From Jadeite Rough Stone to Finished Product - Learn About Jadeite Processing Factories

If jade is not carved, it cannot become a useful object. Jade needs to go through a series of processing steps from raw material to finished product.

1. Raw material analysis and review

Before processing, you must have a comprehensive understanding of the actual conditions of the raw materials, that is, grasp the specific conditions of the processing object. Just like a doctor treating a patient, only by analysis can you prescribe the right medicine and adjust the preparation according to the materials.

2. Cutting Stone Slices

Refers to the first cut made to split the stone. After careful observation and judgment, you need to choose the direction for cutting. If there is a crack, the first cut is mainly along the grain.

The biggest stuff:

1. Original method: Burn the raw stone into small pieces. Disadvantages: It is difficult to control the blasting point and the damage is serious. Later improvement: partial burning.

2. Wire drawing (wire saw): iron wire and silicon carbide (SiC) are used as abrasives, cooled with water, and pulled back and forth to loosen the jade.

Advantages: No damage to quality and no waste of raw materials. Disadvantages: Slow.

3. Foot pedal disassembler

It began to be used in the Qing Dynasty. Now it has been replaced by electric ones. But it is still used in high-quality jade or in mountainous areas without electricity. A round iron-lead copper disk, a rotating shaft, a belt or tape, and a foot pedal to drive the rotating shaft. Keep adding emery.

3. Slicing and Preparation

1. After the first cut, the color, crack distribution, water head, etc. of the jade material will be clearer, and preparation for slicing can begin.

2. Principles of cutting

(1) Be especially careful with pigments, making sure not to destroy the green color. If the materials are prepared well, utilized well and shipped well, greater profits can be obtained. Experience is very important.

(2) Start from the worst part. Before you gain experience, it is better to start with the worst part so that you won’t lose too much.

(3) Make the finished product as large as possible. The larger and rarer the finished product, the higher its value. If you can make bracelets, make them first and use the rest to make small accessories. Those with many cracks can only be made into decorative pieces or carvings.

(4) The principle of dual use. Flower pieces and bare bodies go hand in hand. If possible, make them bare bodies as much as possible, and don't be too strict.

3. Equipment

Circular saws, band saws, etc.

4. Design drawings

Consider the design of the product based on the quality of the raw materials (color, water head, texture, cracks, defects) and the shape characteristics of the raw materials. This is a critical step in raw material processing and directly determines whether economic benefits can be achieved.

Design with considerations:

1. Measure the materials and apply the techniques according to the materials. Based on the characteristics of the raw materials, consider what will have the best effect. For example, if the color is dark, it should be made into a thinner one; if the color is light, it should be made into a thicker one. Make full use of the color depth and distribution, as well as the color matching. The design mainly uses color to determine the concept and shape. After the finalization, it is drawn on paper and then on stone.

2. Due to city construction. Consider the current market demands and try to adapt to the market as much as possible. Different markets have different demands for different types of goods. my country has its own unique features in jade carving, and many excellent works appeared in ancient times. Jadeite mainly appears after the Qing Dynasty, and is particularly unique in modern times.

The production of Hanxiang Ju Ruixun, a national treasure of my country, is a finished product with a height of 71 cm and a width of 65 cm. It is the largest work in the history of jade vessel modeling. 274.4 kg of raw materials. The raw material is an irregular rectangular shape with cut surfaces on all four sides and brown-yellow smooth skin on two sides. The cut surface shows a translucent, uniform, delicate texture covered with strands of bright green, and a crack on it.

It is divided into four parts: top button, smoked cover, middle body and buckled bowl-shaped foot. The Beijing Jade Factory has specially developed a large-scale speed-controlled core-spinning machine, which breaks through the traditional coring method and achieves accurate coring and less good material. It was designed by arts and crafts master Wei Changhai and produced by the most elite technicians of Beijing Jade Factory. It took 8 years (including program research and equipment improvement) to complete and was moved to the China National Art Museum of Arts and Crafts in 1990 as a national treasure.

5. Cutting

Use thallium to cut out the outline of the drawn jade piece, retaining the largest volume possible. Equipment: Wheel grinder (vertical shaft type, horizontal shaft type), multi-purpose horizontal shaft wheel grinder

6. Light Embryo

The cut egg-shaped noodles or beads are punched out, that is, the cut shapes are ground one by one. Generally, a No. 60 grinding wheel is used for grinding. Grinding wheels include No. 60, No. 80, No. 220, No. 400, etc. The numbers range from small to large, reflecting from coarse to fine.

7. Polishing

After being punched and ground into a rough blank, the rough blank is then ground into shape using grinding wheels of different coarseness and fineness, that is, it is ground into the designed shape. First thick, then thin. Whether the product image is realistic and whether the details are clearly depicted are all determined by this step. Jade cannot be made into a useful object without being carved. Carving mainly refers to polishing. Equipment: Grinding machine with a grinding disc of 20~40cm in diameter.

8. Lime acid

The purpose of this process is to remove stains acquired during the processing. There are two steps:

(1) Permethrin. Clean with organic weak acid for a while. Clean surface stains, especially metal scratches left during the polishing process.

(2) Ash water. The purpose is to remove the oil stains left over from the processing process. Gray water is alkaline and has the effect of removing grease stains.

Ash water: Originally straw ash, now soapy water. This process does not destroy the structure of the jade.

9. Water discharge

This is a process that does not remove material and is actually a polishing operation. Generally, cloth or leather is used, polishing powder is added, and an appropriate amount of water (cooling) is added, and rubbed back and forth to make the surface shiny. There are many steps. Polishing is time-consuming. Poor quality directly affects the selling price of jade pieces because it is the first appearance impression.

10. Stew wax or spray wax

Purpose: (1) To make the surface of the finished jade product smooth and shiny. Just like polishing leather shoes. (2) Wax can enter the tiny pits or cracks that exist after polishing, fill the unevenness and make the surface smoother, and prevent the entry of stains.

There are two methods:

(1) Stewing wax. White wax is melted in a container and the finished jade product is placed in it and boiled for several hours. Suitable for small items.

(2) Spray wax. Place the finished product in a drying oven and heat it to about 80°C, then spray wax or wax powder onto the surface of the jade. The wax will melt into liquid due to the heat and can penetrate into cracks or pits. Finally, wipe off the excess wax with a wool cloth.

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