TJ on soapstone

[Brownbear]

OK, well what about Alaskan jade? We have a lot of it up here and I was wondering if I got a chunk of it large enough if it would hone well. Or NZ greenstone for that matter, which I think is also nephrite.

Alaskan jade is pretty soft I think, but would it do? I have no clue as to its abrasive qualities.

 

[Legion]

Nephrite jade (which most NZ Greenstone is) rates around 5.8 to 6.5 on the mohs scale. Not super hard, but might polish steel. How would you go about using it though? In order to polish steel I would think it would have to be pulverised into a fine powder. If you just took a chunk and machined it smooth I don't see it having the abrasive qualities to cut into the steel. It would be like honing on a piece of glass.

To be a sharpening stone it has to have abrasive particles suspended in a matrix which is soft enough to wear away and reveal new abrasive particles, but hard enough to stay flat long enough to get the edge sharp and wear in an even fashion.

Jade has the second property but not the first, I would think.

Again, if you have the material and the equipment to lap it, please give it a try and let us know for sure.

 

[Brownbear]

Haven't a clue

But nephrite is composed of "needle-like" silicate crystals 0.1 to 5 um in diameter and much longer. If the ends of the crystals were oriented perpendicular to the surface it might have some very fine honing properties.

On the other hand one source said the dust from grinding nephrite might be more toxic than asbestos, so perhaps it might be better not to try.

Then again one source said it would cure all ailments of the liver, didn't specify how, perhaps just wearing some around your neck does the trick.

Just thinking is all, it is hard to pass by an interesting looking rock and not wonder if you could sharpen steel on it.......

 

[Legion]

I know a little bit about jade as I have a small collection of Chinese and Maori artefacts which I've been putting together for a number of years. I also have a number of books on the subject. It is an interesting stone but I don't think it is quite what we are looking for for sharpening.

I like the way people are thinking outside the box, though. This is when these hobbies start to get interesting, when people start to wonder "what if...?"

It gets pretty dull when everybody is just content to keep doing the same old thing, the same way it has always been done, because "that's how you do it."