Adding Stone

Quoted text begins.RE: "adding marble to stone with resins . . . the proper way to do it to
maximize strength of the bond . . . how
long will the bond be expected to last." and "metals to the marble?"
End of quote.

Ziad;

There are many brands out there that have various advantages and
disadvantages. Just look in some of the on-line sculpture supply house
sites ? they all sell different ones and I'm sure they will be glad to
recommend one of their brands for your purpose! Below are a few I have
bought from before.

http://montoya-mas.com
http://www.granquartz.com/home.htm
http://www.sculpt.com/

Generally, epoxy resins will provide the strongest bond, but their main
disadvantage is that though they can be tinted, they discolor over time.
Epoxy also will not polish-up as well as the marble.

Polyester resin adhesives like those made by Akemi brand or Tenax brand,
both of which are specifically made for joining marble and stone, come in
white, black and transparent varieties that may also be tinted. The
polyester resin adhesives will polish-up very similar to the marble and
they do not discolor with time. Their main disadvantage is that they are
relatively brittle and do not bond as well as epoxies, and most are not
recommend for exterior use.

A good rule-of-thumb is to make mechanical joints (such as stainless or
brass dowel pins) in addition to any adhesives. If the adhesive were to
fail, then the mechanical joint prevents catastrophic and potentially
dangerous consequences.

Joining other material to stone is possible using different adhesives,
but one of the main problems in joining dissimilar materials is the rate
of thermal or climatically generated expansion ? stone is relatively
stable and does not expand or contract very much in the temperatures or
conditions humans inhabit. The expansion or contraction rate for steel
(and most metals ? or many other materials, including wood and plastics)
might vary dramatically within small variations in those same conditions
that we humans are more-or-less comfortable in. If the
expansion/contraction rate varies too much between the two materials
being bonded, the adhesive will inevitably fail.

If you are going to join one kind of marble to another you will have
minimal problems, but if you want to join steel and marble use epoxy (not
polyester resin) and assume that the adhesive will eventually fail ? so
have a mechanical joint as well.

On a small (hand-held) scale other, more flexible, adhesives will work.
Silicone or butyl rubbers are flexible but have a relatively low bonding
strength. Always test the materials for staining.

Good Carving (& Joining) to You,
Don
http://www.dondougan.com