Stone for handles

C

cordovan

Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
47
So, I thought I would expand my horizons a little and make a couple of handle scales from stone. I'm mostly messing around at this point to see where I want to go with this.

Locally there is some green shale that is relatively pretty and for free, I can make as many mistakes as my heart desires.:) Problem is, it's composed of around 6% silica. Rough shaping I can do with an angle grinder, but eventually I gotta hit the sander. It took all of 60 seconds to toast a cheap 80 grit belt on the 2x72 last night. Since I'm just testing the water I was hoping to get by on the equipment I currently have. Any suggestions on tougher belt brands to look into?

Thanks......
 
I can't answer directly but you might want to PM or email Redrummd, he does a lot with stone I think.
 
I think you'll want belts for lapidary work. They use 2x72 belt sanders in lapidary applications, but I think they go through a water pan, or a tube puts water on the belt where you are working on it, similar to a metal bandsaw.

You could also get lapidary grade expanding drum sanders. The are pretty cheap and can be fitted to a motor or bench grinder.

I've shaped turquoise on my belt grinder and had little difficulty. You also might want to consider a slack belt for shaping stone.

Good luck.
 
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