: Hey gang,
: Here is a picture of my next little experiment. Sorry its not a great
: picture. I used a little digital camera that was freebie with the new
: scanner. Its not great, color isn’t fabulous etc, but should get the idea
: across.

: I found this rock a bunch of years ago on a beach. It was about the size of a
: fist. Dry it wasn’t much to look at, wetted out it was really pretty. I
: hauled it home and varnished and put it on my coffee table, thinking some
: time I’d use it for something other then..... holding down my coffee table
: and giving me something else to dust.

: I am planning on turning the boat over and do a small pour in the deck to
: back the piece

: IF you look at the picture you can see an edge to the epoxy block. I am
: planning to fiberglass to that edged and then use sand paper to make the
: edge seamless.

: IT seems to be working so, I am planning to use what I have left of my rock
: strips to strip in carved greenstone seal harpoon heads, animal eyes etc.
: So the piece in the bow is an accent that will be a repeated theme through
: the whole of the boat.

: Any ways, I finally did it I started building a stone boat.

: !RUSS

Stone and wood are naturally beautiful together. I've done a fair amount of playing with these materials
during my jewelry making period.

Looking at what you've done and what you say you intend to do gives me concerns (from my experiences)
that the thin stone pieces are candidates for fracture.

The forces of expansion/contraction can be great and quick especially in the environment you'll place these stone
pieces in were the can heat in the sun and then get splashed with cold water. Also there may be enough flex to
the deck that the stone pieces cannot respond to causing them to break.

In light of these possibilities I'd suggest backing the stone with fiberglass cloth and resin to act like the reinforcement
in concrete structures. Fully cured resins, like epoxy and polyester are quite brittle un-reinforced. I've used fiberglass
mat in plaster to build life sized human figures that had the strength to stand on their own feet without a base.

Mixing materials of different kinds, densities and strengths is always a gamble.

I'd hate to see a tear come to your eye if one of your stone pieces broke.

All the best,
Rob