# recon stone



## daddy yo yo (Aug 11, 2013)

i have recently stumbled upon a handle which used "recon stone" as spacer material. does anybody know what that is, where you could find it (in yellow and also in turquoise), and how to work with it? i guess it is quite brittle!? how would you sand a handle with a recon stone spacer?


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## tripleq (Aug 11, 2013)

I used recon stone on the exterior of my garage at my old house. Recon stand for reconstituted. They basically take dust and other small particles and bond them with an acrylic resin. I understand this process is used to make fake precious and semi-precious stones too. I can't say how it would work in a knife application but it is very hard and stable. It didn't crack or fade for the 5 years I was there. Hope that helps.


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## CPD (Aug 11, 2013)

Like tripleq said, it's stone dust in resin. Recon Stone is one of a few brand names that make small blanks based on exotic semi precious gemstones this way. Tru Stone, i think, is another brand. Sometimes the stuff is also called more generically synthetic stone. Depending on the brand, there's a lot of variety in what gemstone they are simulating - lapis, turquoise, pearls, agates etc.

I don't know how much actual gemstone dust is in the products....some of the makers use a bit, and others, I think much of it is faked with dye and the grain pattern they artificially create. 

The upside of these brands making precious stone versions is their material is workable with standard woodworking tools unlike real gemstone and precious materials. It's hard and durable but will file, sand or cut comparble to a good hardwood. Some of the colors are more brittle than others or will dull tools more than others, but generally it's easy. Be careful sanding/grinding though. Dust is bad, for one. And also, since it's largely resin based, heat from friction can make it harder to work.

You can get Recon stone at Masecraft. http://stores.masecraftsupply.com/-strse-Recon-Stone/Categories.bok

Tru Stone is sold a bunch of places including Woodcraft. Small vendor online has some detail on workability of different stone types when you click on the color. (it will tell you if it's easy to work with or hard, more prone to cracking etc) look here http://www.randbcrafts.com/tru_stone.html


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