The process of carving - a garnet

Eu_citzen

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Messages
6,484
Reaction score
2,111
Golden Thread
0
Location
Sweden
Detector(s) used
White's V3, Minelab Explorer II & XP Deus.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Don't know if you are familiar with "carvings" here. Some may be, others not.<br>
These are sorta "in action" shots, documenting the process of carving a garnet using a dremel and different kind of bits and grinding media.

I will edit this thread as I go.
The rough; a close to 16+ cts colour shifting garnet in a difficult-to-facet shape.
Would have a low return.
So why not try carving it instead?





I do some rough grinding at 600 grit with sintered burrs, variety "el cheapo" from China.
Then I use 600 diamond paste (homebrew variety) and a tooth pick (special burr) to level out the bumps and generally round it off. Also gives a finer finish before moving on to pre-polish.

The first side is completely free form. Notice the black pencil drawings.
Using it to mark areas which need more cutting.

The second side looks like a mushroom growing out of the bush, IMO.





I've now moved to the next step, pre-polish. I started out using 3,000 grit, but it took to long.
So once again a home brew cutting paste was made using 1200 grit diamond. (6-12 micron)
It took on an polished surface using that! :icon_scratch: I couldn't get a decent picture of the other side before finishing.
Tried using a final polish of 14,000 grit, didn't do any difference so I let it be. :tongue3:



This piece ended up at approx 18 mm long and 13.86 cts heavy(!!).
I hope this works, finished piece. Looks worse then it is.
Should've cleaned it before taking pics.



 

Last edited:
Beautiful piece of garnet, & nice job carving. I love dremels!! That would lend itself to wire wrapping quite nicely.
 

Upvote 0
what kind of bit did you use? & have you ever carved fire agate?
 

Upvote 0
Not to side track the topic.. But I've been thinking of selling my dremel 400 set with drill press.. and yes Mama,, wife will let me sell this one this time..
 

Upvote 0
Mama, Thanks. I used to some cheap burrs from China. Got them from Ebay.
I haven't carved fire agate, I generally prefer carving softer materials. This garnet is sorta an exception.
 

Upvote 0
The last thing I was able to facte without polishing was a citrine.. I left the to the experts to polish the stone afterward. But as suppected the stoen developed a hairline fracture and soon after it was mounted in a ring it broke..
 

Upvote 0
so how much is your dremmel?
 

Upvote 0
Bump, project is now finished!
 

Upvote 0

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom