Post #314465 by kiwishaman on Sat, Jun 23, 2007 7:54 AM

On 2007-06-23 02:54, Tamapoutini wrote:

Pdrake is onto it: larger burrs should help to iron out some of those ripples although you should try to get as even a surface as possible (in the areas it can reach) with your grinding wheel - the largest burr of all.

I wondered about trying the wheel - Im on to it :)

If your handpiece will allow it, run at a very slow speed (5-10,000rpm - experiment), DRY!! Yes thats right, dry! Srcubbing around at slower speeds wont overheat your burrs and allows you to see whats happening to a greater degree. Those wee ripples can be dealt with one by one and the whole form slowly smoothed and details crispened. Make sure you wear a dust mask! Wipe or wash the dust away from time to time and you will still be able to see where you've been. Sometimes it is necessary to go over the whole carving several times in this manner.

Alright - Thanks Tama. Have been doing that a bit (about 2-3hours) using rubber disks and diamond burrs, but with water. What difference does dry make?

The pounamu you have appears (in the cleaner right side) to be an inanga or kokopu. Id avoid trying to work the black areas as they are probably patches of iron and soft horrible buggers to work! At least half of it looks ok though; slab 'er up..?

Not sure yet whether I will slab it up or not, still tossing that one around. Thought I might try a sculpture from it. Kinda saving it till I know what I am doing! Even in a big chunk, that stuff looks absolutely beautiful. Have even entertained the idea of putting it on the kitchen table as is!

The 'tangiwai' at the end seems kind of blue in colour - possibly aotea..?? A bit hard to tell from the pic. Do you know where it was found?

No idea at all. The guy down the road who cut my aussie jade peice in half so I could slab it, had it. It does have a blue/green cast to it. Is it serpentine then, rather than jade?

Hope this helps. You're doing just fine for a newbie; keep it up! Tama :)

Thanks Tama. It helps alot, and I really appreciate the help you have given me up to this point, without it I probably would not have been brave enough to start. Kiaora.

I find that once I have the dremel tool in one hand and the dragon in the other, time just slips away! I just dont want to stop. This stone carving is very addictive. I ... have ... to ... pace ... myself.

The rock keeps calling to me - especially that pounamu. . .

Well, racing over, time for some zd's. We lost to Alingi - but it was close nearly down to the finish line. See what tomorrow night brings . . . Go ETNZ!

KS