I have read the October article published in the Slippery Rock Gazette by Kevin Padden regarding the difference in edge color vs. face of slab with great interest.
This month's Soapbox appears as a response to an article in the October Slippery Rock - Ed.
I am a 33 year veteran of the natural stone industry, having served my apprenticeship working for a large high end residential fabricator in the Los Angeles area. I went on to open my own fabrication and installation business in 1987, and continued as a licensed (bonded & insured) fabricator-installer until 2005 when I opened an Importing and Distribution company in Montana.
We are direct importers of slabs from around the world and I travel extensively to quarries and factories in many countries to qualify suppliers and inspect process and quality control.
I only mention this background to offer my perspective as a seasoned fabricating professional and from the perspective of the importer/distributor.
In the past two decades we have seen an explosion of new colored stones hitting the market particularly from Brazil. Due to modern quarrying and manufacturing techniques we are importing colors that never could have reached the US prior. One of the most significant advances is the use of impregnating resins. These resins enhance the color of beautiful stones, while helping to strengthen and reinforce the fragile nature of these rocks. Most factories indeed use Tenax products and most use the clear non-tinted products. There are some instances where it is advantageous to use pigments to color the impregnating resins to optimize the color and beauty of these stones.
Many fabricators are unaware and somewhat ignorant of the materials and techniques used in the factories around the world to produce the gorgeous colors that homeowners demand. Many fabricators are reluctant to embrace the need to educate themselves about new techniques required to fabricate many of the new colors. Rather, some fabricators think that they should simply be able to cut the pieces, polish the edges, make a sink cutout and install....and hope to get paid by the homeowner. In decades past, prior to wet polishing techniques and resin impregnated slabs, this was generally the case. Today, new tools, techniques, and materials have changed and require the knowledge and education to deal with modern stone slabs and "Exotics."
I offer these thoughts because I am seeing a number of new fabricators who have grown up in the age of Braxton-Bragg and GranQuartz, getting a monthly catalog, throwing down a few thousand dollars on tools and calling themselves "Fabricators." They are very ignorant about the materials they work with and get quite upset when there is a "problem" that comes up (such as edges that are lighter than the face) or micro fissures and fill. Think about this, no one blinks an eye at the thought that a beautiful piece of cherry wood (with knots and grain differences) would get a clear finish or stained finish to build a kitchen cabinet.
Imagine if the cabinet maker glued up some cherry boards, sent it though a planer, finish sanded the face, stained and lacquered the plank then cut the required dimension and wondered why the edge was lighter (unstained and unfinished). Of course the edges of wood need to be treated exactly as the finished face. And yet we have stone "professionals" who get bent out of shape about the need to treat the edges, and complain about veins, fissures and fill. If they saw the raw blocks or the quarry conditions they would "see the light."
Your suggestions are quite appropriate and I will offer another as well. Looking back at my early introduction into the stone industry back in the late 1970s, we finished edges with silicone carbide sandpaper (dry) then polished out with tin oxide powders/paste and marlite waxes to burnish a shine and bring out the polish. For black granite we indeed used a weed burner to heat up the edges, while melting colored waxes into the pores of the stone to tint the stone. We also used tinted hard waxes to fill pits in the stone.
Today we have numerous techniques using polyesters and epoxies and CA-Cianoacrylates to laminate, fill and enhance natural stone. Some exotic colors of granite from Brazil require the exact techniques used on the edges to enhance the color and finish as the face. It is recommended for some colors such as Golden Beach, Star Beach, Mascarello, Sedna, Copper Canyon, Pietra Classic, etc need additional prep prior to polishing. It is recommended (and I have witnessed that this technique works) that the edge profile be shaped/profiled then let dry. Then apply a water clear penetrating resin on edges and let cure. Finish polishing as usual. Ager may still be required.
I apologize if some of my personal angst may have come out in this message about uneducated and inexperienced fabricators, but many of those who complain the most are the ones who refuse to join professional stone organizations, do not attend trade shows, and who do not invest in additional training and education. Imagine if a doctor graduated from medical school in 1950 and attempted to perform open heart surgery in 2010 without any continued or advanced education. We know the results would be tragic. Unfortunately, for many self-trained "fabricators" their results are equally tragic.
I appreciate your article and hope that many fabricators invest in training and continue to educate themselves about our trade.
Torin A. Dixon
Owner / Director, Montana Stone Gallery "Where Stone is Art" www.montanastonegallery.com
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