Hello everyone,
I am starting a project involving carving into volcanic pumice stone, which is quite soft. I was wondering if it might be possible to use the lathe for this purpose?
The project involves creating vessels where the neck needs to be smaller in diameter than the internal void. The thickness has to be quite small - approx. 5mm . Any advice or recommendations are welcome!
Thank you!
It’s not possible to turn stone on a metal lathe. The dust will render the lathe totally useless. It is the reason all grinding is done behind the welding curtain to isolate the dust from all the machine tools.
I’m uncertain what tool you would need. Perhaps you could turn it freehand on the wood lathe??? However the @woodtechs may have the same issue as we do.
Others may know more about masonry work… Hopefully someone will offer advice 
Hello, @woodlathetechs are a group that not all woodtechs are part of. Historically very few woodtechs actually know how to use the lathe (for future reference tagging-wise) - no stone on Woodlathe either.
Once, when a schoolboy, I (mistakenly) used cement powder to fill a resin cast I was then turning on a lathe. The tool bit was quickly blunted (destroyed) and then I had an intensive clean up of the lathe to do!
Thanks for the heads up Petra.
Thank you, everyone. I think I’ll reach out to some stone yards to see if they can assist with this. 