Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 at
2:43 pm
Article by Jim Slate
Natural stone is an expression of the living earth, a piece of the planet which is formed of a constituent mix of its own ingredients, slowly cooked, melded, and worked by immense pressure over time, until it takes on the solid and familiar characteristics that we all know and recognize. However the journey of the stone, from earth, to finished table project, is one which can span continents, and can completely remake the nature of the material.
When it first comes to light, stone is usually extracted from the side of a mountain, or from a layer found underneath the earth. The place where the stone is extracted is called a quarry. When it is pulled out, the material is usually in giant sheets, which are rough, un-hewn, bumpy, and or clefted. The stone itself is a strange chemical mix, made up of whatever was present in the earth during its formation. This can mean that the slab has a variety of colors or properties which are unique to that piece.
Once extracted the stone is chopped up into much smaller pieces. Some are cut into smaller slabs, solid pieces of stone which are large enough to be used as the only piece in certain tables, or one of only a few. The maximum size of a slab is determined by its thickness, due to the fact that they have to try and carve a piece which is small enough that it won’t present a cracking issue.
Smaller pieces are cut down into tiles, which range in size, but which are usually cut raw as squares. Some tiles however can be further worked to shape rectangles, triangles, and even curves, allowing you to get quite elaborate with your mosaic piece designs.
Finally the stones are assembled along some sort of a base. This can be hardwood, or plastic, or anything with enough strength and elasticity that it will be able to support the weight of the material. That’s how a stone table goes from being earth to home d
