Thread: jade hone

iam thinking of making a hone of jade and wonder if anyone has tryed this. to test the water i bought a 3"x3" slab and lapped it flat (whoa is this stuff hard) it shows promise as a finisher but due the the size so far i have only tested it on knife blades, working with slurry made with the dmt my bevels show a high polish the feedback is soft very little sound at all.
so before i comit to what is sure to be a week long lapping session i am hopeing for some feedback

Hi Sir Cutalot,
I have done testing with Nephrite jade. It is very hard and slow. Much too slow. I am working on getting a sample of Jadeite, much rarer and $$. A stone of any size and quality would be cost prohibitive. I would rather have a Barbers Delight Escher, or high quality J-nat he,he.

But test away let us know the results. Good luck.
MIke

True Jade is Jadeite and is harder than nephrite and is also very expensive. A piece large enough for use as a hone will be quite an expense. I don't see it as a hone medium to justify it over others that work much better.

Jade hones are are not rare, and supposedly very fine, but their performance vary a lot, be that jadeite or nephrite. And, they are not expensive compared to any other natural hone. 15x5cm hones cost less than 60$ (natural, China) including shipping. My Chinese are not good enough to ask them if its jadeite or nephrite, but I don't think there will be a big price difference.

Originally Posted by Vasilis

Jade hones are are not rare, and supposedly very fine, but their performance vary a lot, be that jadeite or nephrite. And, they are not expensive compared to any other natural hone. 15x5cm hones cost less than 60$ (natural, China) including shipping. My Chinese are not good enough to ask them if its jadeite or nephrite, but I don't think there will be a big price difference.

Actually, jadeite is much more expensive than nephrite when you get into hone sized pieces. You can get a hone sized piece of nephrite for $40-$60. Jadeite of the same size will run you at least$100, more depending on the coloring of the jadeite.

When you start getting into Jadeite you have to be careful because it grades into a semi-precious gem which rivals what a top class Japanese finisher could cost. Usually the more common stuff is opaque and mottled.