Gemstone carving is a highly useful skill in jewelry making, for advanced and beginner jewelry makers alike. Often, beginner jewelry makers are experienced only in the metalworking processes of the trade, and must purchase pre-cut and carved stones from other gemstone carvers. This limits a jewelry maker to the shape and style of the available stones, and may prevent some desired design aspects of a jewelry piece. To open up more design possibilities, you can learn to carve your own gemstones. One popular type of carved gemstone is jade, which can be incorporated into many different types of jewelry.

Carve the Rough Shape
1
Trace the overall shape of your rough jade stone onto a sheet of paper, so that you can plan your design.

2
Mark out the parts of the stone that need to be carved away entirely. Using a separate color, mark out the desired final design of the stone.

3
Copy your jade design so that you can see it from a few different angles. Measure the dimensions and write them down beside the drawings, which you will use as visual references.

4
Put on a pair of safety goggles and set up your grinding equipment on a table or other flat surface. Attach your roughest grinding wheel to the grinder.

5
Turn on the grinder and carefully grind down the entire surface of the piece, to take away the raw outer material.

6
Consult your reference drawings to determine which areas of the stone need to be completely removed. Grind these areas down slowly until your jade stone matches the reference.

7
Consult your reference drawings to view the overall shape of the final design. Continue slowly grinding the jade until you have the overall design translated. If necessary, stop periodically to check the stone against your measurements.

8
Turn off your machine. Swap out the rough grinding wheel for a medium wheel, then turn the machine on again.

Carve the Fine Details
1
Grind over the whole surface of the jade piece, working down the texture until it is smoother. Grind out some of the smaller details in your design and any imperfections in the jade.

2
Swap out the medium wheel for a fine wheel. Grind out any remaining imperfections and continue smoothing out the surface of your design.

3
Turn off your equipment and move to another table. Coat the jade piece with olive oil, which will reveal any scratches or other small imperfections left in the surface of the stone.

4
Take a small piece of 220 grit sandpaper and get it wet with water. Work the sandpaper over the jade, sanding down the scratches and imperfections until they are no longer visible. If you like, you can attach the sandpaper to a hanging motor so that you have more power behind your sanding.

5
Take a small piece of 1200-grit sandpaper and get it wet with water. Sand over the entire surface of the stone to create a smooth finish.