[Billy]

Can anyone give me some tips on binding stone to stone. I want to bind greywacke to jade.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Billy

[Debbie K]

Billy:

This is something I have a little experience with, so I feel I can reply. I always use epoxy in conjunction with a mechanical holder, whenever possible.

Sometimes it's possible to drill through stones and use a rod of silver or brass to basically rivet it together. Sometimes I use bezel wire (the wide, flat fine silver that is usually used to set cabochon stones) and gently form it around both stones. Sometimes I just drill into both stones and insert a rod and epoxy, this increases the surface area of the epoxy and changes the direction of it, thereby increasing the shear strength.

Generally, the longer your 2 stage epoxy takes to set up, the stronger it will be. There is one connection that is mechanical which is virtually invisible. It's a connection most often used for pearls. You bell the bottom of the hole drilled in the stone. You use a rod of the correct length (the most difficult part) and saw it in quarters up the length of the rod the same length as a tiny wedge you will make. You taper the end of the rod so when you insert the wedge into the very end of it, it doesn't open up larger than the hole you drilled. You carefully insert the rod with wedge into the stone and then push, as you do the four quarters open up inside the stone. You then repeat the same process on the other side. Even if I used this on something, I would still use epoxy. Better safe than sorry.

Hope this helps you, Billy.


Debbie K

[Billy]

Thanks Debbie.I'll see how I go.

[Yuri]

You could drill and then flare the two holes before filling them with epoxy. This way what you in effect create is an epoxy rod that looks like two connected cones, in fact doing exactly what you get by doing the trick with the metal rod splitting and wedging. (A technique also used in old-time cabinetmaking. I mean the hidden wedges)

[Billy]

Thanks Yuri

[James K]

Hi Billy,

the best product I've used on stone is Tenax stone epoxy-its a 100:1 ratio and the stone will not break on the joint once glued. Galaxy Tools carries it along with alot of other great products for stone work. www.galaxytoolsupply.com.

[Malcolm]

Billy, on Jun 17 2010, 05:30 AM, said:

Can anyone give me some tips on binding stone to stone. I want to bind greywacke to jade.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Billy

The epoxy, as suggested, is good. Make sure to roughen (or even score) both surfaces a much as possible, particularly the jade. The one thing that might be a problem is if the stones which probably have slightly different coefficients of thermal expansion are exposed to sudden changes in heat. Since many epoxies are a little brittle, that could cause a problem, ie the epoxy might crack.

You might also consider using a good quality silicone glue if the objects are small. My experience is that such glues can be surprisingly strong, and they remain slightly flexible.

[dante lopez]

hi some times I use lock tyde is an industrial glue very powerfull I use gel insesible to surface is blue is the one they use to glue the crystal dors handelns in the malls ,is very eficient, the only problem is it dont give mooch time it drys very fats, hope this helps

[Billy]

All suggestions help. Thank you everybody.