Tools Stone carvers use - Tiki Carving

P Paipo Member Aotearoa / NZ Joined: Jun 22, 2006 Posts: 1886	P Paipo Posted posted on Sat, Jul 26, 2008 2:23 PM Like anything, you get what you pay for. I'd go for the best brand heavy duty 8" bench grinder you can afford (makita is good) and either get the wheel fitted and balanced by an engineer (best option) or just use the bushes that come with it (cheap option). You can join two of the guards together and trim them down to make a hood over the wheel that you can then attach your water line and sponge to. The free end can have a chuck attached for sanding drums or diamond points, or another grade or type of wheel. Cut down buckets make good cowlings for the wheels too, as the bottoms can be screwed straight onto the side of the grinder (there are usually three screws for attaching the guards per side that go into the cast body of the grinder). Same with the handpiece - flexshafts are OK, but they really mess with your hand and generally don't perform well at high RPM. I did use the heavy duty dremel for a couple of years, but when I switched to a micromotor the difference was incredible. Foredom flexshafts are probably the best if you do use one. Set up a block of wood or similar in the middle of sink with a cowling over it (there are pics of mine and Tama's setups floating around here somewhere) and something on the edge of your bench to cushion your arms. Poke a thin hose through the cowling to drip onto the work area and you're away (I prefer to attach this hose to the handpiece so I can ensure it it always directed on to the cutting surface of the tool.) Spend the extra on good burrs - it makes more difference than you think and will save hours of needless cleanup. Those lasco burrs are highly recommended on another carving forum I frequent. When you buy those cheap sets, you end up with 75% of them that will never be of any use - I still have dozens that I got when starting out and I'll never touch them! Cheap burrs often won't fit the collets on higher quality handpieces too... Stone here: Jewelry & Watches > Loose Diamonds & Gemstones > Gemstones > Jade > and here: Rocks, Fossils, Minerals > Lapidary Materials > Rough for Cabbing > Search Results for 'jade' Just use the search term 'jade rough' (or even 'nephrite jade rough') and you'll see there's plenty of good stone around at great prices. Some of the mining companies in BC have sites where you can order rough too. You guys have got it way better than us in terms of being able to get plenty of good material online - competition is fierce here and the prices are ridiculous.

Like anything, you get what you pay for. I'd go for the best brand heavy duty 8" bench grinder you can afford (makita is good) and either get the wheel fitted and balanced by an engineer (best option) or just use the bushes that come with it (cheap option). You can join two of the guards together and trim them down to make a hood over the wheel that you can then attach your water line and sponge to. The free end can have a chuck attached for sanding drums or diamond points, or another grade or type of wheel. Cut down buckets make good cowlings for the wheels too, as the bottoms can be screwed straight onto the side of the grinder (there are usually three screws for attaching the guards per side that go into the cast body of the grinder).

Same with the handpiece - flexshafts are OK, but they really mess with your hand and generally don't perform well at high RPM. I did use the heavy duty dremel for a couple of years, but when I switched to a micromotor the difference was incredible. Foredom flexshafts are probably the best if you do use one.
Set up a block of wood or similar in the middle of sink with a cowling over it (there are pics of mine and Tama's setups floating around here somewhere) and something on the edge of your bench to cushion your arms. Poke a thin hose through the cowling to drip onto the work area and you're away (I prefer to attach this hose to the handpiece so I can ensure it it always directed on to the cutting surface of the tool.)

Spend the extra on good burrs - it makes more difference than you think and will save hours of needless cleanup. Those lasco burrs are highly recommended on another carving forum I frequent. When you buy those cheap sets, you end up with 75% of them that will never be of any use - I still have dozens that I got when starting out and I'll never touch them! Cheap burrs often won't fit the collets on higher quality handpieces too...

Stone here:

Jewelry & Watches > Loose Diamonds & Gemstones > Gemstones > Jade >

and here:

Rocks, Fossils, Minerals > Lapidary Materials > Rough for Cabbing > Search Results for 'jade'

Just use the search term 'jade rough' (or even 'nephrite jade rough') and you'll see there's plenty of good stone around at great prices. Some of the mining companies in BC have sites where you can order rough too. You guys have got it way better than us in terms of being able to get plenty of good material online - competition is fierce here and the prices are ridiculous.

Post #396729 by Paipo on Sat, Jul 26, 2008 2:23 PM