Need Advises (As Soon As Possible) Before Buying Tools.

[JonJon]

Hi all, I'm a new member and I have couple questions .

 

Actually I'm gonna go to the US pretty soon and wanted to know exactly what tools to buy since there is so much choice.

 

I'm using a Dremel with handpiece and I've been searching all over the place what tools to use for Stone carving.

 

I find out that the diamond burs is useful for shaping the stone but didn't find the ones to buy for making the stone shape smooth.

It seams like the diamond burs leave rough edges.

 

When I work on shells, I usually use sandpaper on mandrel to smooth out the stone shape, but with stone my sandpaper really don't last long and is not effective on it...

 

I tough maybe a "3M® Micro-Finishing Film Sheet" on my mandrel would give best results or maybe "3M® Diamond Micro-Finishing Polishing Bands" ??

 

I would be so thankful if someone could shed light on this. ;D

[Billy]

Hi Jon. The diamond burrs are pretty well only good for shaping. Once you have the general shape you need to use an array of finer grit tools to smooth the piece. You can use an arbor, or grinding wheel machine you use in lapidary. On those you can use diamond paper drums on soft wheels. The drums come in many different grits. You would them move onto slapping sticks made from silicon carbide, also with various grits. And you can also use various diamond paper that you can use as you would sandpaper. All these tools and materials are reasonably expensive, but last a lot longer than most other carving tools.

 

Hope this gets you started.

 

Billy.

[JonJon]

Thank you sooooo much Billy for the informations.

I think I'm gonna get a grinding well machine from covington for the main work on stone.

But for hard to reach areas to smooth, do you think the diamond paper on a small mandrel would work???

If so could you tell me the grit I would need to get and a website?

Thanks again

 

I look forward for you answer.

 

Jon

[Billy]

Where abouts are you Jon?

 

You can buy small diamond mandrels for hard places. For the even harder to reach places you can use ceraton sticks with different grits and you can buy blocks on silicon carbide which you can cut up on your diamond saw and shape to any shape you want using your wheels on the arbor.

 

My usually process is 100/200/400/800 grit from wheels to paper. Then I polish. But I don't often look for a high sheen. You can get wheels and paper right up to 3-4000 grit. For a high sheen you could go to 1500 then 3000 grit.

 

I'm pretty new to stone but use many of the same principals I learnt in bone. Search some of the archives here. There's plenty of advice on working stone.

 

Not sure who your closest stockist would be but be weary of some of the tools out of China. They tend to not last as long as some other brands. But I'm sure there are good ones if you can find them.

 

Cheers, Billy.

[JonJon]

Thank you again for the quick answer ;D

 

The ultimate I could ask you is some pictures of eveything you use (cause my english isn't that great and I don't see the tools you're talking about clearly).

 

do you know if the "3M® Diamond Micro-Finishing Polishing Bands" are good for smoothing the edges?

 

 

??

[Billy]

There are many different tools and many different techniques you could use to work stone. Unfortunately I have recently moved and have not yet unpacked my stone carving equipment. I recommend you research the archives here on the carving path and google some of the tools I mentioned. I have spent many thousands of dollars on tools, but there are many cheaper ways to do it. I went to a carver to see the tools first hand. But perhaps you could go to a lapidary club to see what they use.

 

I do use the small band you've shown here, but not a great deal. I'm sure there's people out there that use the type of thing all the time. It's all about trial and error.

 

See how you go.

[JonJon]

Youhou, THanks again ;D

I can't believe you answer so fast. I'm not use to that. Here in Tahiti where you email somebody it usually takes 2 weeks before you get an answer

 

Actually I've been searching in the archives for 2 days and finally decided to create an account here cause I didn't find exactly what to buy.

There's just Sooooo much tools on the internet I could buy and try but since I'm not going often to the US I wanted to be certain of what buying.

 

Thanks for all your help and if someone can tell me exactly the tools to buy ( with a link of a webside ) I'd be blessed ))

[Michiel]

_{Best JonJon!}

 

_{I cant add much to Billys answers. At the moment i try carving everything i find or get. Using stones i find in some river, old huntig trophys of my grand- and grandgrandfather etc. I noticed some difference between me and most of the other carvers here in the forum - Most of them have some favorit material and some favorit tools. I do not look at material and tools this way. As the struckture and hardness of the material change so the best tool change depending of the work you will accomplish.}

 

_{When it comes to stone harder then 5 Mohs i use my VALLORBE GROBET FILES in all graduations (also diamond) and a Scheppach machine ( http://www.scheppach.com/de/produkte/zubehoer/einzelansicht/products/nass-schleifmaschine-tiger-2500/backPID/produktsuche.html?cHash=4141368d5a ) a perfekt machine. I added some selfmade tool to it to suit my needs. Everything else i need is Sandingpaper with waterprof cotton backing. You will have to arange yourself with the fact that you will have to make most of the tools you need yourself. A watercooled stonecutter with a low spinspeed is also very helpfull - try to get one with a more powerfull motor.}

 

_Michiel