How Marble Stone Is Fabricated

How do fabricators turn large, rough rocks into glossy, customized granite and marble countertops? It requires careful planning, precise equipment and professional expertise. This process, known as stone fabrication, is comprised of several steps, from quarry to countertop.  

Stone is first excavated in huge pieces from quarries. Before these can be transported, they must be cut into comparatively smaller cubes. This is done through wire sawing. Large holes are drilled into the stone. Then diamond wire is threaded through and used to cut the large pieces into more manageable chunks. Ironically, while many envision stone as being incredibly strong, it can be easily broken if not handled properly. For this reason, the newly-cut cubes are transported with caution along a carefully-planned route to a fabrication facility.

At this facility, the stone cubes are cut further into pieces that will become individual granite and marble countertops. This stage in the stone fabrication process prepares the pieces for distribution to a retailer. Each slab is lifted hydraulically toward a moving steel saw blade called a gang saw. Once cut, they are polished with artificial diamonds until they achieve a somewhat reflective sheen. Finally, they are sprayed with an epoxy sealant and dried with a heat lamp for forty-eight hours.

When you order a stone countertop from a retailer, they customize each piece with either wet sawing or water-jet cutting. In wet sawing, water flows over the stone to reduce the heat generated by sawing. In water-jet cutting, a pressurized combination of water and minerals cuts through the stone. This method of cutting is more widely used today because it produces cleaner cuts than wet sawing.

Stone fabrication ensures quality materials with beautiful finishes in a variety of colors. All of the cutting and polishing involved from start to finish gives us the slick granite and marble countertops found in elegant kitchens around the world.