How some french manufacturers tumble thier limestome.

[jonnyc]

Just come back from a very interesting trip to burgundy france to view the stone i will be fixing in few months in uk.
Saw all sorts of manufacture process, from cutting stone from block in to tiles as we receive in uk plus methods to antique stone/tumbling/brushing /flaming honing / and mixtures of each that give that subtle difference to a floor.
Will only post couple now as not sure how many people will be interested.
For me it was very interesting.
Now i know how we get the product we fix and where its journey starts from.

 

[Ian]

Post some more pics! Looks like a really interesting place to visit, I'd love to go out to Spain and Italy to watch some of the manufacturing processes.

 

[White Room]

As Bri, more pics..

 

[jay]

More pics

 

[widler]

yup,more pics

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

thanks for sharing Johnny .....

 

[kilty55]

great thread

 

[AliGage]

More please

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Good thread Jonny, if you need a lift fixing those bad boys, give me a shout, I love a challenge.:lol:

 

[jonnyc]

Phil , the stone i went to see is the job i mentioned to you in cotswolds.
called vix blue limestone,

theres 160.00 sq mts 800 x 600 x 20, plus feature floor in interlocking panels with border and 4 sets of steps between different levels.
think youd like it.

 

[jonnyc]

the pics so far show the size of block cut from quarry .
the block is then cut in to slabs
slabs cut in to tile size.
In this instance tiles @ 40mm thick put in to tumbling trough that rotates stone bathed in pebbles which takes the sharp edges off .
they cannot tumble a 20mm thick tile as it will break so do it at double thickness = 40mm.
it then goes on tile line and gets sliced in two pieces @20mm thick , so you get two faces and edges that have tumbled look.
in this instance tiles are then brushed with nylon tipped pads of various grades as on photo connected to circular drive boards.
the tile could have a number of surface applications applied on the tile line with varoius pads or brushes.
these photos are not the reason i went to burgundy .

The reason I went was because I have a good job in cotswolds in few months and the particular stone that I am fixing on behalf of a stone supplier in uk is unique and can only be found in one small quarry in burgundy.
this stone changes colour and appearance through the beds and it was important to inspect the slabs after cut from block to see that the colour and variance matched samples supplied and therefore approve .
I will keep the photos of this stone till I enter the job for JOTM in the future when works completed,as I think it will be interesting to see the stone in the side of quarry and follow it through the whole process and then see how it looks as the finished article.
when a client says they cant believe how much they have paid for their stone , maybe then i can actually show them the amount of work involved to deliver them the product they see at the end.#
It wont look so expensive then.




I do have many photos of the block and slabs that i went to view before they are turned in to 800 x600 x20 mm tiles.
I went to view because needed to be sure that

 

[user123]

Amazing. I love knowing what processes go into an end product. Great post! Good luck on the job! Sounds a gem!