swap piece update!!

That ebony piece is very nice! What's it smell like?

spicey, smoked barbecue. kind of has a little sweetness to it. if you walked out to smell your flower garden while your neighbor was barbecuing. of course, that's while you carve and the wood burns with the burr. it's all power tools with wood this hard.

Yeah! Power toolz! More power!!!! BRRRRRRRRRRRP! Man, I miss my 36" bar saw! Benzo was telling me about his 6 foot bar saw that he used on the Tropicana redwood tikis. That conversation got me scratchin' for a new saw.

I'm loving watching you make these pieces pdrake. "Pain makes great art" - and I imagine much of your healing will be through the pieces you make in the next few months. These will likely be some of your best work. Keep your head down and keep grinding - you'll find your way eventually.....

Make sure to wear protective gear, especially with the stone and those exotic woods. Remember, as I was told, "if you can smell it, you are breathing it."

-Gman

How large is that ebony piece? I had a few sticks that were 1" square by 6" long thet I got from Woodcraft, are the same? Nice looking wood when cleaned up.

The 1" pieces of wood you get from Woodcraft are actually "pen blanks". Also search for Bowl Blanks (larger pieces) - both of these a common and easily found. You can get just about any type of wood in these blanks. I have found them cheaper on ebay and googling.

On 2006-09-28 19:49, pdrake wrote:
well, i guess i should get some real jade then if i'm going to put in the time to carve it.

is this a good deal?

That was a good deal, but I wouldn't recommend Siberian to a beginner as it's amongst the hardest jade I've ever carved, and a lot of it is prone to splintering along the grain if you haven't got the right gear and a bit of experience. As Tama mentioned, BC jade is cheap, plentiful, high quality and nice to work with. Here's some good ones:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DJAD-1-35-LBS-GREEN-NEPHRITE-JADE-ROUGH-B-C-LAPIDARY_W0QQitemZ140036476329QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4841QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/DJAD-GREEN-NEPHRITE-JADE-SLAB-ROUGH-B-C-LAPIDARY_W0QQitemZ140036470643QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4841QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Just search for b.c. lapidary , also wyoming jade looks really nice from what I've see/worked. you will need to be able to cut this rough down into workable portions, maybe get ahold of your local rockhound/lapidary club. generally

got my siberian jade today. man, this stuff is heavy.

ben, that ebony is a pen blank. i get them off of ebay pretty cheap. it makes a good size pendant.

here's a little something i'm trying. no experience whatsoever. i'm hoping to succeed on some level.

this is a little more difficult than i thought it would be. but, i'm learning.

first try:

second try:

PDrake it usually takes a few pours to get the mold "Broken in" so keep at it. Lookin good. I Knew you'd be feelin better soon. Bring some of that chinese stuff to the seminar, I'd like to try it.
You can get the finer grits up to 2000 at WalMart believe it or not. If they are out then go to the automotive shops. All the paint shops use the higher grits for their paint work so go that route too.
See you soon.

Thats a kool surreal tiki man :)

On 2006-10-05 19:01, pdrake wrote:
this is a little more difficult than i thought it would be. but, i'm learning.
second try:

Pdrake personally gave me a casting at the Sat. 'Oki 'Oki. Sunday morning I made it mine and brought it to the Sun. 'Oki 'Oki.
This is it.

Hey Pdrake, Thanks big time for the slab of Jade, can't wait to get into it, Oh and the wood to, that Macaser Ebony is Beautiful stuff.
I really enjoyed spending time with you last weekend, are you back to carving anything yet?

here's my first jade piece finished. thanks for all the help. it really, uh . . . helped. hehehe

i'm going to put this one up for sale. if anyone is interested, pm me.

the toggles are a lot of work, believe it or not.

sorry, sold.

[ Edited by: pdrake 2006-11-15 20:34 ]

Way to go pdrake! How about a pic showing the translucency? Ive never actually worked with that particular type, looks really clean/clear..?

The toggles are surprisingly time-consuming, eh? One quick way to bang a few out at a time is to cut slices from slabs, say 1/4" thick. Then round these strips off into long 'rods', cut them into toggle-sized pieces & finish. I often cut 1/2doz at a time & then shape each a bit better.

Another Brother ROCK ON!! Tama :)

Perry, That guy looks great and again the pictures Don't do it Justice. I held this guy in my hands and it is Very Well done, very translucent. Excellent job Perry.

new jade work in progress. ko matai!

Nice Job on the jade moai AND doing casting work as well! Great to see your heart & mind pouring into your creationz! I look forward to seeing more! :D

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

i know some are wondering if i'm carving or not. i'm doing little things like cleaning tools and braiding lanyards. started a new piece of jade tonight. some from the left coast oki oki saw this piece. it's about 1/4" thick. takes awhile to get threough it with my crappy chinese bits. can't wait for the good ones.

it's BC jade. nice and deep green. too bad the pic looks bad.

Yo PDrake! Where you been? Long time no hear!? Ever get the log?

[ Edited by: tikigap 2006-11-14 22:04 ]

i'm still around. haven't had much to contribute. i really enjoy looking and getting inspired. i got your log, it has a neat personality. heh. i'll post a pic. it's in my old truck, i bought a new one and am dealing with the sticker shock along with other things.

thanks for the the thoughts.

[ Edited by: pdrake 2006-11-14 22:38 ]

[ Edited by: pdrake 2006-11-14 22:38 ]

i don't know which kiwi told me bc jade was softer, but they are full of poo. this took a full hour and a half to cut that much. hoohoo, lots of jade dust going into lake mead.

those aren't the white pencil lines anymore, they're grooves. i'm in the groove, baby.

On 2006-11-14 23:46, pdrake wrote:
i don't know which kiwi told me bc jade was softer, but they are full of poo. this took a full hour and a half to cut that much. hoohoo,

Tama sez: Wasn't me! Good quality BC nephrite is among the best in the world & plenty hard...

:lol: A+++ Top marks for effort & perseverance!!! :lol:

*A cheap solution to the 'trimming' out phase is a tilesaw with a diamond blade. The time you'd save would pay for itself in the first piece or two...

**On second thoughts, save it until next time. This is just too much fun to watch! :lol:

TamaTheTeaser...

PDrake, This one is looking good and is very clearly going to be a nice piece. is this some of the Jade you got off e-bay?
I'm really glad to see you carving!.

hey, ben, yes, this is the ebay stuff. it's a sister piece to the slab i gave you.

before and after shots with only half roughed out.

wow, it's hard, hard stuff. i need better bits.

my little water carving setup.

hard, hard stuff.

On 2006-11-20 18:19, pdrake wrote:
hard, hard stuff.

Tama sez: You've taken the hard, hard route with it too! In fact, you are almost learning the 'pre-contact' Maori way. Nothing wrong with a bit of hard work, just makes the finished product all the sweeter!

Good progress pdrake, keep us posted.

Tama :)

hi pdrake im loveing your work keep at it and take care

thank you very much. it seemed that it was going a little slow. i guess i need to ramp up my tool corral.

your stuff amazes me marcus.

Lookin good Perry, That hard stuff takes awhile with hand tools, but you are knocking it right out, bit by bit. From the looks of that diamond it is running too fast or does not have enough cooling water run over it while it is drilling OR it is one of those cheepie bits like I have that don't lasst too long.
Keep up the good work PDrake.

thanks, ben. yes, they are the very cheap bits. $3 or 4 for a set of 10 from harbour freight. i haven't figured out tama's deal, so i still need to order the good ones. is there a better speed i should use? i'm using my dremel at 15,000 rpms.

On 2006-11-21 20:16, pdrake wrote:
thanks, ben. yes, they are the very cheap bits. $3 or 4 for a set of 10 from harbour freight. i haven't figured out tama's deal, so i still need to order the good ones. is there a better speed i should use? i'm using my dremel at 15,000 rpms.

15,000 rpm is fine. I go up to 50,000 & hear of compressed air tools going up to 200,000 or something silly like that. Uneccesary really & potentially lethal, well nasty... Its just as helpful to be able to go slow; the latter stages of carving 'dry-burring', I often go over the whole form at 5-10,000 Running dry any faster than this is asking to overheat & ruin your burrs...

Hope this helps. Tama

new bits . . . .

much better.

bite deeper.

smooth faster.

new moai pendant. it's a big one, so you need the cones to wear it. it's made from padouk. nice, hard, sweet smelling wood. should finish up niiiiice.

man, i could try and try to explain, but it wouldn't do any good. this stuff is [bold]hard[/bold].

it takes soo long to carve it. i need new tools.

i do love to see it done, though. wish it was now, still hours and hours to go.

[ Edited by: pdrake 2006-12-01 22:09 ]

[ Edited by: pdrake 2006-12-01 22:10 ]

grrrr . . . i'm mad nobody likes me . . .

On 2006-12-01 22:09, pdrake wrote:
this stuff is hard.

it takes soo long to carve it. i need new tools.

i do love to see it done, though. wish it was now, still hours and hours to go.

Dont give up on it now mate - the hard yards have surely been tackled, the end is in sight! But, yes, you do really need new tools if you intend to do any more jade... Well not new tools exactly, but more tools. Specifically, a diamond grinding wheel. This + the handpiece would see you banging them out. A cheap tilesaw with diamond blade would get things moving initially too.

Confucious once said "If the job calls for pliers, it's no good using tweezers". Actually it wasnt Confucious, but in a toilet-side book I once browsed, but the message is just as relevant!

Stick with it this time - you nearly dere!

Tama :)

PDrake,

Nice Moai!! I like the animated nature of your creation., The frowning lips are killer. How big is it? It looks like you might have to be a giant to wear it around you neck.

Will

I have been watching that jade hook with interest. I have some jade and the same inexpensive set of bits you have I've been leery of starting, because it looks so difficult to cut. How many hours do you think you have into it?

JP

thanks for the kind words and the encouragement.

the moai is pretty big. i don't know why, i just thought it would be neat to do a big piece from this wood. it smells like sandalwood. i'm going to work some more on it and post another pic tonight. it's 4" tall.

johnny, the jade is hard. i tried with my cheap bits, but it gets frustrating quick. the bits grind down fast. i've got about 6 hours into it. most of that was with the cheap bits. the new ones i got are very nice, i bought a set off amazon for about $30, i can't wait to get my shipment from NZ and try those. they grind better and much smoother.

grrr . . . now i'm angry and drunk!! sand me some more you lazy ass!!

They are never f'in satisfied!

Great moai, man.

Ben

grrrr . . . . okay, so now i'm all shiny. what? am i supposed to float around someone's neck?

get back to work slave!!!

finish the back, too!!

PDrake, I Love how you got your Moai so smoothe. The detail is subtl and excellent. Nice Moai!. What kind of wood is he? And, Whats Next?

Pdrake, I really like this one. beautiful!

Amy

thanks!! i was happy doing this one.

it's padouk. it has a sandalwood smell to it. with a couple more coats of wax, it will look like the finish is deep into the wood. the back has a suprise detail.