Stones or crystals in turnings

[Marlen @ WOOD]

My wife and I spent a week in Santa Fe this past Fall and I had the opportunity to visit several rock shops. I love crystals and such, but other than put them on a shelf, what do you do with them? With that in mind, do you or do you know of anyone who incorporates crystals or stone into their turnings? I'm not speaking of ground stone set into grooves or voids with epoxy, but stone used for collars, lid handles, or other decoration. If there are any images in the gallery using stone, please point me to them Thanks, Marlen @ WOOD

 

[Richard Baker]

Marlen,
Welcome to the forum. If you are the Marlen I think you are it's about time you showed up here.

 

[Rob Wallace]

Cindy Drozda uses gems.....

My wife and I spent a week in Santa Fe this past Fall and I had the opportunity to visit several rock shops. I love crystals and such, but other than put them on a shelf, what do you do with them? With that in mind, do you or do you know of anyone who incorporates crystals or stone into their turnings? I'm not speaking of ground stone set into grooves or voids with epoxy, but stone used for collars, lid handles, or other decoration. If there are any images in the gallery using stone, please point me to them Thanks, Marlen @ WOOD

Hi Marlen -

Your 'turning neighbor to the north in Ames' here....

In addition to many pieces seen at AAW instant galleries that use hunks of turquoise in some southwestern forms, I think one of the most consistent use of "crystals' or 'gems' in turnings is done by Cindy Drozda, who glues a small gemstone under the lid of her fantastic lidded boxes and vessels. Check out her web site at:

http://www.cindydrozda.com/

BTW - Our turners group will be meeting on Sunday afternoon (25 January) in Ames....interested in attending? (Program is on hand chasing threads, and a demo of the Baxter threading jig.)

Rob Wallace

 

[Aaron G+11]

The latest edition of 'Woodturning Design' shows how to make more than just a collar. They make entire turnings from stone.

Aaron

 

[pfduffy]

Stones in turnings

Over the years I have used crushed stones in filling voids in turnings, but never crystals. That raises some real challenges as the stones may have the color I want but the hardness of the stones may not be known ahead of time. So, when I embed them and hold with epoxy, the hardness of the stones/epoxy becomes a real challenge. Yes, I try to get as close to a finished surface as possible before putting the stones in place but that is just part of the solution. You need to be able to grind off the surface of the mix and that can best be done with carbide points and ceramic discs. I have not used the ceramic sanding discs yet, but may soon, and report when I do. Good luck.

 

[Joe Greiner]

Maybe not exactly what you're considering, but the back cover of the AAW Journal for Summer 2006 (Vol. 21, No. 2) shows a piece with glass and brass beads embellishments. Stones or crystals could provide a similar effect, if that's what you're after. The URL still works: http://www.ravenstail.com/Homepage/index.html

Click WoodTurning for more detail.

Joe

 

[Wyatt Holm]

I have a friend who turned alabaster. He said it worked out OK, but he said he built his own tools from hardened steel. I think he used pieces off old road crater cutting edges and earth moving equipment likethat. I also noticed that at the Utah symposium last year, then there was a demonstrator who was going to be turning stone. I think he said alabaster and talc. I was unable to see his demo though. So if someone else on this forum happened to see that, could you give me a review of how it went?

 

[Wyatt Holm]

I just went over to the neighbors, look what they are talking about.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=102456

 

[Martin Braun]

Maybe you've already seen these, but Max Krimmel has a website with info on turning alabaster:

http://www.maxkrimmel.com/

Dwight Klaus does inlay with larger bits of stone, etc. (though maybe not exactly what you're looking for either):

http://www.swturnings.com/

Both have additional information on techniques on their websites.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Welcome, Marlen. Santa Fe (actually all of New Mexico) is my favorite place to go on vacations. Lately, I have favored Silver City and the Gila Wilderness. I have not used stones, but other members of our club Woodturners of North Texas have used stones in all sorts of interesting ways such as lid knobs and design elements to decorate turnings. Here is one example. The stones are being used to connect a two-piece turning (they are not glued or set in epoxy).

http://wntx.org/gallery/gallery_200604/p20064_025.jpg

Bill Boehme

 

[Richard Baker]

Bill,
That's a great looking piece. Are you saying that the stones are not mechanically connected to the wood?

 

[Jim Curlee]

Stephan Hatcher combines wood and stone in ways I never imagined. His website also incudes a guide to stone hardness and color.

http://www.e-z.net/~summitweb/

 

[Bill Boehme]

Bill,
That's a great looking piece. Are you saying that the stones are not mechanically connected to the wood?

Well, there is obviously some sort of mechanical connection, but I am not certain what it is -- I think that it might be metal pins. The turner is Fred Denke who has produced a series of turnings with similar use of stone and he also uses leather lacing in many of his turnings.

Here are a few others:

http://wntx.org/gallery/gallery_200703/p20073_023.jpg

http://wntx.org/gallery/gallery_200607/p20067_021.jpg

http://wntx.org/gallery/gallery_200609/p20069_007.jpg

While not exactly stone, Steve Worcester uses glass in his turnings. The January program at our club was presented by Steve where he demonstrated his wood and glass hollow forms.

 

[Richard Baker]

Thanks Bill. Beautiful work. The second piece does appear to have visible pins between the stones and the wood.