Bill M Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Hi, I'm new here and have enjoyed looking at all the work you people are doing for a month or so now and decided to join up. I turn miniature vases and bowls and do small stone sculptures too. Looking at the attached photo and starting from the little white vase sitting on the quarter and moving left: The little white vase is Ivory, next is green nephrite jade, buffalo horn, Orange alabaster, Ebony with stopper, green marble and a soapstone from I don't know where. With exception to the Ebony vase, all vases and bowls are the same shape inside as outside and most are very thin walled. ( I work very hard to make them in scale) Each bowl or vase is turned by hand on a Sherline 1000, 16 inch lathe, and all my tools are hand made by me. I started turning wood but soon became board so I turned to stone (not literally of course) and have been enamored by the many colors and differences available. My wife is an oil painting artist specializing in miniatures (and she's really good too), so she is the reason I got into turning miniature bowls and vases. We sell these miniatures at doll house collector shows and if you have never been to one you have no idea what a crazy world it is out there. Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and hope to learn from the many talented people I see here. Bill M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janel Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Hi Bill, Welcome to The Carving Path forum! Those are really tiny turned pieces! I think that no one else who works with stone has shown us turned stone. I have questions to ask about how you approach turning stone, practical sorts of questions. Would you be willing to answer questions, or describe how you use a lathe to turn stone, in a topic in Tools & Technical? Janel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie K Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Hi Bill and welcome to the forum. I have been to a few of the shows and I know what you are talking about. Unbelievable work, and amazingly tiny. They are a handful of stone carvers here (of which I am one), but Janel's right, you are the first stone turner here! Welcome and hope to see more of your work. Debbie K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopacki Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Welcome to the forum Bill Seems kind of funny I was looking at full size lathes just yesterday as I want to purchase one for my new studio. I have plans to make some turned pieces (full size) of stone in the not to distant future. I acquired about two hundred pounds of Jadeite a few years back and have always been intrigued by the beautiful old Jade bowls I saw in my travels in Asia and elsewhere, some have such thin walls I found it hard to believe that this could be done, now I am going to prove to myself that I to can pull it off. Welcome again .......... All my best .......... Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill M Posted December 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Hi Bill, Would you be willing to answer questions, or describe how you use a lathe to turn stone, in a topic in Tools & Technical? Janel Sure, Should I just start the topic like " Turning stone" ? I have a few photos of work in process as well as photos of my tools. Thanks for the welcome- Bill M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janel Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Yes, that would be great! Janel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill M Posted December 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Yes, that would be great! Janel OK, will do, may take a bit but I'll get to it as soon as I can. By the way Janel, your work is amazing, very clean and fluid. I love your naturalistic flow. Great stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janel Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Thank you, Bill. I am looking forward to seeing your posts about what you do, how you do it, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Menke Posted December 12, 2010 Report Share Posted December 12, 2010 Bill- super turning- with interesting materials. That soapstone is the most gorgeous tiny turned vase I've ever seen. The colors and grain. . . just unbelievable. I wonder if I could turn some green soapstone I have on my Jet Mini lathe. I'm sure I could not get a good wall thickness as you have- but it would be fun to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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