Frag Disks from Lowes?

I was in Lowe's the other day and found some square (1"x1") stone pieces designed for mosaic work I think. There are like 124 of them on this sheet and it only cost like $9.98 or something. There is no glaze on them and they range in color from a dull white to a grey color. I do not have them in front of me, but I was wondering what you guys thought of using these as frag disks? The surface is not smooth or slippery, but more porous like some frag disks I have seen.

Not trying to start a debate on this is better than that, just curious if these things have potential? Do I need to worry about where they were made (Turkey by the way), what might be in them? Should I boil them first and then soak in salt water for a day?

I'm sure this has been covered before as I can not be the first to find these things, but I can not find any info via search.

When I get home I'll post what they are made of. By the way, they had these things in all sorts of sizes, even small enough to fit pretty good in an egg crate.

Hoss
 
They have potential, but I would get the ingredients first and how they were fired etc. Natural stone and clays etc can have a lot of 'extra' stuff in them, like lead, mercury and other contaminates. Your safer with a food grade clay or ceramic than an industrial type, but even those you have to be careful about.

If they are ceramic, call the company, as for the Materials Data Sheet on the material and ask them about their firing temps etc. It needs to be a certain temp to avoid leeching, there is a term for it that I can't think of off the top of my head.

Also, the sheets are attached with string or some other material. That material and any adhesive etc will also play a factor.
 
Thanks for the info. Here are some quick pictures of what I am talking about. You can see the label does not have much information on it, so I'm not sure if I could contact the company that makes these, unless Lowe's could figure it out for me. Anyone know what Chiaro and Noce are? Wikipedia here I come.

FragSquares.jpg
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FragSquareLabel.jpg
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Hoss
 
I'd call lowes and ask them for the manufacturers name based on the SKU. They should have that information for you. If its their own brand, you may need to track it down with Corp to find out materials etc.
 
It's a travertine material from Turkey, probably came from somewhere near Pamukkale.

Travertine also comes in from Italy (usu expensive) and from Mexico.

Travertine is either calcite (most of it is calicite) or a calcium carbonate (aragonite).

It's a natural stone, not a fired clay product.

This is the same stuff I hunt for at the Habitat Re-sale shop - but I have been avoiding the stuff with the glued backer cause it's an aggravation to remove and it's impossible to know what glues they use, or the possibilty of contaminants coming off the glue or the (usu) cheap nylon backer strings.
 
Thanks for the information. I read somewhere I should boil these and then soak them in salt water for 24-48 hours. I have not tried peeling one off yet, but I could see where that adhesive could definately be an issue. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks again.

Hoss
 
Well you were right. Peeling these things off was a pain. I ended up cutting each one off including the backing and soaking them in hot water for 5 minutes or so. The backing actually came off pretty easily and I am 95% sure I got off all of the adhesive. I boiled them for 5 minutes and have them soaking in salt water now. I'll try a few and see how it goes.

Hoss
 
Posted by: @hoss I was in Lowes the other day and found some square (1"x1") stone pieces designed for mosaic work I think. There are like 124 of them on this sheet and it only cost like $9.98 or something. There is no glaze on them and they range in color from a dull white to a grey color. I do not have them in front of me said:
Great Information 
Thanks for sharing
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