Rose Alabaster

[broitblat]

Alabaster reverse painted with a light red to give it a slight rose tint to go along with some greys that are hard to see in the picture.



-Barry

 

[alphageek]

Man thats beautiful!!! Really cool pen.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

That looks classy.

 

[Jim Burr]

How was that to turn Barry? Pointers? I have lots of soapstone that I'm chomping at the bit to have a lash at!

 

[CaptG]

Very nice Barry. I have a chunk of that and one of these days I may do something with it. I hope it turns out as nice as yours.

 

[Brooks803]

That's great Barry! May I ask where you found the alabaster? I've been looking for some white pieces but no luck finding any.

 

[boxerman]

I like it.

 

[Jim15]

Awesome looking pen.

 

[broitblat]

How was that to turn Barry? Pointers? I have lots of soapstone that I'm chomping at the bit to have a lash at!

Alabaster and soapstone are pretty easy to turn with normal tools except that a) they are brittle, and b) they throw off a lot of find dust (a respirator, or at least a dust mask, is mandatory).

You can really get a good sense of how sharp your tools are, because the dust begins to fly at the slightest touch .

-Barry

 

[broitblat]

That's great Barry! May I ask where you found the alabaster? I've been looking for some white pieces but no luck finding any.

Jonathon,

I have a few pieces that I've had around for a couple of years, and I don't remember where I got it.

You probably already know about them, but here is one source I've seen:

http://www.coloradoalabaster.com/

-Barry

 

[Jim Burr]

I picked up a lot from these guys...good prices, from what I can tell.

http://www.stonesculptorssupplies.com/index.html

 

[Brooks803]

Thanks for the links! I'll give them a peak and see if I can find a few pieces.

 

[Craftdiggity]

Thanks for the links! I'll give them a peak and see if I can find a few pieces.

Need some Alabaster, Brooks??? PM me your address and I'll shoot you a few blanks.

 

[Craftdiggity]

How was that to turn Barry? Pointers? I have lots of soapstone that I'm chomping at the bit to have a lash at!

Jim,

Soapstone will be much easier to turn than alabaster. You need to go slow, especially when drilling to avoid cracking it up. Soapstone turns like wood, but is very dusty (don't expect shavings), so you need a respirator at all times, even when drilling.

One tip: When it is time to put the kit together, I don't press it together. It almost always cracks on the ends. What I do is file the parts down so that they slide together snugly and I use a drop of ca.