Can Sylacauga marble be worked on a lathe

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65GTMustang

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I had an email asking if I could make an item from some local marble he could send me from his area.
It is called Sylacauga marble.
Can anyone tell me if this material can be worked one lathe? Perhaps a rasp other more aggressive tools need to be used - I would imagine it is a lot harder than soap stone....lol
Any help - suggestions etc. On how to shape it would be great.
They are not particular about the item.
Perhaps a wine stopper or something simple.
Thanks for you help
 
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Once you get the corners rounded off I cant imagine you cant find some way to turn it down....I have never dealt with that material but you would not think it harder than trustone would you? I even remember someone using a flap wheel while turning down some very hard stuff.
 
I have done some rock carving and played a little with marble. It is tough and chips easy. you are probably looking at rasp and file. I had luck using an angle grinder to round off parts when I got tired of using the chisels. slow and steady drill. Not going to say it is not possible but it will be time consuming.
 
I don't do stone (unless it is "Tru"), but my first thought is that drilling would be the more difficult step in the process. So do you have that part figured out yet?
 
Kevin,

Marble is way harder than soapstone or alabaster. It will not shape with wood tools so if you really want to try turning it, you need to use something else.

What I would do is drill the blank, mount it on the lathe, and waterproof the lathe as best you can. You will need a grinder with a diamond blade and plenty of water. Spin the blank like normal and grind the blank to shape, When you get close, switch to diamond pads which run like sandpaper from 30 grit to 3000 grit. You need water for these too.

This will be a real pain in the butt, but that is what I would do.
 
You should be able to cut it with a file, diamond-tipped file or rasp. The two hard parts are 1. Rounding off the hard corners and 2. Drilling.

I rcommend starting the drilling process with a smaller than final sized masonry, tile or glass bit, then moving up to the correct sized titanium coated hss bit.

As others have mentioned, an angle grinder should help in rounding the blank.

Final sanding with sandpaper and slurry water made from the various grit abrasives from a rock polishing tumbler kit will help smooth voids--- EXPECT pits and voids as part of the beauty of this material.
 
65GTMustang said:
I had an email asking if I could make an item from some local marble he could send me from his area.
It is called Sylacauga marble.
Can anyone tell me if this material can be worked one lathe? Perhaps a rasp other more aggressive tools need to be used - I would imagine it is a lot harder than soap stone....lol
Any help - suggestions etc. On how to shape it would be great.
They are not particular about the item.
Perhaps a wine stopper or something simple.
Thanks for you help
Click to expand...

Sylacauga marble comes from Sylacauga, Alabama (not far south of me). It is extremely white and pourous.

You can cut it with a tile saw blade (I have one for a hacksaw frame). It can be worked with rasps and drills. It would probably be rough on traditional turning tools. Once you get it round, you could probably work it with abrassives. It should wet sand and polish to a gleeming white finish.

BTW: It is the same marble used for the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in DC. :biggrin:

Here is a link to one of the quarries: http://alabamamarblequarry.com/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylacauga_marble
 
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