! 😎
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bmw2003
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Post by bmw2003 on Jan 28, 2019 15:37:28 GMT -5
I purchased some very nice BC Polar Jade @ Quartzite this year, from a man who helps run the Jade Festival in Monterey, CA (third weekend in May). We were talking about orange peeling when polishing, and he said he had great success with the super polish> yellow polish-from Mtn. Mist Products. Pricey but lasts a long time if you polish many pieces of Jade. On the less expensive jade, Fabulustre and Zam work well. I only pre-form/polish with silicon carbide belts on expandos. Hard diamond can nick the stone. I have seen folks tumble jade, but it sometimes cracks usually around one of the fiber lines. Caused by other harder stones in the tumble mix, I guess.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 28, 2019 16:08:20 GMT -5
I purchased some very nice BC Polar Jade @ Quartzite this year, from a man who helps run the Jade Festival in Monterey, CA (third weekend in May). We were talking about orange peeling when polishing, and he said he had great success with the super polish> yellow polish-from Mtn. Mist Products. Pricey but lasts a long time if you polish many pieces of Jade. On the less expensive jade, Fabulustre and Zam work well. I only pre-form/polish with silicon carbide belts on expandos. Hard diamond can nick the stone. I have seen folks tumble jade, but it sometimes cracks usually around one of the fiber lines. Caused by other harder stones in the tumble mix, I guess. Your last sentence is the one that raises concerns bmw2003. Non-homogenous stones are real tricky to tumble. I will pay attention to these fiber lines.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 28, 2019 16:10:10 GMT -5
Jade doesn't eat diamond blades. Diamond cuts Jade well. My tile saw cuts soda lime glass 7 times faster than jade. Just timed it.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 28, 2019 16:16:31 GMT -5
Just finished sawing the BC jade slab on the tile saw with straight water. And sawed several pounds of glass of the same slab thickness. It is tough. Slower sawing than glass X7. And it waits till the very last bit is sawn before breaking from the vibration of the saw blade telling of it's toughness. The jade is in the prison tray at lower middle of photo. Pretty rock
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NRG
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Post by NRG on Jan 28, 2019 18:00:16 GMT -5
Jade doesn't eat diamond blades. Diamond cuts Jade well. My tile saw cuts soda lime glass 7 times faster than jade. Just timed it. That's expected. And no damage to your diamonds. Cuts clean.
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