These are some pictures of my Cassiar jade bowl progressing from a thick slab at the Jade Festival, to almost done. Most of the pictures were taken by my teacher, Deborah Wilson. I was a little busy…..
The slab of Cassiar Jade is to the left of the corner of the table.
Using a 10-inch water-cooled saw to remove the excess.
After the first grinding, the spiral is marked in white. It would be days before I actually got to carve it.
Using the big wheel to grind the outside and getting soaked despite the waterproof apron.
Grinding these marks off was more work than I thought it would be, but made a huge difference in the overall shape.
Showing hints of translucence even before it's hollowed out.
Deborah marked the area I should start hollowing. I was surprised at how thick the walls were at this stage.
I was supposed to grind in with the skinny wheel and pop pieces out, but it was taking forever.
Using a larger bit on the die grinder was a lot faster.
Interior is mostly hollowed, thanks to the big bit.
At last, I get to carve the spiral! That micro-motor was really nice.
Working the outside with silicon carbide on an expandable drum.
Finally! Ready to stick!
The rough stick Deborah gave me smoothed the inside pretty quickly.
At the end of the 6 days of the workshop.
The more I stick this, the thinner and more translucent it gets.