quartz

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ronhampton

ronhampton

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
241
Location
west point, ga, USA.
has anyone had any experience working with quartz or granite? a cabinet maker gave me some today.:biggrin: it's in the form of 1/4"x4"x4" the lable says that it is pure quartz.all i know is that it is very hard:eek: it took about a 1/2 hour to drill a hole through it using amasonry bit and water!:confused: i haven't tried the granite yet.any help appreciated:biggrin:---ron.---
 
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The only help I can offer is in the form of prayers. That's some hard stuff and it ain't gonna be easy. Good luck.
 
I don't have any experience turning any quartz or granite. But after watching the craftsmen that did our kitchen using diamond cutting tools, I would say you would probably have better luck turning my ex-wife's heart, and that is hard!:biggrin:

Good luck!
 
Give it up. If a chip don't put out an eye or your chisels aren't permanently destroyed, it will shatter when it get down to size with the bushings. It will just be a monumental waste of time and effort, not to mention how dangerous it will be. Also that stone dust will get in all the moving parts of your lathe and wear them out.
 
that thread pretty much sums it up! i ground down a old file .put the small piece of quartz with the hole in it on my lathe, then proceeded to turn down my file!:eek: --ron.-- thanks for all the input,guys;0 --ron.--
 
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There is a guy here near San Francisco who actually turns stone and he has developed a lathe tool for turning stone. I will find his website and post it. I saw his work at a show at the local Woodcraft in San Carlos and it was truly amazing and exquisite. He had turned bowls, vases, etc.
 
Back in August I ran into a guy doing at a craft show with an entire booth full of granite pens. same kits we use, very much different tools. I spent about half an hour talking to him and looking at his work. It was very nice and tempting to buy one or two. I still have no idea how he does it though.
 
Just as food for thought. At the University I work at they have to schools just for mining. I'll just say they can do just about anything they want with a rock in those two buildings. I have seen one machine that at least gives me an idea how it is done. It is basically a lathe (big one) but rather than having a tool rest it has a wet grinder mounted on it. as the stone is turned in the lathe the grinding stone turns against the stone, lots of water involved. hope that description makes since.
 
I'll ditto Old Wrangler, give it up.
We have a lot of quartz in Arkansas, the state is famous for it. The stuff is glass hard. Discussion about turning stone, etc. is not applicable to quartz. Put a cord through that hold you drilled and use for a necklace. Some people believe it has healing powers. I once sold quartz crystals and jewelry made from crystals. Almost all my sales were to New Agers who believed it has healing powers. You might need healing if you try to turn on a lathe. Don't do it.
 
thanks again for all the feed back, i think that i will use them as a base for a desk top pen set.:biggrin: it is too pretty to not use on something!:wink: ron.
 
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