Accent and Architectural Stone Fabrication and Installation The custom cut stone process has several stages: 1.Cut ticket 2.Quarry Block/Boulder processing 3.Cut to size 4.Accent stone profiling 5.Installation

Cut Ticket Process Each fabrication facility will have its own process but most will be a variation of these steps. 1.Customer contacts salesman/shop 2.Customer provides stone information: stone type, dimensions, finishes (surface, edge), customer contact information, and job description/ job name. 3.Estimate is completed and faxed to customer where it is approved, signed, and faxed back to estimating department.

Cut Ticket Process cont… 4.50% deposit paid at this point. 5.Drawing process: drawings created, sent to customer for approval, customer approves/makes appropriate changes, fax back, if approved sent into production. 6.Send project to production- at this point we determine lead time. 7.Project is completed and customer is notified of completion. 8.Customer pays remaining 50% at pick up.

Quarry Block/Boulder Processing  When selecting a block for slabbing, the following needs to be taken into account: density of the stone, thickness of slabs needed, how much is lost from squaring the stone.  There are a few different saws that may be used in the slabbing process: gang saws, gantry saws and diamond wire saws.  The saw block is put in place using a 40 ton overhead crane.

Quarry Block/Boulder Processing cont…  The Eagle II Gantry Saw is used to cut slabs from the saw block/boulder material. With 11.5 foot blade, the Eagle II is one of the largest production saws in the United States.  A method called Step Cutting is used. This means the saw makes a full pass through the material then drops and passes through again. The depth of the drop depends on the density of the material.  The Eagle II is able to cut slabs with a tolerance of +/- 1/8”.  Slabs are mostly cut on a custom basis. Very few sawn slabs are kept in stock.

 A guillotine, the Jaguar, or the GMM saws are used to more precisely cut/snap the material to its needed size.  Most of the cutting can be completed on these machines.  Products completed on these machines include: caps, lintels, tiles, treads, dimensional building stone, and some flat profile keystones and sills. Cut to Size Process

Environmental protection in the fabrication process  Wet cutting greatly reduces harmful dust in the air.  Water reclamation at the fabrication plant is so efficient that only a fraction of one percent of water usage is fresh water.  Stone can used to help you achieve LEED point requirements. * This could be several hours in and of themselves. For training on how to use stone in your LEED certified projects, please contact us at the end of the DES.

Accent Stone Process  Straight profile runs can be completed on the Jaguar and the GMM using step cutting.  These straight profile runs include: widow surrounds, door surrounds, molding, pool coping etc…  The material is step cut. The excess is broken off and the machine is run again to clean up the piece. The piece is then sanded to get rid of saw marks and polish to the specified finish.

Accent Stone Process (Infinity)  Radius and Straight profiles in limestone are cut on the Infinity.  The infinity is a 360 degree CNC stone router. It can also cut sinks, coping, fireplace surrounds, arches, caps, door surrounds, etc…  The lathe on the Infinity can turn round stone balls, columns (up to 10 feet long and 18” diameter), and balusters.

Installation We use many different tools to ensure a proper installation:  Attachments- hammer sets, brackets (S and L), straps, pin sets, brick ties, and angle iron.  Glues- polyester resin, acrylic, and epoxy (two part).  Shims- wood, plastic, metal

Installation cont…  Grout- tile vs. mortar, colored, epoxy grout, caulk, and chinking.  Final clean- recommend a light acid detergent 1 to 5 mix like Detergent 600.  Sealers- penetrating and color enhancer. Recommend using a UV stable sealer, others tend to yellow with time.

What to look for in an installation  Even spacing at the joints  Scratches  Chips  Are pieces level with one another  Perfectly level is not always applicable when taking the surroundings into account, i.e. a level mantle can look bad above an unlevel fireplace.