This past spring, stone fabricators from around the country gathered at Cadenza Granite & Marble Inc. in Concord, NC, for a Stone Fabricators Alliance (SFA) Workshop. As part of the extensive program, two SFA members offered a hands-on demonstration of their techniques for seam setting and top polishing.
When evaluating a hotel, the bathroom - and especially the shower - really make a statement about the quality and comfort of the room. Hospitality showers today are more than just necessary amenities. They can be beautiful and luxurious mini-escape locations. And, nothing makes this statement better than natural stone. With that in mind, it is critical to construct the wet area at optimal levels to create a long-lasting and durable installation.
For some time now, the “Fabricator Forums” held at trade shows around the country are among the best-attended events in the stone industry. One of the most recent large-scale Fabricator Forums was held at the last StonExpo trade show in Las Vegas, NV, and attendees discussed a wide variety of topics.
I have received numerous calls lately concerning the fading of dark granite countertops. The most common complaints seem to be on Absolute Black, Black Galaxy, Zimbabwe Black and a few others. I have heard many fabricators try to blame the fading on the misuse of cleaning chemicals, acids, etc. While one should not use inappropriate chemicals on granite surfaces, this is often not the reason for the increase in black granite fading.
Q: How do you make true radius cuts without a CNC machine? Right now, I use a grinder and get them close, but they are not near perfect. I explain this to my customers who want a radius before we go ahead. This is very time consuming, and we still get flat spots on it.
More and more in the stone fabrication industry, companies are looking to take extra steps to ensure that the seam is as smooth as possible. Seam polishing is one technique, although many of the seams I polished were to fix someone else’s mistakes. You may also have to seam polish if you have a bowed slab.
The Durcon Company of Canton, MI, an industry leader in laboratory work surfaces, is rapidly becoming a major fabricator of kitchen countertops with quartz surfacing. The company credits its success in this endeavor to an aggressive growth plan and a dedicated team using state-of-the-art processing equipment.
In this Online Stone Fabricators Forum - conducted at www.StoneAdvice.com - stoneworking professionals from around the country discuss their methods for installing sinks in conjunction with stone countertops
More than just hot air, compressed air is the life blood of a stone fabrication shop, and there are many factors to consider when evaluating a compressed air system
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