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The Process
 George
Westbrook purchases alabaster in its quarried state. The first step
in making a finished piece is to take the quarried stone and, using a
14" diamond-tipped circular saw blade, rough out the blocks of alabaster,
preparing them for the wood lathe.
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 A
chop saw is useful for eight-siding or roughing out smaller pieces
of alabaster for the lathe.
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 Here
is a piece of alabaster "dogged" to the face plate.
The tail stock of the lathe holds the alabaster against the large
circular face plate. Dogs are the pieces of wood screwed to
the face plate, keeping the alabaster steady.
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 This
is Westbrook turning the tenon and cleaning up the underside of the
piece -- smoothing away the chop saw cuts and rounding out the basic
form.
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 Here
is a piece of white alabaster, roughed out on the wood lathe, now ready
to be epoxied onto a waste block.
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 Here
is an orange piece of alabaster, ready to be epoxied to the wood waste
block/face plate. Note the tenon on the alabaster (left) and how
it will fit onto the waste block (right). The tenon is the section
which is sacrificed when cutting the finished piece off the waste block.
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This
is Westbrook preparing
the white alabaster piece for a wood rim. Westbrook uses
a carbide-tipped turning tool to scrap the alabaster away. Note
the alabaster dust leaving the piece on the left. He works
back and forth on the outside and inside of the piece bringing it
down to its final shape. Depending on the piece's shape, various
carbide-tipped turning tools are used. The more closed
a shape at the mouth, the more curved the tool and the more difficult
it is to scrape
out
the inside. |
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Once
the piece is near its final shape, a rim may be applied with epoxy.
In this piece, the rim is purpleheart wood. A gouge is used to
give the rim its final shape.
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Here
is Westbrook turning the rim with a gouge. He also uses stone
rims, African wonderstone gives a very dark black appearance.
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 Here
is a finished Italian white bowl, with a segmented purpleheart rim.
Once the piece is complete, with or without a rim, the sanding/finishing
process takes place. With the piece still on the lathe, Westbrook
sands it, starting with 80 grit sandpaper and working down to 320 grit.
He then uses scotch-brite hand pads, going from coarse to fine.
Next he buffs the piece with buffing compounds. It is cut off
the lathe at this stage (the tenon is sacrificed). He cleans up
the bottom of the piece, then does a final buff of the piece on a buffing
wheel. He oils the finished alabaster vessel with Danish Watco
oil. After drying , he signs the bottom. It is ready for
customers.
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George
Westbrook purchases alabaster in its quarried state. The first step
in making a finished piece is to take the quarried stone and, using a
14" diamond-tipped circular saw blade, rough out the blocks of alabaster,
preparing them for the wood lathe. 
