Alabaster, a crystalline form of Gypsum, is mined from quarries in many places in the world. This soft stone is good for working on the lathe and for carving. It can be turned using standard HSS tools and carbide tools which stay sharp longer.
Alabaster is not known to be topic so although it's dusty turning a good dust mask and dust collection are all that you need to have a good work environment.
Turned alabaster vessels are beautiful vessels and these tutorials will help you to understand if this is something that you'd like to do!
In this photo tutorial, Jim Davies shows us how he mounts a large piece of alabaster in preparation for turning it. Then he takes us through each step showing the process of turning the stone. It's amazing that the steps are not much different than you would follow with wood, but of course, there is no grain and no movement.
This document is very detailed which is good for beginners and might be enough to convince you to try one yourself!
This is the original Fine Woodworking article about Alabaster turning from 1989 that brought Max's work to attention. It's great as a historical reference and to learn the basic steps to turning alabaster!
In this last part of the 3 part project, Max shows how to do the final sanding and finishing of the alabaster vessel. He also shows how to finish the base and then how he photographs his pieces!
In this part 2 of 3 article, Max shows you how to make the base, hollow out the vessel, adding a segmented rim and then giving the vessel it's final shaping!
The close-up pictures in this photo tutorial make this a great project to read as you can really get a feel for how Brad prepares his blank, mounts it on the lathe and all the steps he follows to finish with a wonderful alabaster bowl.
One section of interest is how Brad makes the segmented ring for the top lip of this vessel. He gives a very detailed explanation with excellent pictures which even a beginner could follow!!
This is a really good tutorial if you'd like to consider doing turnings out of alabaster!!
In this project, George gives us an overview of how he prepares his alabaster blanks, mounts them on the lathe and ultimately turns it. It will give you an good glimpse at the process!
In this part 1 of 3 article, Max Krimmel shows you how to select, prepare and mount your alabaster blank onto the lathe. He also discusses how to rough out the blank to get it to a rounded state.
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