Sandy casting?

[Joe S.]

I've been thinking about casting a pen blank filled with sand, not just glued to the tube but through the entire thing. Will this be a problem with standard woodturning tools? Ive heard trustone is abrasive and will dull tools and I wonder what this would do to the bandsaw/drill bit/skew chisel. What do you think?
Thanks

 

[seamus7227]

i think you should try it and report back to us what your findings were, thats how you learn! just my opinion:biggrin:

 

[low_48]

You'll be machining some stone, some resin. Your tools will try to cut the piece of sand in half some of the time. I've not turned true stone, but the stone particle size has to be smaller than sand. Your sand will just about be like trying to turn a pen from a grinding wheel. You decide what it will do to your tools.

 

[mapletree]

Have you ever hit frozen dirt with your chain saw? The sand blank should be about the same. Will give one a lot of practice sharpening.

 

[el_d]

Someone did cast some Iwo-Jima sand here not too long ago. I cant remember if it was glued to the tube or mixed with the PR.

 

[HoratioHornblower]

The recent sand pen can be found here http://www.penturners.org/forum/f170/casting-contest-92839/index4.html

David

 

[Holz Mechaniker]

Tru-stone is nothing, I used a Nice sharp Skew and no troubles what so ever.

Banded Malachite on gold

Now Sanding and polishing took it all the way through every MM pad I had.

 

[JohnU]

Been there done that, and I would compare it to turning cement! Lol. Mine had shell pieces in it too so I'm sure that contributed to more hardness. It was cut and drillable but not so much with turning. I destroyed a nice gouge. Lol Good luck.

 

[mrcook4570]

It will dull your tools very quickly. A carbide tool may be hard enough to resist dulling, but I don't think I would try it. I would stick with gluing the sand to a tube and casting PR over the top. This way, your tool will never hit the sand.

 

[PTsideshow]

The quartz grains in the sand is a 6 on the Mohs hardness scale a little over half way Diamond is a 10. As been said it will be good for sharpening practice.
The other thing is that with sand you have silica, which can cause silicosis over time. But can cause problems short term when working up close and personal. Use a mask!
And as been said the powdered stone used to mix the stone and resin is a lot finer in grain size and more uniform.
:clown:

 

[Joe S.]

Well this WAS for the segbox (I thought sand segments would look neat) but now I think I'll wait untill I get a carbide tool, then try it myself. Thanks for your help and I will post about it when I try it.

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD!!!

 

[Dragonlord85]

I use sand as an inlay material on some of my pens. you can find all different colors at your local hobby store. The one thing I found is you do need to use a carbide tool ( or like to sharpen your wood tools frequently) and turn at a slower speed than most other materials.