[Andy Graves]

Anyone seen these new products called Syndecrete and Alkemi?  I just got some samples and will post some pictures soon.

[Eli Polite]

i dont know whats new about akemi i have been using that stuff for like 8 years is it a new product they came up with

[Andy Graves]

Your probably right.  I have never heard of it before so it was new to me.  I will post some pictures of the sample box tomorrow.  Neat looking stuff.

How do you like working with it?

[Eli Polite]

there is nothing wrong with there product i had good success with there polyester stuff. post some pics so if i can see if it is something new

[Chad Thomas]

I believe PoliteFab is taking about the old Akemi polyester resin some still use to seam stone while Andy is referring to Alkemi a new green Surfacing product.

[Tom M]

Actually, Alkemi has been around for a few years.

Reeeaaalll expensive, though.

[Andy Graves]

Chad, you are correct. I was talking about the material and not the adhesive.

[Randy Evans]

I can maybe actually contribute something useful here. We were very intrigued by Alkemi when we remodeled last year, because we thought it would look great in our kitchen. Just couldn’t find anybody locally (Birmingham, AL) with much experience. The one guy who gave a quote came in well over $200 per sf, which was waaaay too rich for our blood. Another who wasn’t interested but had worked with it before said that he had to wear welder’s gloves when he cut it, and that it showed scratches pretty easily.

Speaking only for myself, we were intrigued enough that I think we would have done it, even if just in one spot (if we didn’t think it was appropriate for all work surfaces), if the price was realistic. I thought it was really nice-looking, unique stuff.

[Andy Graves]

Here is a quick look at the Syndecrete Material.  The samples are real porous and I am not sure what the remedy is but the material looks pretty cool.  Material is in the $60 sq’ price just for the material.  Comes in 30″ x 96″ and it only comes in 2 1/2″ thickness.

[Wags]

I looked into the Alkemi a few years ago. Seems you can run into some problems when you cut the material and expose the aluminum shavings inside the sheet. You need to re encapsulate the cut edge. It was interesting but, its similar to the unfilled Studio Collection from Avonite in durability. And, they are very proud of their sheets when you go to purchase them.

[Andy Graves]

Here are a few pictures of the Alkemi samples.  They have a few different textures and finishes.

[Jon Olson]

We recently fabricated a top using Alkemi . It seem to Fab just like SS

[Tom M]

The top and bottom used to allow different finish options. Smooth versus matte. Do they still offer that?

[Andy Graves]

Posted By Tom M on 10 Dec 2008 02:09 PM

The top and bottom used to allow different finish options. Smooth versus matte. Do they still offer that?

The material comes in Smooth, Honed and Texured.  All have a slightly different look to them even though they are the same material.

[bryanS]

Im new to this site as of today…..
We are doing our first Alkemi project in a few weeks. Seems like an odd product. As stated above its very expensive, so we cant afford to mess up too much material.

Does material cut ok and not destroy tooling? (we cut our solid surface on a flat table CNC with standard carbide bits)
Do you really have to seal the Built Up Edges where you sand?
What about sanding a field seam? Do you have to re-seal all surfaces that you sand?
We were directed to surf board supply shop for the sealer material. Alkemi referred us to them.
Does the fabrication take more time than standard solid surface fab?

Any help would much appreciated.

[Author]

Posts