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Has anybody seen or used this, Nisa Jade Stone.
I saw that at Coverings last year.
The flexural strength is amazing. No idea how it fabs or performs.Whats the impact strength/resistance? Whats the notched tensile/flexural strength? Scratch it (induce a defect as will happen when a consumer gets it) then do a tensile / flex test and if its still good I’m the number 1 cheerleader for this smutz.
I suspect its a refractory (glassy stuff melted together), very strong until you induce a defect (scratch etc.) then its like glass. That’s my gut feeling anyway.
I will tell you a true story s about this stuff called buystone (what ever happened to them? BTW). It was granite that had a resin impregnated bi directional non woven backer. You could jump on the smutz, suspended between 2 -4 x 4’s, it was like a spring board. You could not break it.When they were not looking I turned it the other way around (because I am an evil material scientist) and jumped on it with my fat ass. It broke clean in two. They wanted to kill me!
It only worked in 1 direction of force.With all due respect that was the way it had to work, but then there were possible issues of uneven (unleveled) countertops etc that could crack it.They did not want to hear all that while they were chasing me around the trade show with pitchforks after I broke the display!After that little drama the Swanstone guys would not even let me near the bowl with the baseball bat for their demo/challenge (can you break this bowl?) I had my own specially designed bat for that one, which freaked them out. I think them Buystone fellers told them about me and spoiled all my fun!
It uses kaolin instead of polyester resin. Kaolin is a clay from what I researched. Resin is going to keep going up in price just like fuel. Ya know one day someone is going to invent the perfect countertop. Quartz is basically solid surface on steroids, merely a switch from ATH fillers to Quartz fillers. Maybe an alternative to the polyester resin which will burn is a good idea.
You don’t have a class one fire rating with quartz?
Over all, I think quartz is an excellent countertop material, but there are so many things you can’t do with quartz that you can do with solid surface (and vice-versa) that I don’t categorize them the same way. I know what Norm is getting at, but for me I need to keep them separated.
Norm
As a long time SS guy, I must admit I have quartz in my kitchen. While I could light Avonites Class 3 series with a lighter and make it burn, I have tried with Quartz and have never had it ignite. I admit I did not use a torch, but almost everything up to that. We have SS in our baths and quartz and soapstone in the kitchen. After 9 years both look great, but, I have to admit, for the kitchen Quartz was a much better choice for us, then SS would of been.
Not being familiar with kaolin you mentioned, I wonder if it offers the clearity that polyester offers. I would expect most mfg are looking for alternatives to acrylic and polyester.
Perhaps Lenny could shed some light on kaolin and the search for replacements for acrylic and polyester.
You can do that is SS too with cardinol (the extract). You can make an SS resin using that other stuff.
Love the short answers Lenny, enquiring minds want to know. I know you are good for something besides starting WWIII, all joking and kidding aside, oh wait, that’s your line. 8-).
Norm. do you really want the long freaking answer?
OK my buddy here it is. Research and definition of terms is on you buddy!
Cashew hulls (or nuts they work better but the hulls are cheaper and still contain the needed aromatics) can be extracted using a standard soxhlet extraction method at atmospheric pressure in a linear alkane as the extracting solvent. It yields an oil (CNSL) that is composed of a mixture of cardanol, cardol, anacardic acid and similar moietys etc.
These can separated by various methods known to those well versed in the art.
Further, they can be processed and used to make polyurethane resin, phenolic resins among other resins that show up in such mundane things as brake linings. They are phenolics for the most part. (Like Laminate backer paper resin), but due to the laws of physics and chemistry they have to react with other chemicals when put in that position.
Now the clincher is most cashew hulls come from the Phillipines (lovely government there..you want hulls, you need to go to the rebel controlled areas) or Nigeria #2 cashew producer (lovely place..ever deal with the government there?) or Vietnam or India (equally corrupt places). Hey I looked into it alot.
You can also make SS resin from corn oil. but tha’ts another post.
F all that, I figured out a way to make SS resin from plastic scraps. I’m doing it now.Its GREEN! That’s a Lenny double probation secret thing.
Hey I can make pharmaceutical grade Sandoz quality LSD from morning glory seeds. Now that’s a hoot and easier than making resin. Plus there is are no illegal starting materials to order, it starts with flower seeds!
I can make high explosives too, they are even easier than synthesizing LSD.
That’s why I went to college to learn how to make drugs and blow stuff up. I learned that in 6 months but got so interested in Chemistry I stuck with the straight and narrow.
I still have the MAD skills though if I ever need to do fall back on them.
Questions?
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