Is this stone(granite?) usable?

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CoastalRyan

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Dec 12, 2012
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I have zero experience with stone...cutting, drilling etc. Is this stuff usable? Is there a market for it? I have access to hundreds of pieces like this. All shapes, sizes and colors. Basically its just scrap from a company that makes custom countertops and stuff. Thoughts?

For scale the very top piece is 1.25'' x 1.25'' x 10'' long. Almost all pieces are at least an inch thick.

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CREID

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I was just talking to someone that owns a bakery I go to every once in a while and he was telling me that he knows someone (very well off) that does make pens occasionally from stone but I believe mostly other stuff. But!!! He has special equipment to cut and drill the stone and special equipment to turn the stone. If you are really interested I would find a rock shop locally and ask them what it would take. One thing he did tell me was that not only were they heavy, but since the amount of stone left after turning was very little, they were very prone to breaking when dropped.
 

CoastalRyan

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Dec 12, 2012
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Corpus Christi
I was just talking to someone that owns a bakery I go to every once in a while and he was telling me that he knows someone (very well off) that does make pens occasionally from stone but I believe mostly other stuff. But!!! He has special equipment to cut and drill the stone and special equipment to turn the stone. If you are really interested I would find a rock shop locally and ask them what it would take. One thing he did tell me was that not only were they heavy, but since the amount of stone left after turning was very little, they were very prone to breaking when dropped.
I was thinking that it might be prone to breakage once drilled. I could see where this might work better for something like bottle stoppers...where you have a little more meat on the bone.
 

TonyL

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Mar 9, 2014
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There was a member that did turn granite and I believe marble about a year ago. I believe he said he had to sharpen his tools very, very frequently, but don't take my word for it, search the posts. He was very thorough in his explanation.
 

SteveG

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Dec 21, 2009
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Eugene, Oregon 97404
Besides the need for special tooling for rock work (which I have never done), there is the issue of rock-dust contamination of the shop. Just way too many down sides for me to consider it, unless I was going to set up a dedicated operation apart from the wood/pen shop. Yet there is no doubt about the special nature of granite and other stone pens!
 

low_48

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Jul 1, 2004
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Peoria, IL, USA.
Are you asking because you want to market it, or because you want to make pens from it? It will take diamond tooling with constant flow of cooling water to cut, drill, or machine in any way. Not an easy operation, plus, there is a lot of scrap like that in a lot of cities. I don't see a big market for it if you want to sell it.
 

Bob in SF

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Feb 15, 2016
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If you are willing to go with stone shapes and fragments, and think some distance "out-of-the-box":
Cut slivers of granite with a wet tile saw.
Then cut the slivers into smaller shapes/strips with a diamond blade mounted on a Dremel tool or flex shaft, and/or pulverize the slivers a makeshift crusher, which you could make by capping a large metal pipe and capping a smaller pipe, taking a big hammer to crush the stones between the inner and outer caps (which is a simple method used to make crushed mineral inlays)
Adhere the stone shapes or fragments onto a coarsely sanded brass tube using tinted Alumilite , polyester resin, epoxy, or thick CA glue
Then cast the granite-covered tube in a tube-in mold (such as a Fred Wissen's tube-in silicone mold), then lathe-turn it to your final shape.
Tints and metal flakes mixed into the resin could help "amp-up" the blank.
(last time I did a lot of stone carving and turning with gem smithing machines, I earned a fiberoptic sinusotomy to ream out my sinuses - better to embed, suspend, or inlay minerals).
I still do internal microsculptures in optically clear quartz, but use lots of irrigation (Waterpik), ventilation, and a respirator mask.

Just my 3 cents

Your granite is beautiful.

Best regards, Bob
 

lwalper

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Mar 16, 2014
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Lancaster, TN
I've got some 7mm diamond bits and have done a pen in stone. Interesting, but heavy and probably fragile. I don't carry it.
 
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