Trade name for an ornamental material formerly produced as a by-product of automobile manufacturing, also called motor agate or Detroit agate. It is a form of industrial waste produced during the now obsolete process of hand-spraying body panels with enamel and primer. Brightly colored layers of the overspray would accumulate on the large mounting frames and be baked over and over again to resemble semiprecious stones. When cut and polished, pieces of fordite would be fashioned into jewelry and other ornamental pieces. Special precautions against toxic ingredients in the enamel (such as heavy metals) must be taken if the fordite is cut or sanded. As the current practice of powder coating no longer leads to the accumulation of overspray, fordite is no longer being produced commercially.
http://www.fordite.com/