h a l f b a k e r yBirth of a Notion.
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There is a long tradition of the use of wood in car instrument panels, either on its own as a structural material or in combination with other materials as a decorative finish. One thinks of the bits of zebrano in Mercedes-Benzes, and the burr walnut panels in Rolls-Royces. One also thinks of the elaborate
Art Deco assemblies of various timbers in old Rovers and Jaguars, the slightly gratuitous woodiness of Riley One Point Fives and cars of that pleasant kidney. One might well think of the plasticky woodgrain veneers in '70's Audis or the tin-printed briar on the Wurlitzer organs that served contemporary Cadillacs as dashboards; or the hand-applied woodgraining on the pressed steel dash of a '40's Oldsmobile. One might be surprised by deeply polished ellipses of oriental fruit-wood amidst the painted sheetmetal of something like a late-'30's Hotchkiss. One knows where the wood goes in a car interior, but what does the budding latter-day carrossier do for an encore?
Why not stone panelling? Cut thin, natural stone can be much lighter than it looks. Why no accents of marble or granite? There is an entire range of colour and finish to explore: various grades of polish, matt honed creamy marbles; broken granites; laminar-split slates; coarse, silvery quartzites; with reds and greens and golds and blues, glassy fish-scale embedded crystals and trapped fossils. There's a whole new car-interior palette there.
Why have I never seen it done?
baked
http://www.strangev.../content/112354.jpg
Stone Panels a la Fred [vincevincevince, Aug 06 2007]
Marble (or something) dashboard
http://photos1.blog...timor_b8123zh_4.jpg
(Of course, this photo may explain why you don't see it more often...) [DrCurry, Aug 06 2007]
Offered in the Maybach
http://query.nytime...AA35751C0A9629C8B63
Baked [jhomrighaus, Aug 06 2007]
[link]
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Yeah, next up, rawhide and woolly mammoth tusk... |
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I suspect there's a flexibility issue. |
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You could always use formica... |
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probably never seen it done, [Ned_Ludd] because nobody really wants to have a stone dashboard shoved up their sternum in the event of a crash. nice looking, no doubt, but i'm gonna pass on this one. |
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In most countries, it is actually illegal to drive a car stoned. |
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If a single sheet of stone is impractical, ceramic tiles might be OK. You could have the interior of yor car decorated with erotic mosaics, like at Pompeii. |
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If it is cut thin enough to be light, it is too fragile. If it is cut thick enough to be durable, it is too heavy. |
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I once used a sheet of marble as a makeshift anvil. Once. |
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See link Natural Granite is an option on the Maybach, in article 1/2 way down or so. |
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Yabba-Dabba-Do! (What [the dog's breakfast] said) |
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I like it. I cannot imagine that stone would be more fragile or heavier than glass, and cars are full of glass. |
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In fact, all glass would be pretty nifty too. You could use deeply colored glass. Or leave it clear to see the guts of the car inside, doing your bidding. |
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Ferrocement may be texured to look stoney, and is strong & tough, albeit heavy. Or you could go for a gloss finish, with embedded glitter. Ferrocement is similar to stucco but has a greater proportion of reinforcing wire and uses a stronger mortar. |
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Or, how about a material similar to exterior insulating finish systems - essentially mortar on foam. Shape and coat it to look like stone, and call it "Stoam". Like the cheap props they used in the 6-Million Dollar Man. |
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[bungston], yes, glass tiles are enjoying something of a vogue in architecture right now. I hadn't thought of them (perhaps for that reason?) |
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But what about mosaics? Imagine a mosaic dash, in fine, say 8-10mm, tesserae. |
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I can do your dashboard in either slate or granite mosaic for the low, low price of $ 6700.00. Taxes and setting materials extra. |
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// cannot imagine that stone would be
more fragile or heavier than glass//
Glass used in cars and many other
situation is generally modified (for
example, tempered) to make it
stronger. Most natural stone would be
even weaker (at least in tension, hence
in bending) than "natural" glass.
Marble, for instance, is crystalline at
several different scales, and the crystal
junctions are weak-spots and also
crack-initiators. The same is true of
granite, sandstone and most other
rocks to varying degrees. |
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You might be OK with things like jade
or mica, which have a crack-stopping
structure and hence are tough (though
not especially strong). Failing that, you
might be able to make artificial obsidian
(volcanic 'glass') and temper it. You
might also be able to coat a rock such
as granite with a tightly-bonded
transparent tempered glass-like layer,
effectively creating a pre-compressed
'skin' to make it stronger. |
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a car that shatters into a million tiny knives on collision. no thank you. |
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