bassfishingpro
Member
Has anyone ever attempted or successfully turned marble? I have Had some chunks given to me and was wondering what tools, speed, and any other tips that you might have and or advice.
John
John
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Marble
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sgimbel
Member
I'd like to know too. I have some beautiful colorful granite.
I was looking into marble for a different project. I know you will need a diamond tipped drill bit and lots of water to drill/cut it. The problem would lie in 1) the price and 2) the sizes available for diamond core-cutting bits. I would think you would have to go kitless, but I suppose it could be done. Turning it may be a whole other story???
shadow man
Member
I make granite and marble countertops for a living and at one point thought a granite or marble pen would be cool. I have tried to drill holes for tubes with no success. The marble breaks while drilling. I have not tried granite as yet as it is typically harder than marble. My idea which I haven't done yet would be to take two pieces of marble and hollow out a trench in the middle of both pieces, glue in tubes and then laminate the two pieces together. To turn I would set the lathe on slow and use a 60 grit stone to grind to shape. Then you could polish out with sandpaper up to about 2000 grit. My thoughts, I have not attempt this but it sounds cool.
Good Luck
George
Good Luck
George
TellicoTurning
Member
I would think the natural stone might be too brittle, but what about the manmade stuff that looks like marble or granite??
Sberger
Member
Heck, just do some corian. Granted it is not marble or granite, but it sure looks like it.
OKLAHOMAN
Member
The only stone I've done is Alabaster. I've done 4 sold 3 and told each customer that bought them that if dropped "Adiós", no warranty given at all on cracking.
titan2
Member
You could always try 'Soap Stone'.
Barney
Barney
randyrls
Member
Several sources sell marble Trustone. Check RandBcrafts here on IAP.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1822&highlight=trustone
This is called White Turquoise, but I think it looks like marble. There are several flavors of white and other colors.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1822&highlight=trustone
This is called White Turquoise, but I think it looks like marble. There are several flavors of white and other colors.
jmc1967
Member
After many tries, I competed a Cambridge Hybird FP using Bluestone (special pen for a friend using stone from his property in the NY Catskills).
I cut the 1" square blanks using a wet saw, then tried to drill them out. The blank kept breaking when trying to drill the hole for the tubes. The trick was to drill the hole in a large slab first, then cut the blanks. Drilled slow with plenty of water.
Epoxy for the tubes, wet saw to take the corners off the blank, turned slow, taking VERY light cuts with carbide tool. Once it was close, wet sand with automotive sandpaper up thru 1500 grit. I finished with CA, MM thru 12000.
When assembling, I ground the mating surfaces of the components going into the tubes so they were "finger tight", and used a drop of epoxy to secure them. After all that work, i did not want to take a chance cracking the stone barrels.
I was pleased with the end result, but it was a LOT of messy work
joec
I cut the 1" square blanks using a wet saw, then tried to drill them out. The blank kept breaking when trying to drill the hole for the tubes. The trick was to drill the hole in a large slab first, then cut the blanks. Drilled slow with plenty of water.
Epoxy for the tubes, wet saw to take the corners off the blank, turned slow, taking VERY light cuts with carbide tool. Once it was close, wet sand with automotive sandpaper up thru 1500 grit. I finished with CA, MM thru 12000.
When assembling, I ground the mating surfaces of the components going into the tubes so they were "finger tight", and used a drop of epoxy to secure them. After all that work, i did not want to take a chance cracking the stone barrels.
I was pleased with the end result, but it was a LOT of messy work
joec
Rfturner
Member
Turning stone
I would suggest using corian I have made over 150 pens with about 80 pens in the slimline style using corian. It has even fooled some construction formen that work with granite and marble on a regular basis. I then told them that it was Corian. It suprised them.
With corian the trick is to not get it really hot it can crack or chip out but I had a few practice pieces that I learned from, Now it is easy.
_______________________________________________________
Always use all your safety equipment, it's there for a reason
I would suggest using corian I have made over 150 pens with about 80 pens in the slimline style using corian. It has even fooled some construction formen that work with granite and marble on a regular basis. I then told them that it was Corian. It suprised them.
With corian the trick is to not get it really hot it can crack or chip out but I had a few practice pieces that I learned from, Now it is easy.
_______________________________________________________
Always use all your safety equipment, it's there for a reason
workinforwood
Member
It's tough getting a proper diamond bit for a kit pen. To go kitless sounds like the best option for me. Marble breaks so easy, it's brittle, so be careful! If it were me, once you have the blank drilled and cut, then I would use a rotary tool with a diamond cutter. Mount that to a cross slide and turn on the oil pump <oil pump full of water of course. What a messy job!