WarrenA
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2003
Posts: 1,530
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Post by WarrenA on Dec 29, 2009 0:27:59 GMT -5
I have a home builder contractor friend who wants me to make him a rock sink. I have a couple of 14" brick saw blades that I was thinking about using to cut the bowl out with. Anyone ever thought about doing this? I was thinking about fixing a device to lower the blade into the bowl slowly and let the rock rotate as it is being cut. It would go fast until the blade gets down in the rock aways. I know what they get for store bought rock sinks and it is plenty After the first sink it should get easier to do. Anyone with thoughts on this project? Thanks again in advance Warren
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Post by catmandewe on Dec 29, 2009 0:54:35 GMT -5
It might work, but I sure don't think it would go fast. You also would not have any overflow protection with this sink, unless you made some kind of trap underneath to catch it and somehow diverted it into the drain. Anything is doable, just depends on how much your time is worth. If you do attempt this, please keep us updated, as I would really be interested to see if it will work.
Tony
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Post by connrock on Dec 29, 2009 7:26:41 GMT -5
Warren, I can see all sorts of problems here. There are many surfaces to consider in making a sink and the bowl is just one of them. I'm assuming it's a bathroom sink with the 14" bowl? Will it be free standing or a cabinet mount? How and where will the faucets be mounted? The drain hole?
In making the bowl you may want to consider using several blades "sandwiched"together using spacers to give more rigidity to it?
How will you cool the blade (s)?
Quite a project!!
Keep us up on it??
connrock
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number21
having dreams about rocks
Member since November 2009
Posts: 72
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Post by number21 on Dec 29, 2009 19:45:40 GMT -5
This might help if you scale it up. There is a motor that turns a blade. The block of stone to be carved is set on a lazy susan which has its own motor to turn slowly. It uses a wall of clay to keep water in the area where the blade touches the stone. Looking at the picture you should get the general concept. I got the picture from the book 'Introduction to Lapidary' by Pansy D. Kraus. (I wish I could get rock that big to make spheres with.) Good luck.
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WarrenA
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2003
Posts: 1,530
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Post by WarrenA on Dec 30, 2009 0:28:45 GMT -5
Tom, the faucet will be mounted behind the sink on a cabinette the sink will have a drain hole in the bottom drilled in with a core drill I hope to have water cooled blades (I have 2 to sandwich together) The contractor is in charge of getting the rock so we'll see how fast this comes about. I will keep you in the loop if I get the go ahead. Number 21 thanks for the photo it is close to what I have in mind. The store bought sinks are so expensive, this will definately be a learning project.
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Post by Woodyrock on Dec 30, 2009 1:30:50 GMT -5
Mosseyrockhound has a reig to do bowls. Not as large as a sink, but still the same prinicple. I will try to get a photograph to post here. Woody
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Dec 30, 2009 18:03:02 GMT -5
I watched a stonemason make a fountain out of a large piece of stone, limestone I think. He used an angle grinder to cut out the inner bowl. They cut all their stone dry cut,much dust,no masks, no good. In fact,all the brick and stone masons I see on job sites dont protect against the dust, which can be hazardous.
snuffy
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Dec 30, 2009 19:12:21 GMT -5
Sounds like a very fun project. I hope it all works out for you Warren.
Nate
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WarrenA
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2003
Posts: 1,530
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Post by WarrenA on Dec 30, 2009 20:32:08 GMT -5
trouble is now most all rock is under at least 20" of snow
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Post by connrock on Dec 31, 2009 6:09:16 GMT -5
Hey Warren,,,, I've never seen a rock sink so I did an image search and now see what you are up against.
They're nothing like I thought they were and now don't seem all that far fetched!
Many of the ones I looked at were made of the softer materials like onyx.soapstone,etc,etc although I did see one made of pet wood!
Good luck and keep us posted after ya dig out the rocks! lol
connrock
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rockhound97058
freely admits to licking rocks
Thundereggs - Oregons Official State Rock!
Member since January 2006
Posts: 760
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Post by rockhound97058 on Dec 31, 2009 21:45:19 GMT -5
I think snuffy has the right idea - Use a 4" grinder with a "turbo wheel" - I've been using these wheels for years preforming sphere blanks. They cut rock very quick, but it is a dry dusty mess! You could run a water attachment, but you'd want something like a Barranca Wet stone polisher. ( you can find the same machine for much cheaper on the net) I personally have a Makita. These discharge water direct from the arbor. You can also use this same machine with diamond pads to smooth out your bowl.
The only thing about doing it this way is you have no control over a uniform bowl. Unless your very coordinated with your hands LOL. ;D
Interesting idea though!
Jason
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spicer m
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2008
Posts: 337
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Post by spicer m on Jan 1, 2010 23:47:46 GMT -5
What Jason said for a one time sink Went to a rock show today and there was a man there that carves out large items from jade. He happen to be making a large bowl the size of a sink. He was using a 4" grinder with 2ea 4" turbo blades. He had a water supply taped to the grinder and a rubber glove taped around the grinder to protect the electrical. He would plung cut into the jade by hand then move over as if He was cutting slabs and make another cut. Then he would break out the little slabs. Mike
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jan 2, 2010 0:43:56 GMT -5
When I watched the stonemason make that fountain last year, I thought I would make me a pet waterer out of a big slab of stone. However, I havnt found a suitable scrap piece laying arond the job sites. Get to sawing and tell us how it is.
snuffy
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joemojave
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 133
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Post by joemojave on Jan 4, 2010 1:20:31 GMT -5
I have a book called the creative lapidary, C 1980's ish, that describes how to make stone bowls by using a half sphere of steal or hard stone mounted on a face plate and driven by a motor. SIC grit goes in the depression along with a water drip. Every half hour or so you change the grit and the bowl is carved out in a few hours straight.
Instead of using SIC as described above, I would epoxy 100 grit diamond powder to the surface of the "grinder". Dimaond boart bowder is about a buck a carat, and you would probably need a few grams to do the whole thing. Dimaond would be 1000 times faster than SIC using this method. The advantage of this method over using a blade is that the hole will automaticaly be perfectly round, which would be the hardest part using the sawblade IMO.
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Iowahound
having dreams about rocks
Member since December 2004
Posts: 72
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Post by Iowahound on Jan 5, 2010 9:20:14 GMT -5
A 4" grinder with a turbo wheel, a motorized potters wheel, a steady hand and lots of patience. You should be able to control the shape similar to how a potter would, using his hands and the rotation of the wheel to form the pottery. Best of Luck!
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docharber
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2008
Posts: 693
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Post by docharber on Jan 15, 2010 22:19:50 GMT -5
I think you'll end up incredibly frustrated without an industrial lathe purpose built for this. I have some old Lapidary Journals with articles on bowl making. the methods they give include making sequential cuts, spaced close together and breaking away the thin pieces between cuts. Then, rotate and do it all over. You can't rotate the work continuously- that would immediately ruin the blades and even after the necessary cuts and breaking out is done, there will be serious grinding to do. There's a reason stone sinks are expensive. One strategy might be tobuild up the walls of the sink by gluing well machined bars of stone together like logs in a log house, wimply mitering and epoxying the corners. You could have a nearl;y finished interior surface already polished onto the material. The bottom could be made of a single piece of material with the bottom coved out with a diamond grinder to give rounded corners that cvould be cleaned. you could work all kinds of patterns iand colors into the material. Another approach would be to make a mosaic on the interior of a ceramic undermounts bowl and finish with a lucite type sealer. You can get an idea of what I'm talking about by looking up woodworking techniques for making laminatd bowls. Anyway, I think trying to work with a heavy, expensive and fragile piece of natural stone, then mount it and drill it, would really drive you nuts. i suspect you would end up buying an expensive ready-made bowl and appreciating it for the immense amount of work and skill it took to make.
Mark H.
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WarrenA
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2003
Posts: 1,530
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Post by WarrenA on Jan 16, 2010 21:31:20 GMT -5
Mark, I have kicked around the ideas you have suggested. The rub arrives that the customer wants a solid bowl not a laminated one, altho for myself I might give the laminate idea a run I have LOTS of rock to cut up. and to drive me nuts its a short drive Warren
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