Synthetic blue aoto--cracked....long term solution?

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slowtyper

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This stone cracked on me, looks like it was about to break into 10+ pieces. Had only recently bought it also. I googled and found it was fairly common. I bought a tube of epoxy and some shellac and epoxied it to some tile...its not flat but has a lot of ridges. I was going to go with flat but the guy at the hardware store convinced me it wouldn't adhere. So its glued pretty well and I epoxied the sides.

I mean it seems to be working well however I don't know how long term this solution is. I am hesitant to leave the whole thing permasoaking because I don't think the epoxy is meant for that. Anyone else found a good solution for this?
 
I wonder how many people have the same experience as you versus those who never have any cracking issues. It's a shame this happens at all especially since the stone is not cheap. I guess you do get two stone's worth of thickness for the price. I think taking a new aoto and wrapping the sides in a single layer of cheese cloth saturated in epoxy or some other kind of resin might help.
 
i wouldn't have epoxied the sides of the stone, as i'd be concerned about it making flatting the stone more difficult. my synthetic aoto cracked as well. i shellacked the stone, then epoxied it to a piece of wood. it's been fine, since. my stone was permasoaked and still cracked (actually broke in two, in the middle, with lots of cracks radiating from that), so i don't think permasoaking is necessarily the solution with these. i believe the traditional method of strengthening these is to wrap the stone in a layer of tissue paper and then shellacking it.
 
ya mine broke during transit when i was getting it and then it got a few little fractures in it. i dont use it much and it never really cracked any more but it is a very delicate stone.

if it does break you could always use it as finger stones
 
i wouldn't have epoxied the sides of the stone, as i'd be concerned about it making flatting the stone more difficult. my synthetic aoto cracked as well. i shellacked the stone, then epoxied it to a piece of wood. it's been fine, since. my stone was permasoaked and still cracked (actually broke in two, in the middle, with lots of cracks radiating from that), so i don't think permasoaking is necessarily the solution with these. i believe the traditional method of strengthening these is to wrap the stone in a layer of tissue paper and then shellacking it.
I didn't epoxy the sides just the bottom but I had considered it just to make sure it all stays in one piece. I just shellacked the sides but i did not know of the tissue paper trick...just applied it straight on. I mistyped in the first post that I epoxied the sides.

So do you just soak your whole stone every time you use it? Notice any problem with the epoxy in doing so?
 
i soak the whole stone for half an hour or so each time i use it. i have an old baking pan that is just the right size for the stone, and the wood base lays on top nicely. i haven't noticed any problems, no.
 
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