Stone Inlays! (Trypophobia warning)

[Rôckhewer]

Agate, bloodstone, semi-precious stuff? I'd love some petrified wood or jasper inlays, but suspect the dust from polishing would pretty much wreck the board. Maybe a precise fit with polished inlays, possibly with a thin, clear coating on the inlay to bring it up to board level? @Rôckhewer, any comment? You're probably the authority here.

Yes definitely... bury it under clear, then polish.
(I like CA for such things).
The complication with such an aggregate if you try to sand into it?... (like terrazzo)....
Raw wood?...is measured in "Janka" scale.
Agate, Jasper...petri-wood?? They're like 7 to 8 ish on the "Mohs" scale.
Janka and Mohs don't even hang out in the same neighborhood.
The differential coefficient of friction between materials will be highly inhibitive to obtaining a flat surface.
The stone will require diamond abrasive... a lubricating slurry. And a completely flat/ hard backer. (Sanding beam).
And yes... that stone slurry isn't really a good thing to drag across raw wood... and expect it to level out equally with stone & not discolor... via such a treatment.

 

[Rôckhewer]

My question was I've never used CA for anything like this, but have done a lot with resin, and I wondered if there would be an opacity difference between the two,

A CA based fill WILL polish out crystal clear like epoxy.
As long as you use thin CA that is layered into the aggregate/pocket *slowly*.
....make no bubbles, use no accelerator.
Accelerator will turn it white & bubbles don't go away.
.. drip drip drip... wait...flash-off. resume...drip drip... etc.... until full.

 

[Snert]

A CA based fill WILL polish out crystal clear like epoxy.
As long as you use thin CA that is layered into the agrregate/pocket *slowly*.
....make no bubbles, use no accelerator.
Accelerator will turn it white & bubbles don't go away.
.. drip drip drip... wait...flash-off. resume...drip drip... etc.... until full.

Thank you. As I was unsure, I had planned to thin layer.

One expansive further question if I may, will the CA discolour over time?

 

[Rôckhewer]

One expansive further question if I may, will the CA discolour over time?

Jeeez...I sure hope not.
I have several thousand dollars worth of inlays in builds done this way out in the world...lol.
... actually...
CA coating IS the recommended topcoat treatment for Ablam shell veneer inlay ...for instance.
... and I'm not gonna argue with Chuck Erickson (The Duke of Pearl)

 

[Snert]

Jeeez...I sure hope not.
I have several thousand dollars worth of inlays in builds done this way out in the world...lol.
... actually...
CA coating IS the recommended topcoat treatment for Ablam shell veneer inlay ...for instance.
... and I'm not gonna argue with Chuck Erickson (The Duke of Pearl)

Thank you. I appreciate the answer as I have no experience with CA in this application. I've seen some of your inlay work and am impressed, so I will sally forth and experiment with confidence.

 

[Max Bogosity]

A CA based fill WILL polish out crystal clear like epoxy.
As long as you use thin CA that is layered into the aggregate/pocket *slowly*.
....make no bubbles, use no accelerator.
Accelerator will turn it white & bubbles don't go away.
.. drip drip drip... wait...flash-off. resume...drip drip... etc.... until full.

I can sadly confirm that if you do it the way Rôckhewer says not to do it, it will go wrong exactly the way he says it will.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

In Rock We Trust….