On lapidary topics I am having trouble finding a source for jade for
carving as well as amber. Heck I am also having trouble finding
MALE Cassis Rufa shells for carving my cameos. Yes, Virginia sea
shells have sexes.
If anyone knows where the bulk of cameos sold to US public are
coming from the source would be appreciated. I call them the ugly
women brigade. Student Grade cameos or worse being sold at high
price make me cringe! but these bad cameos are great for teaching
students to handle the tools and see affects without using my stock
of cameo shell. I need them at lowest cost in great bulk. I am
training the disabled to make jewelry and lapidary arts and paying
them in supplies and creating my own army of jewelers. ;0)
I am having trouble finding a source for jade for carving
Hi;
We carry Natural Burmese Jade priced low at 0.01$/gr !! The color
spectrum of the stones range from Silky White to some with a mild
green hue.
http://www.creativegem.com/gem_deals/includes/Roughdetails.asp?IDNO=36
Kie from Creativegem.com
We are cutting the best deals
Dear CameoArtist, Way back when I first started cutting stones I
learned from this old hippy guy who told me that the original cameos
were done from black and white striped onyx. The stone was shaped
and then the woman’s head was carved as a bas-relief leaving the
black part of the stone as a background. I can’t verify this but I
have seen some very old cameos and they did indeed look like they had
been carved from a single two color stone. I think onyx (a form of
cryptocrystalline quartz) might be a little harder to cut but much
more forgiving than seashell, and less hazardous to your health.
There are deposits of this type of onyx out here in Arizona, and you
can sometimes find the rough sold in massive form at the Quartzite
gem show in late January just before the big Tucson show.
Another thought is using opal as your cameo material.
As a disabled person I think your training is a great thing. After
I became disabled and could no longer walk or sit up all day
programming computers I had something to fall back on that gives me
something to do and maybe I might even make a little money at it one
of these days. God Bless Rick Carew AZopals @r_carew
On lapidary topics I am having trouble finding a source for
jade for carving as well as amber.
Have you seen www.jadecarver.com? There's also a big Canadian
nephrite mine on-line at www.jademine.com Or try www.catseyejade.com
- apparently the person there has business contacts with some jade
miners in Siberia. New Era Gems also sells cabbing rough which might
be suitable (www.neweragems.com).
?
-Michael.
Another rock that would, I think, be ideal for training (since it is
relatively soft) would be alabaster. Just find some that is brown
and white and make use of the brown layer for the background.
Margaret