Thread: Recon Stone

Has anyone used recon stone.

I went to Masecraft supplies and they have a wonderful selection of colors and a faux Tortoise shell pattern that I would love to have.

I understand it to be stone with a resin binder so does it grind like G10, in other words normal sanding etc?

Maybe this thread will help

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...-find-out.html

Well if 1/8 is too brittle then if I go with the Tortoise shell I can back it up with a 1/16 copper liner and for a wedge I'll use a piece of rubber as that will flex well.

Pinning would be tricky but I think that if you are using standard pins 1/16 then go 1/32 bigger to allow for some float. Use interior washers to reinforce the pin but the hole in the scale will allow for float.

For glue would rubber cement work? Metal to acrylic.

For Stability I would probably use a 3 pin system.

Does any of this sound like it could work.

I made my first scales using a sample of recon stone - tortoise I received in an order I placed with Masecraft.

The material was not stone-like at all, really like most other plastics. It cut, filed, and hand sanded well but tended to "melt" a little on the belt sander. At 1/8 inch thick, I've found it very stable and strong enough for scales - you could use a liner for cosmetic effect if you wanted.

It's a candidate for me to have another go at it, but first, I'm working my way through some of those other nice materials out there.

Good luck on your project!

WOW !!!! Nice stuff they have huh????

Also by huge crazy amounts that is the most expensive I have ever seen .....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

WOW !!!! Nice stuff they have huh????

Also by huge crazy amounts that is the most expensive I have ever seen .....

Still

Yeah Glen, I think that's why for me it's only been a candidate for purchase to this point. But it was nice stuff. Guess I'll save my pennies.

Originally Posted by mrbhagwan

I made my first scales using a sample of recon stone - tortoise I received in an order I placed with Masecraft.

The material was not stone-like at all, really like most other plastics. It cut, filed, and hand sanded well but tended to "melt" a little on the belt sander. At 1/8 inch thick, I've found it very stable and strong enough for scales - you could use a liner for cosmetic effect if you wanted.

Are you sure that sample was the recon stone tortoise and not the acrylic tortoise? It looks a lot like plastic and you say it works just like it. I don't think recon stone would melt on the sander. It doesn't with the stuff I've tried. Also, the working characteristics are nothing like plastic from my experience and at 1/8" thick- I feel like I'll break them in half with just a little bit of pressure.

Originally Posted by Philadelph

Are you sure that sample was the recon stone tortoise and not the acrylic tortoise? It looks a lot like plastic and you say it works just like it. I don't think recon stone would melt on the sander. It doesn't with the stuff I've tried. Also, the working characteristics are nothing like plastic from my experience and at 1/8" thick- I feel like I'll break them in half with just a little bit of pressure.

Hi Alex!

Yep, I wanted to be sure that I hadn't confused the samples I received along with my order (he sent Recon Stone, Atlante, and Stonite samples of Tortoise), or that the material had changed since last year, so I called Phil at Masecraft right after I first posted in this thread.

He told me that the Tortoise recon stone (along with a few other types of the recon stone like the TigerEye) does not actually use stone in its mix but plastic granules. The resulting mix is translucent and not opaque like the jade sample in your photo.

After I first used it, I thought that the rest of the slab types could be worked like plastic. I was confused after re-reading the description of the material until much later when I read you'd obtained some and it was indeed like working stone.

Until I spoke to Phil, I just thought the Tortoise was different because it wasn't based on a mineral product.

I'm really hoping you find a way to make your project work, because I like a lot of the patterns of the recon stone. I had high hopes for the dark lapis with pyrite.