SurfaceFabrication.com |

One of the largest investments you will make in starting a fabrication shop is purchasing equipment. And before that can be done, a shop owner must do the research necessary to invest wisely in the correct equipment for the operation.

Before you start to shop for equipment, you should answer the questions below:

• How many kitchens are you projecting to fabricate at start-up? One year from now? What about two years from now?
• Will your market demand custom radial work or will you be fabricating straight line projects?
• What level of automation do you want in your shop?
• Do you have the skilled labor to do hand work? If so, will you be able to meet your production goals?

It is important not to give in to any sort of high-pressure sales tactics, but rather examine a real return on investment analysis to select machines that reflect the volume, quality and investment that is right for your shop.

Bridge Saws
The most important piece of equipment you will purchase for stone and/or quartz operations will be a bridge saw. This is the backbone of your fabrication process. A bridge saw will cut full slabs of material with greater accuracy than could ever be done by hand. It’s critical that you have straight edges.

Radial Arm
A radial arm polisher is the machine typically used to face polish. This machine can be used for: cleaning up scratches; cutting bowl holes; face polishing; edge shaping; coring; stock removal; undermount sink processing and polishing; drainboard; texturing; and much more. Purchasing a radial arm may be a very good investment for your business.

Sink Hole Production
Over the last decade, experience has shown that a typical shop that produces just two kitchens per week can easily financially justify automating its sinkhole production. Figure 1 highlights the approximate increase in time efficiency and decrease in labor costs by automating sink and faucet hole production.

Edge Polishing Machine
A line edge polisher is a machine that normally has multiple polishing heads to polish the edges of stone without the need to change abrasives.

Two types of edge polishing machines are on the market — single-head and multi-head. There are a number of factors that come into play in determining which edge polishing machine is right for you.