Thread: cracks, fissures in naturals

How much risk do you associate w/ the presence of cracks or fissures in a prospective stone? Does it make you run? Is there some treatment you apply to keep it from growing?

Some threads spoke of cracked stones that stay as they are for decades. How do you asses the presence of a crask/fissure on a prospective rock?

Maksim's posts in the jnat thread (mouthwatering rocks) showed one that broke apart that he glued back together. Is that hard to do w/ satisfaction?

The stone below shows what looks like cracks at 3/4 towards the left, and about 1/2" from the right edge. Would these make you nervous or decline?

You can lacquer the stone, and if the crack goes trough the whole stone mount it on a base.
Usually stones will not split on the cracks unless subject to adverse weather conditions such as extreme cold, or left to dry out in the sun.

I have a really nice Nakayama Maruichi Asagi with a crack running long ways down the hone, It's been laquered, glued to a base, and lapped nice and flat, it's not a problem. Some cracks can actually be repaired. I've done this with Coticules, by heating them and using beeswax and Coti powder I've made from filing a slurry stone with a hand file. You can probaby do the same with J nats if the crack is large enough to warrant a repair.

I think it would bother me more if it came on a super fine asagi or kiita that was just going to be used for finishing vs a coarser stone or a suita.
Also,If it was on a corner that was mostly out of the way it would mean way less than a crack in the middle of things.

There is probably a laquer best for such work? I very much appreciate your kind help.

I use a crommelin high gloss concrete paving sealer for my stones due to the durability but i skip the initial thinning step for first coat as i don't want it to soak into the stone too deep and 3-4 coats

But there are a lot of options, i have heard of nail polish, wood varnish etc.

I would have no hesitations in buying a stone with a line like that. i have a few myself

@mainaman - what do you use to lacquer your stones?

This stone has a line much the same through it but it came pre clued to the wood. It's hard to see but it is visible in the photo

Originally Posted by Brighty83

I use a crommelin high gloss concrete paving sealer for my stones due to the durability but i skip the initial thinning step for first coat as i don't want it to soak into the stone too deep and 3-4 coats

But there are a lot of options, i have heard of nail polish, wood varnish etc.

I would have no hesitations in buying a stone with a line like that. i have a few myself

@mainaman - what do you use to lacquer your stones?

This stone has a line much the same through it but it came pre clued to the wood. It's hard to see but it is visible in the photo

I have a can of cashew lacquer and that is what I use for sealing my stones. I have used shellac before on many occasions and it works fine.

For those that have done so,to adhiese a stone to a base,would silicone be a good option?
As the stone bottoms are sort of rough hewn on jnats it would seem you would need to bed the stone down into something,one I have looks like it was set in black tar.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

For those that have done so,to adhiese a stone to a base,would silicone be a good option?
As the stone bottoms are sort of rough hewn on jnats it would seem you would need to bed the stone down into something,one I have looks like it was set in black tar.

I used epoxy the first time and it did not work, then I switched to gorilla glue with superb results.
The glue expands and fills the uneven areas of the stone.

Thank you,gorilla glue I have,will give it a try.