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[Eltanin]

I've just purchased an item that looks just like this:



The face is quite smooth already but is very dull. I would like it to shine like it was wet.  I don't have any lapidary equipment.  I plan to use sandpaper.  I have some 800 to 3000 Grit Wet / Dry, Silicon Carbide, 9-Inch x 11-Inch sheets. I will tape sandpaper to a piece of plexiglass and rub the stone against it.  I purchased some cerium oxide for final polishing with a piece of denim cloth?  It's an inexpensive piece of Washington St. jade, about $10.

Any suggestions or hints?  Or is this a waste of my time?

(If this thread is not in the right sub-forum, maybe a mod or admin can move it.)

[hummingbirdstones]

Jade is extremely finicky.   Lithicbeads (Frank) hopefully will be around soon and may be able to help you.  He is a jade wizard and collects it up there. 

[lithicbeads]

Hi and welcome. You look like you have a piece of Poobas jade. I have known him for years and buy from him regularly.I will not give advice without trying the technique so I wi9ll experiment a bit first.Jade can be very strange stuff to polish .If it has small black spots those black spots may not polish. First consideration is dust, you want to avoid all stone dust and especially jade dust. I definitely would not do it inside.The standard procedure for hand polishing big things that are jaspers or agates is to get a piece of plate glass a bit bigger than the piece and use a series of grits , swirling the piece all over the glass. This is done wet but not sopping wet. Polishing  is easiest with a muslin or felt buff from the hardware store on a regular hand held drill. I have done geodes over 18 inches in diameter in this fashion.Polishing and sanding Washington jade , which you have , can be a bear .Dry sanding is the best method but causes huge dust problems.Typically in dry sanding you only have to use 100 and 600 grit silicon dioxide paper but you have a big flat  and flats can chew up paper quickly.Later this week I will try a few things and report back.

[Eltanin]

Hi and welcome. You look like you have a piece of Poobas jade. I have known him for years and buy from him regularly.

Yeah, Gary's a great guy.  I've been asking him questions too.  I love the look of his nephrite jade.  I give them as presents sometimes.

I will not give advice without trying the technique so I will experiment a bit first.Jade can be very strange stuff to polish .If it has small black spots those black spots may not polish. First consideration is dust, you want to avoid all stone dust and especially jade dust. I definitely would not do it inside.The standard procedure for hand polishing big things that are jaspers or agates is to get a piece of plate glass a bit bigger than the piece and use a series of grits , swirling the piece all over the glass. This is done wet but not sopping wet. Polishing  is easiest with a muslin or felt buff from the hardware store on a regular hand held drill. I have done geodes over 18 inches in diameter in this fashion.Polishing and sanding Washington jade , which you have , can be a bear .Dry sanding is the best method but causes huge dust problems.Typically in dry sanding you only have to use 100 and 600 grit silicon dioxide paper but you have a big flat  and flats can chew up paper quickly.Later this week I will try a few things and report back.

Thanks for the info.  No rush on your experiments.  I have plenty of time.

Yes. Gary warned me to wear a mask when sanding the jade -- especially the jade.  But that is probably true with most lapidary work???

[Eltanin]

Maybe this sounds silly, but I have quite a few rock and mineral specimens in slab-form that I just love to look at.  Is that weird?

[hummingbirdstones]

Not weird at all to those of us on this forum.  My house is decorated with rocks so we can look at them!   

[lithicbeads]

 Cutting rocks open is the end all for certain folks. I finish lots of stones but I find cutting the rocks open to see their secrets to be the most fun.

[ToTheSummit]

I love slabs, and I am a serial rock-cutter.  Nothing is safe in my shop.  I have 3 slab saws in my shop (18", 14" and 10").  I cut at least a half a dozen slabs for every cab I finish.  I give away most of the cabs I make, but my personal collection of pieces that I won't part with is mostly polished slabs.

[lithicbeads]

Jade has varying amount of asbestos in it. Most rocks pose a high risk for silica if worked dry  and the risk with jade is much more grave . Possibly you could clean them very carefully and put spray verithane on them until that time you have  different tools.

[Eltanin]

I'm not going to do anything right away.  I may never polish it.  I've been happy with my unpolished slabs for many years now . . .

But I appreciate the tips and comments.  Thanks again.

[lithicbeads]

Flats of  any type are difficult in lapidary. Even flat vibrating laps put a tiny curve on the face of the flat being polished.The leading edge of any grit application by machine is always going to cut faster than the trailing edge. The drape of flat pads will give on all sides of small flats . In faceting this can be a huge problem for big table facets. I have cut many giant cabs and pendants and while many look flat the trick is to put  a extremely gentle curve on the piece when coarse grinding so that the sanding belts or pads which deform ( drape ) to an extent can work on a smaller surface area at any given moment.

[Eltanin]

Flats of  any type are difficult in lapidary.

I've pretty much given up on the idea.  But who knows, maybe later.  I'm gonna think on it for a while . . . .

[Phishisgroovin]

send it to frank?
But know, there is a chance of breakage on ANY rock or cabochon people work with.

Many times cutting the rocks i cut, the slabs fall off in two pieces. alot of Washington state rocks do it for some reason, even without signs of a fracture.

And Frank (lithicbeads) is the master with Jade.

[lithicbeads]

And old. I have years of backed up things waiting unfortunately. Later in the year I am going to buy  a new machine and Gergis and I can start pushing out the larger flat jades. For now still recovering.

[Eltanin]

Thanks for the ideas but I want to polish this myself . . . or not at all.  Most likely the latter.