Not Wood but works like wood almost

[foamcutter]

Hi,
Hope this is allright to post here. The attached photos are a little of what I have been doing while I'm building a CNC Router. This is all hand work in Alabaster Stone. The box has a aeromatic cedar wood liner that is removable. Soon to have my router done and will be cutting stone with it. Alabaster stone works a lot like a medium hard wood but is brittle and breaks along fault lines. Anyway I hope some one will enjoy seeing something a little diferent. I have more photos posted at my website www.cooperstoneworks.4t.com if your interested. Thanks Ron

[ger21]

On an old Modern Masters on HGTV, they had a guy turning alabaster bowls on a wood lathe.

[buscht]

Very Nice work Ron!

Can this stuff be cut with a CNC router? (Carved?)

Trent

[CJL5585]

Ron,
You have done a wonderful job on your clocks and boxes. Visited your website. Are there any suppliers for alabaster? Would love to try creating something in alabaster.
Would appreciate any leads.
Jerry

[foamcutter]

Trent,
Thanks for the compliment. Can it be cut with CNC router, well I'm soon to find out for sure, as that is just what I'm building my router for. I really don't see any reason why not as long as you understand it's little quirks and challenges. And it does have some distinct quirks and challenges to work with. I will have my machine done before the end of this month. I am doing some test cutting and etc with a small home built router now. It really depends on what you want to do with it.


Jerry,
Thanks for the kind words. I have found 3 suppliers in the USA and one in Canada that seem to be reasonable in price for Alabaster. The stone really isn't all that expensive but the shipping gets you, it costs as much or more to ship it as it does to buy it. Send me a PM and I will tell you more about the suppliers and challenges with getting the stone. Different people say it weighs from just under 100 pounds per cubic foot to just under 200 pounds per cubic foot, so freight is a major consideration. Also there are some real precautions one should take when working with this stone, like face shield and mask so you don't breath any of the extremely fine dust produced. Anyway if your serious about trying some, PM me and we can visit about what your getting yourself in for. Ron

[CNCRob]

Hey Ron,
I just visited your website, All your work looks great.

[GeorgeRudd]

What kind of bit do you need to carve Alabaster on a CNC?

Do you need to cool the bit with a liquid as it cuts?

What cutting speeds can you route it?

[wjbzone]

Ron, Thanks for the post on this material. I like the idea of machining a material like this. Nice work on your site.

I found a site with some sources for soapstone/alabaster:
http://www.sculptor.org/Stone/Soapstone.htm

I'm sure there are some quirks to cutting it with a CNC. One source that has rotary tools for cutting soapstone, uses what look like a coarse burr tool. (rasp like tool)
http://www.sierrahillsstone.com/html/tools.html

I would bet on some polishing would be needed after machining with these tools.

Bill

[foamcutter]

Hi Guys,
Sorry for being slow with a reply but I've been shooting aligators ( Busy fixing problems) You know It's hard to remember that your main objective is to drain the swamp when your up to your rear in aligators!

Anyway The stuff on the web site and the photos posted are all done by hand. I am just starting to work this stuff on a CNC router. Had to finish building it. Alabaster can be cut with carbide tools, HSS tools will cut most alabaster but only a couple times before dulling, diamond tools are great but need water to lube and cool and are expensive. Alabaster can be cut dry or wet. Creates lots and lots and lots of dust dry, WEAR A GOOD MASK ALWAYS, wet creates a big wet mess, no dust, just a slick muddy mess. The dust it creates dry is like talcum powder, very fine, probably not good for the lungs so WEAR A GOOD MASK ALWAYS. I will probably be cutting at slow spindle speed on the CNC and multiple passes, because the more heat and vibration you create in the stone the more it tends to chip, split, crack and fall apart. Alabaster tends to be brittle, chips easily and will bruise. The most used tool I have is a 12 inch disk sander. If you don't like sanding don't try any Alabaster. All the parts cut by hand are cut big and then sanded down to size. I have had no luck at cutting angle cuts, like 45's for a box joint, I cut the stone square and then sand the angle in for the joint. A rotary rasp can be used to cut the stone but then you have to do lots of sanding to get all the ugly marks out. I will be trying a rotary rasp on the CNC where I will have a constant velocity in movement to help eliminate the course marks, we shall see if that is better. If interested I will post some photos of my newly completed CNC. I kind of built mine with a little outside the box thinking. I have less than $1500.00 invested in the complete CNC. I hope I answered most of the questions from the last couple posts, if not ask them again. Thanks for the interest and comments. Ron