There is a series of Articles on this subject running in More
Woodturning. First part is in the September-October 2006 issue, which
will be mailed the first of the week. There will be two additional
parts published in the November 2006 and December 2006 issues. This
series of articles will answer most of your questions about adding
minerals to your turnings. The article is written by Don Lindsley and
it is a very comprehensive series.

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com

tomstorey wrote:
I'm looking for a Canadian or US source for soft minerals such as
azurite, malachite and fluorite to use as inlay material to fill voids
and patterns in some of my turnings.

I tried some sand from Michaels and did it ever do a number on my gouge
ops: Not only that, the ca glue turned it a very dark shade; it
started out to be purple and ended up black purple

While I'm asking...what does everyone else use as a fixative for the
inlay material? I know that if I'm using ca I should wax the edges to
help prevent the ca staining. got this info from a google search.

I'm new to this 'inlay' stuff and can use any hints available

Thanks!