Stone is an incredibly hard material and requires special tools for cutting, removing pieces from large stone masses, and for its processing where hammers and fine chisels are used.
When the material is processed as cut stone, and certain sizes specified by the customers need to be produced, modern machines with digital control are used along with digital templates. This allows for all customers who want to use stone for their project for cladding or flooring receive high-quality material complying with their requested size and shape.
Let’s take a look at the instruments used for the initial cutting and rough processing and shaping of the stone first. After that, we will cover the instruments for fine processing and smoothening.
Cutting and rough processing of the stone material
Several categories of tools are used for this industry:
- Hammering tools – hammers and axes
- Tools for rough processing to make the stone block which will then be finely processed – wedges and other tools
- Cutting instruments – different types of chisels – either manual or pneumatic
- Diamond tools which are installed on powerful devices and used throughout the entire process of processing the cut stone, from the rough processing to the final forming
- Abrasive tools for removing the outer layer including saws, cutting and scraping wheels, drills, and others
In the future, laser cutting tools which use high temperature combined with cooling water for cutting the block. For larger stone blocks, machines with diamond wires can be used as well.
Here are the basic tools for processing and cutting
- Cutters
These are metal chisels which are used for splitting and processing the stone. The materials which they are made of vary. The chrome-vanadium chisels are very durable and are suitable for all types of processing of cut stone. The metal knives are suitable for finish up work with stone.
- Cutting Disks
These are made of diamond alloys and are extremely sturdy. The choice of the disk is done depending on the type of material which is being cut and so is their height. It is essential that the pointer for the direction of the rotation of the disk is monitored and followed closely.
- Manual hammers
They can be metal or rubber and have different sizes and weight depending on the type of work being done – rough or fine.
- Pneumatic hammers
The electrical pneumatic hammers allow for easier and faster processing of the stone. They can produce thousands of hammerings per minute which allows for a smoother and more consistent process which is very suitable for larger surfaces.
Instruments used for the bonding
Various tools are used for the bonding of facings and cladding made of natural stone including rubber hammers for better adhesion without harming the material as well as wired brushes used for cleaning the bonding material from the stone.
