Lapidaryforum.net
Gadgets, Gizmos, and Dohickeys => Cutting, Grinding, Polishing => Topic started by: MrsWTownsend on April 04, 2015, 07:20:59 PM
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Lately I have seen a lot of cool pieces where a material was given a completely new look by having a backing added to it.
How do you do that? What kind of material is used? It is some kind of a man made poured flat type of stuff, and what type of glue do you use to stick them together and do you clamp them and let them set? What stage of the cab making process would you add a backing? I remember Amanda saying one time about a man made quartz or something...
Any thoughts, knowledge to share, anything??? Oh yeah, and do you know of any good sources for backing material if you don't make it yourself?
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Backing has traditionally been black , often a rock called basanite. The surfaces of the top and backing stone that are to be bonded need to be flat and uniform , maybe 220 or 600 grit diamond and very clean ( acetone). 330 epoxy or non five minute epoxy between them with no air bubbles and a week to set and you are ready to cut.
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I do exactly what Frank said. slightly heating the stone under a lamp before cleaning with acetone helps the bond and air bubbles in glue. Also closing the two slabs like a book creates a better seal. These hints were given to me by Bobby1.
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like Frank says, it used to be the common one but it's getting harder to find and pretty pricey. Black jade and JBweld are two more that spring to mind, JB weld being a two part epoxy putty you can form to the back of the stone after it's been prepped as Frank said. Flatten/shape it as you want and let it set then finish it.
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I've also seen people use different colored stones to back cabs with clear areas. You could use lapis, any solid red or green jasper, even solid color slag glass would work.
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One more option is gluing a mirror to the back to kick the light forward and brightening the stone. I have done this with a thin mirror out of a compact but there is a, not positive name, front face mirror that some people use because you do not have to worry about the mirror backing coming off.
There is a new product that has been invented that really really interests me. It is a light source that is as thin as paper and can be cut to size with plain scissors. Right now they are trying to find a commercial use for it so they can start up a manufacturing operation. I think it would work on the back of a cab but that might be just a little shy of getting them to start production
Jim
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Thank you so much everyone for your input! This is something I have been wanting to try and lately, seeing Graveyard plumes with turquoise backings and Linda Marie with black backings stirs up these urges again but I have been having a heck of a time finding books that contain information on this technique. Found a lot of books, just none that say they specifically address it.
The mirror idea sounds really cool too Jim!