Wood and Stone

[Don Dougan <dondougan@xxxxxxxx>]

Linda

Stone & Wood in one piece

Bill, Anthony, and Judy  all have sent you great answers - I would have
included some of what each one of them said.  Brancusi said something
like,  "you cannot make out of wood what you can make out of stone, and
you cannot make out of stone what you can make of wood."  Bill addresses
this concept eloquently in his comments - and as Anthony might point out
you can see this in Brancusi's works.

To use each material (and many others) for what it can uniquely convey or
express through the work is an important element in my own work.  I have
a few multi-media pieces pictured on my website (see address below), even
though stone is almost always one of the elements.

I must agree with Bill - avoid using any adhesives between the two
materials -- mechanical joints will be much better.  On many of my wall
pieces I do use plywood as a backer and strengthener for relatively
brittle thin slabs of stone (wood not used as an aesthetic element here).
 I do use adhesives (sometimes epoxy, sometimes urethane bond, sometimes
silicone rubber) but only if I am also using mechanical joints that will
hold if (read WHEN) the adhesive fails, and I only do this when attaching
plywood (as opposed to dimensional cut lumber).   Plywood is much more
dimensionally stable than cut lumber.

Where I use wood as an aesthetic element I do not use adhesives except as
secondary back-up for gravity or mechanical joints.  This applies to
other materials as well - the coefficient of expansion varies in each
material, and changing environments will literally tear your piece apart.
 The more eloquent (an practical) solution for me is to use the wood and
the stone as two separate but complementary elements . . . much like
Brancusi did.

You would be right in saying there ain't nothing new under the sun,
except for each new spring .  .  .  and all that implies.

Good carving to you.

Don Dougan

http://www.dondougan.homestead.com/indexdd.html