[Jewelry making - Article 00233] - Re: [Orchid] Agate Carving

[Dick Friesen]

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    Hi, and welcome to the wonderful/frustrating world of gemstone
    carving. The easy answer for sanding tools is: there aren't any. But
    there are several tools that almost work, Rio Grande has two rubber
    wheels that will do a good job of coarse sanding: 

	Rio Grande Part #'s
	AdvantEdge Plus

	Wheel	332-750/10
	Knife-edge	332-751/10
	Floppy Disc	332-754/10

	AdvantEdge Air Flex Wheels
	Coarse Wheel 332-712/10

    I use both types, mostly, I use the Air Flex Wheels and the
    AdvantEdge Plus Knife-edges. They are not without their problems but
    do a good job. Diamond Pacific's Nova points require some patience
    but will sand concave surfaces OK. Eastwind
    (http://www.eastwindabrasive.com/) has some diamond discs that have a
    good reputation but I haven't had a chance to try them yet. 

    All of the tools will get you from the diamond burrs to a smooth,
    ready to fine sand surface but from that point most carvers I know go
    to diamond compound and bristle brushes. If you carve a lot of very
    fine detail that is probably your best bet. For really good polishes
    though I found I had to make my own wheels and knife edges from cut
    up Crystalbelts glued to 1/4" rubber wheels and diamond compound.
    When I started teaching carving several years ago I found that these
    wheels were the easiest  for students to use. 

    It seems that there are not a lot of carvers around, I am headed for
    Quartzsite Friday via Avi maybe if there are any other carvers headed
    that way this year we could schedule a time to get together and
    exchange ideas. 

     Dick Friesen
     friesenr AT ix.netcom.com



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