stone milling

turritella is what i am going to do first. i also want to try jasper, agate, howlite, petrified wood, lapis, etc... prety much everything, in other words the whole range of hardnesses.

You should be able to do all of the necessary shaping on a flat lap. cheaper then a milling machine and probably faster, if you are into lapidary a 8" diamond wheel would also work, but require a bit more in the way of skill.

The 8" wheel would be good for shaping after the scales are attached to the knife blank, as you will want to round and shape the scales to your final design. one thing to avoid on your first knife would be hollow finger slots, would need a fordom with diamond bits to shape the small radius hollows, and they are a pain to shape and polish.

thanks for all the replys everyone. i have the mill on hand and  as to the slurry and gibb problem, i wanted to try it dry with a shop vac to control the dust, to give a better idea of the  tools at my disposal i have a 12" diamond lap (working on making the lapping machine right now), silicon carbide grind wheels & mounted points. a couple of diamond saw blades, seg. cup wheels, 8" expanding wheel, a couple 6" diamond wheels, and an impresive collection of mounted points in just about every shape and grit. i will consentrate on getting the flat lap finished. 

I'd be very careful about dry grinding, even with a shop vac running, there will be a lot of dust, dust that is not good for the lungs, think silicosis, not a very good thing to contract. not to mention probably ruining the milling machine, all that dust settling on the greased ways which will act like sandpaper ruining the ways.

Please tell me that you know that person and that is why you are winking, because if it was a joke, I'll have to go all grandmother on you and tell you- shame on you.

I have done about 20 knife scales so I am far from an expert, but I have some suggestions about your plans: Softer stones like howlite and lapis are not going to perform well for a "working" knife. If you are making a show piece or something that sits in a nice soft pocket all by itself then it is less of an issue. Remember the dust in your pocket has a hardness of 7. Turritella is really hard stuff, I would start off with something a bit softer like a jasper. Those snail shells also have a nasty habit of coming out or having hollow spots.

Dry sanding is not a good plan. Most of the great colors in stone are made by heavy metals and you don't want to breathe that stuff. Silicosis is bad also, but metal poisoning will kill you quicker. Remember, Mother Nature rarely gives anything pure. That pretty copper mineral probably has some lead, nickel and other nasties in it. Dry sanding also heats up the stone which will either slow you down to cool the stone or could crack it. People have already beat to death the mess and grit in the machine issues.

Mike Hoover has a wonderful tutorial on making knife scales, here is the link. www.allaboutpocketknives.com/content/knife-related-projects-tutorials/mike-hoovers-art-in-stone-the-basics/

I prefer to do most of the stone work before putting the scale on the knife, he likes to work the stone in the knife. I damage the handle less if I do the stone work first.