Jade

[mick B]

Another color I acquired today, from a location I have not been in my area yet, but working on it, each deposit has its own special color and pattern.

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[Gibbo75]

Beautiful stone Mick.

[chookie2]

I am seeing a caterpillar in it Mick- anything else in it or are you waiting for it to 'tell' you? ( that's what my carving stones on my bench are doing right now - in thinking mode.)

[brett h]

I have just acquired two wonderful slabs of Aussie black jade.  I'm going to make some assorted cabs and a knife handle for a Wusthof Classic 20cm Chefs knife. Geeze its hard stuff!! 

[southerly]

I have just acquired two wonderful slabs of Aussie black jade.  I'm going to make some assorted cabs and a knife handle for a Wusthof Classic 20cm Chefs knife. Geeze its hard stuff!! 

Be sure to show them off when finished. The Cowel black takes an excellent polish and cuts pretty smoothly.

David

[agemcutr]

I have about 3 kilo's of the best you can get mostly slabs 6-8mm with some smaller offcuts.
I sent a sample to Capt Mendosa with a piece of black spinel he wanted.
Its old stock Ive had and its black as black and clean when viewed smeared with aniseed oil.

Regards Anthony

[chookie2]

Just back from  Gemboree and saw some of Mick's stunning work.  We had a carving  forum on Sunday and the judges explained they moved the two black "Pilbara Jade" works into another section because ...."there is no such thing as Pilbara Jade" and "therefore it was Serpentine and should be in another section for judging" .....very confusing .....as the section they put it in had bone carvings at  a hardness of 3.5. ( which won!). The judge has been judging, carving and faceting for  over 30 years he said. He is also a fine bone carver himself.

I would have thought they would allow the artist to determine the hardness factor and enter where it fits  but there you go....not.

The second Judge entered her own work but didn't judge that section, she also pointed out that carvers "should try and get lots of detail and not that abstract sort of thing which doesn't have  enough detail"...I couldn't let that one go and asked if conformity was better than creativity as she went on to talk about animals and  her old boot carving which was done in  soapstone. She stood by her judging  critique which requires  a "degree of difficulty" which she believes is not in an abstract. We agreed to disagee.

[Jimnyjerry]

Sounds like judges over here as well.  They have not changed there opinions since the Ark docked and they got off. 

[mick B]

Very confusing, I entered this stone in the hard stone NSW show in 2011, and won, the National show last year at Bundy and won, now they have changed there mind what the stone is, all seems a bit fishy to me, I CAN PROVE IT HAS A HARDNESS OF  6 to 6.5, the stone is Actinolite from WA, I have off cuts from the piece, that they can test, if I have lost the hard stone section from being removed from this I will take this further, its only a hobby but I will not be pushed around here.

[mick B]

Does it seem I may be angry, well i am, here is the company that mines the stone, no black jade in WA, what a load of -

http://dawhois.com/site/aussieblackjade.com.html

My friend John Taggart purchased a couple of drums of stone that doesen,t exist straight from the miner.
Another supplier of the stone that does not exist.
http://outbackmining.com/black_jade.htm

[chookie2]

Sounds like judges over here as well.  They have not changed there opinions since the Ark docked and they got off. 

  Jerry you are so right!! I remember why I don't enter comps now. One of our members said you have to have a very thick skin to enter. Shouldn't be the case at all.
Whatever happened to  positive critiques??

One club cleaned up all but a very few awards at Gemboree, their table was weighed down by more than a dozen and half trophies in the end and it was obvious that a few other club tables weren't entirely happy after the first few awards went out all in the same direction. Guess we can't please everyone at any  show really can we ?

Mick the judges said "Black Jade" was a colloquial name .......and that it was really Serpentine  so in the 3.5 - 5 category of hardness My Serpentine is harder than that!!

[southerly]

I am carving some of the back actinolite mick used into a "simple" möbius at the moment. It is definitely not jade due to different fracture surface and texture, but 6.5 hardness and just as tough as nephrite. Don't see how judges have a right to  reclassify your work, they should judge it as is. As to what carving is easier than another, that could be handled by the degree of perfection required.
David

[southerly]

If abstract is easy maybe they could replicate one of Don Salts carvings, they are sleek and minimalist..easy as?
...well maybe not.

[chookie2]

Simple Mobius??  Oh yeah right. 

[mick B]

One of Don Salts easy jade carvings, he is regarded as the standard in the carving world, not sure if I will ever enter in AFLACA comps again as my opinion of this association is now very low, its not about the medal color its about the judges being able to remove my carving on there own opinions when they are wrong, good thing I did not go as I would have given them my mind face to face, another carver I know done this and was banned for life, O dear how sad never mind.