advice working with reconstituted stone

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https://www.texasknife.com/vcom/product_info.php?products_id=3188

I've used turquoise inlay 2-part before, but not this premade spacer style material...
Anything special required for drilling and shaping the outside?

thanks
Harbeer

 

[Horsewright]

I haven't used pre formed stuff before but I do use a lot of this material as spacers and lanyard beads. On a larger hole while drilling I do drill a smaller pilot hole first and then when re drilling I'll drill down about half way and then turn the piece over and finish drilling the larger hole. Less chip out that way. Thats on the beads. The spacers I don't drill. Once the spacers are glued in placed I don't use any special finishing techniques. I just finish the spacer like I would the rest of the handle. Hope that helps:

I've mostly used these spacers with elk and camel bone for the rest of the handle:

I have used some others too like jasper but the turquoise by far has been the most popular:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

As Horesewright said, it chips easily when drilling or cutting. It also breaks easily. They put it on the shelf in FIF just to trap someone into using it as scales. It is not for rough use as a scale. As a spacer on a well made knife it works fine. It sands and [olished easily. Avoid getting it hot.

There are better and worse grades of reconstituted stone. One type is like chips of stone in a resin base. It looks like standard inlay when sanded and finished. I find this works fairly good.
The other types are more like powdered stone mixed with resin and cast into a slab. This type may, or may not, break easily when cutting or drilling. It is also fairly soft.

I suggest using carbide or diamond drills and a jewelers saw with a diamond blade to cut it. A regular jewelers blade will cut it, but you may have to use a couple blades. The best way to cut it is with a small diamond blade lapidary wet-saw.

 

[Cushing H.]

Coincidentally I just bought some of this (the rectangular "scale" shaped pieces) to try using as spacer material (like Horsewright does). I was a little wary - but after working with it today I am pleasantly surprised. It cut easily and cleanly on the portasaw, and machined (with endmill) also cleanly and easily (mostly I was just flattening and squaring up an edge). I did not use any special or carbide endmill. It did not really seem brittle (but I did not push it) - and cut and machined very much like plastic (which it is in great measure). like I said - I was pleasantly surprised.

CAVEAT - I do not know what the plastic/resin used is. I do know that some plastics, especially in my experience acrylic, can be **REALLY** nasty when trying to drill them (not quite so much when sawing a line through them). they soften/melt and catch the drill bit. I can understand stacy's comment about avoiding it getting hot while sanding (probably because of the melting possibility??).

Horsewright - have you found the material to tend to catch while drilling???? (though that is not my intent - unless I guess I try to use it in a Wa handle stack - which would require a 3/8" hole in it....