This past February, I made my annual trip to Vitória, Brazil, for the Vitória Stone Fair, which takes place in the stone-rich state of Espírito Santo, where much of Brazil’s stone is quarried, processed and ultimately shipped to the U.S. And in the days leading up to the event, I took the opportunity to schedule visits with major stoneworking factories in the Vitória area, near the city and its shipping port, as well as the Cachoeiro region, which is closer to the quarries.

VIC International now offers a new water recycling system designed for the smaller shop, generating up to 20 gallons per minute of water containing stone slurry.

This Stone of the Month supplied by Andean Stone Company, Chorillos, Lima, Peru. Technical details provide a frame of reference only.

OK, so “absolute zero” is actually a scientific term unrelated to the business world. These past few months, I often feel like it is the level of business in today’s stone industry - or perhaps the latest closing figure for the stock market (as in “The Dow closed today at absolute zero.”)

The Coch R30 has been engineered as a strong, easy-to-use machine for sink cut-outs and internal and external edge profiling on marble and granite countertops.

Because stone is a product of nature, testing to determine specific physical qualities should be repeated for each project.

In the “Forum” section of this issue (page 106), I had the unfortunate task of recapping the distressing events surrounding the closure of Rock Tops, a Michigan firm with multiple operations in several states. Although it is bad news to hear of any event that leaves stoneworking professionals out of a job, the closure of Rock Tops is at once a “worst case scenario” and a cautionary tale.

This Stone of the Month supplied by Santa Clara Group, Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Espírito, Santo, Brazil. Technical details provide a frame of reference only.

The Breton Smartcut 800, which was officially released at Marmomacc 2008, is a 5-axis CNC bridge saw. A key feature of this system is its ability to use drilling or milling tools, therefore potentially performing radius operations on countertops and complex finishing work on billets (strips).

Every year, Stone World’s parent company, BNP Media, conducts an in-depth survey among U.S. stone fabricators. This survey gauges their short-term and long-term market predictions and their capital outlay and purchasing plans for the future.