# Turning a Petosky stone



## Ben Holt (Feb 1, 2016)

Is it possible? Has anyone ever did it? It's actually a fossil and fairly soft. I have polished and shaped one but didn't know if one could be turned. I have some, although small. If possible, I'm sure it's a ways off for my skill level.


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## ripjack13 (Feb 1, 2016)

@HomeBody has done stuff with rock n arrowheads n other things. Check out my topic here...
http://woodbarter.com/threads/petrified-wood.20409/

He posted some great info in there. It might help...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Sprung (Feb 1, 2016)

I'm unlikely to ever try it, but I have a nice Petoskey Stone that I picked up on the shore of Lake Superior one of the times I was back in MI to visit family and dad and I went fishing. Would look real sweet as a pen... Going to Petoskey, MI this summer to visit a friend who lives there while on my way to my parents' house...

Reactions: Like 1


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## HomeBody (Feb 2, 2016)

I think you could turn a Petoskey on a lathe. You'd have to turn it at a slow speed though and use a diamond tool with water for coolant. If you've never run a lathe with coolant, I can tell you it's messy. Might be worth it though. Drilling the hole would be the biggest problem. I doubt if a carbide drill would do it, although it might. If not, you'd have to drill the hole with a brass core drill and carbide abrasive powder with coolant. Diamond core drills don't come long enough to do a pen. Going from wood to lapidary poses a whole new set of problems. Gary

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1 | Informative 1


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## Ben Holt (Feb 3, 2016)

HomeBody said:


> I think you could turn a Petoskey on a lathe. You'd have to turn it at a slow speed though and use a diamond tool with water for coolant. If you've never run a lathe with coolant, I can tell you it's messy. Might be worth it though. Drilling the hole would be the biggest problem. I doubt if a carbide drill would do it, although it might. If not, you'd have to drill the hole with a brass core drill and carbide abrasive powder with coolant. Diamond core drills don't come long enough to do a pen. Going from wood to lapidary poses a whole new set of problems. Gary



If I could come up with a large enough stone, would u consider giving it a shot?


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## HomeBody (Feb 4, 2016)

Ben Holt said:


> If I could come up with a large enough stone, would u consider giving it a shot?



I don't have a lathe. I do lapidary work, but I've never tried to make a pen or anything turned from stone. Gary

Reactions: Like 1


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## kweinert (Feb 4, 2016)

You might want to contact John Greco (http://gwpens.com/) as I know he's done several pens in different kinds of stone. He might have some ideas for you.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Sprung (Feb 15, 2016)

Well, I just came across this. Seems it has been done! (Doesn't surprise me that it's been done by at least one person!)


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## Bill_LFW (Feb 17, 2016)

I think your best shot to drill it is with a masonry drill bit, the slower the better, to get your ends square upped, id sand it, more than likely a pen mill will shred it up, and to turn it on the lathe, to knock of you 4 corners of, use a dremel with a burr bit with the lathe off and finish turning it with the sharpest oval skew you have, then wet sand it


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## Schroedc (Feb 17, 2016)

I've turned soapstone and Catlinite (Pipe Stone) but nothing harder and the Catlinite almost has to be fresh out of the mine as it goes from a 1 or 2 on the Mohs scale to a 4.5 or so with exposure to air.

Reactions: Informative 1


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