Hi there,
Has anyone had experience working with or know of any good resources on mass manufacturing stone products? I have the book ‘Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals’ but there is no mention of working with stone. I’m assuming water jet cutting / machining sheets and blocks.
Was the above bench machined from a block?
I’d really appreciate your help,
Thanks!
4, 5 and 6 axis CNC for stone
Thanks iab.
I’ve also looked at casting polymer concrete / epoxy granite (which may be a cheaper and/or lighter alternative to stone) and it looks (to me) like castings can only be flat/sheet (think kitchen counter tops). Does anyone know whether you can cast more organic volumes (like a Brancusi) with these materials, as if you were, say, making a polyurethane cast?
Thanks in advance!
There are many kinds of stones, and the manufacturing method would be related to the one that you work with. Some stones would be too hard and wear milling tools very quickly, on the other hand soft stones like meerschaum can be scratched with your nail. I am not experienced about the subject however I cannot think of any reason why epoxy granite should not be cast in complex shapes.
Epoxy granite would be epoxy filled with chunks of stone, no reason it could not be poured into any shape. Surface appearance will be different from stone out of the mold because the resin will form the full surface. You will have to grind down to expose the stone structure and get a more convincing look. 3D terrazzo.
Terrazzo and facts I never knew thanks to wikipedia:
Terrazzo was originally invented by Venetian construction workers as a low cost flooring material using marble chips from upscale jobs. The workers would usually set them in clay to surface the patios around their living quarters. Consisting originally of marble chips, clay, and goat milk (as the sealer), production of terrazzo became much easier after the 1920s and the introduction of electric industrial grinders and other power equipment.
Newly-set terrazzo will not look like marble unless it is wet. That’s where the goat’s milk comes in, acting as a sealer and preserving the wet and marble-like look.
Diamond grit cutters on CNC are what I’ve seen used to cut stone.
Thanks PreDesign and Shaw! Very, very helpful
: )
Epoxy granite would be epoxy filled with chunks of stone, no reason it could not be poured into any shape.
mmmm… I’m not so sure. Once mixed, it could be poured, but gravity never stops acting on the items in suspension. The result, unless a 3-axis rotary machine isn’t used, is that everything “sinks” to the bottom of the mold. I discovered this right off the bat using epoxy and aluminum tooling-pellets.
If the specific gravity of the resin and the “stone” were the same, or close, everything would theoretically stay in place while curing. Theoretically…
Very correct, fillers and thickeners can slow it down but gravity is a big factor in the final distribution and appearance. The density of heavy particles has to fill close to 100% of the physical “brick” space. With all of the complications to simulate real stone and never get a perfect result, better to use real stone and modern machining.
With all of the complications to simulate real stone and never get a perfect result, better to use real stone and modern machining.
Kinda makes you appreciate real stone work.
I just saw this video, it is very nice. All the tools are diamond stuff and thus the price of the product is quite high.
