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This is not a "how to" or instructional page but a page to give interested people an idea of the steps and time involved in making an Alabaster turning. I do not pretend to be qualified to be an instructor and will not try to pose as one. |
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This is what I start with, rough cut pieces of Alabaster. The top piece, translucent orange in color, is about 5" X 5" X 4" in size and weighs about 11 pounds. This is about the size needed for a 3 1/2" X 4 1/2" bowl. Stones like these will cost anywhere from $1.75 to $4.50 a pound. |
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This is the same piece described earlier with a 3/4" thick base glued on to it. I am going to try to make this into a night light so I need a thick piece of wood attached to it for the light socket. |
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Mounted on my lathe. It is now ready to be rough turned. This is a slow process because of the weight of the stone. It must be turned at the slowest speed my lathe goes, 500 RPM. Any faster it will go off balance and rock my 400 + pound workbench. |
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An hour and forty five minutes later it is roughed out and is round. During the roughing process I have stopped and wet the piece to allow me to look for cracks. If any are found, which is not unusual, I soak them with thin CA glue to try and make them sound. It is at this point I start to determine the finial shape of the piece. |
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The shape of this piece is now turned and I am starting to bore a hole in the middle of it. The hole will help me turn the inside to hollow out this "bowl". At this point I have about 5 1/2 hours work time in this piece. |
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I have started the actual process of hollowing out the bowl. I still have about a 1/4" of stone to remove at the mouth of this bowl. In this photo it is only hollowed out around 1" deep leaving another 3"+ to go. Almost 9 hours have gone by since I started on this bowl. |
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I have completed the hollowing and the polishing is almost finished. |
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The finished night light. It is 4" across by 5" tall. This piece took about 15 hours to make. |
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Phone: (856) 881-9678 |
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Jim Davies |
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