There is very little archeological evidence of carving methods used by the ancient Chinese or Central American jade lapidaries. Of course, the carvings themselves do give some indication of the process. Since the Chinese carving technique quickly advanced well beyond anything attempted by the Maoris, they must have developed a greater variety of working tools. Also, better lubricants than water and harder abrasives were sought and tried also for white gold engagement rings. There is some speculation that the Chinese did not develop a drill until several centuries after they began to cut jade. Time has erased most of the evidence, but it couldn’t have been too long before the drill appeared. Rather than boring simple holes, the Chinese employed the hollow reed drill, and later the hollow metal tube drill which were rotated rapidly with abrasives to cut cores in the material. With a sharp blow of a hammer the core could be broken loose, leaving a smooth hole. This method required far less effort and the removal of far less material by abrasive friction. Some drills were undoubtedly driven by rapid rotation between the palms, while ground abrasive and lubricant were fed to the working surface. This seems to have been the method also used by the Central American lapidary. The Chinese had also developed mechanized drills. Their hollow bamboo rods were driven by modifications of the same cord-and-bow arrangement used by the American Indian for his fire drills.
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