Stone Production Processing (1)

Stone Production Processing (1) The marble and granite manufacturing process is quite simple as a general idea, but the peculiarity of each material and its own fragility impose severe rules in the control of every single working phase. GANGSAWING Slabs of different thicknesses come out sawn from each block by the use of diamond blades set on a power loom through vertical gangsaws working at a sawing speed varying from the 4cm/h for the hardest granite to the 40cm/h for the softest limestone. The cutting speed and the sawing characteristic of the diamond blades are differently set every time on the basis of the demanded thickness and of the phisical and technical peculiarity of each stone, so as to avoid the collapse of the block during the gangsawing.   HAND RESIN GLUEING In order to make harder weak and widespread veined structured marbles it is necessary to exploit the modern technology of the epoxy resin as well as the hands of skilled workers able to glue the most broken material making its structure as hard as possible. This phase is very important, since it makes possible the use of stones of beautiful color shades that otherwise should not be employed in the building field.   REINFORCING After the hand resin glueing the reinforcing phase is due to render the flexural strength of veined marbles higher. An epoxy resin is poured on the back side of the marble slab so that during oven-drying catalyzing the hard resin fills in all the natural microholes of the stone. The marble is also reinforced by a glass fybre wires net glued by resin on the back side of each weak slab. AUTOMATIC RESIN FILLING The plant for automatic epoxy resin filling has been the first cause of cogemar success in high quality marble manufacture. Coloured epoxy resins are sprayed and spreaded all over the front side of the slabs, the catalyzing process goes on inside a vertical line of drying ovens. The mixture of the resins is made on purpose for each material, due to its peculiarity in colour, vein, porosity and strength; the resin mixture definitely fills in all the microholes in the marble slab, making it many times stronger than its natural. Through this manufacture the cycle of strenghtening of the marble slab is completed and so beautiful coloured materials become suitable to an architectural use.         Source:  Cogemar Marble & Granite