Most Read
Most E-mailed
Print Article
Monument Toolworks, makers of the popular Parallign Seam Clamp for solid surface seaming, offers the Gorilla Grip for deck seaming stone products. The equipment uses an electric vacuum pump to help ensure a consistent and powerful grip that will not fade. The manufacturer reports that slightly porous stones that defy suction cups have little effect on this product. New cam adjusters allow installers to level the seam perfectly, including tops with a slight crown, reports the company.
OMAX Corp. offers the 55100 large-footprint abrasivejet machine. It can handle sheets of material up to 5 ft. by 10 ft. Model 80160, which can handle material up to 6 ft. by 12 ft., also offers an optional two cutting head system with adjustable Y-spacing for faster machining. Based on the Windows XP operating system, the machines reportedly make traditionally complicated techniques such as intarsia and stone marquetry accessible to today's architectural fabricators.
Projects begin with drawings created with most CAD programs, or from familiar drawing programs such as Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW. They can also be created directly on the machines, using "Layout," the company's design software. The features of the software are said to simplify creating the most complex architectural work, such as inlay patterns that combine stone and metal. By using the "Offset" command, which helps provide an exact fit between pieces, the inlay pieces can be precisely offset in order to eliminate or significantly control the need for grouting. By using Layout's "Image Tracing" to manually trace any BMP, GIF or JPG file, more complicated existing artwork or sketches can also be duplicated and then machined.
The company offers a complete line of systems, from a 2 ft. by 2 ft. table to a 6 ft. by 12 ft. table and accessories.
Park Industries offers the Destiny CNC Stonecenter, which can rout, edge, core and polish at one workstation. It has Park Stone CAM SFP software, allowing touch-screen programming. The software also converts DXF CAD files directly. Its computer controlled, 20 hp spindle runs up to 10,000 rpm, routing and edging straight and decorative radius shapes on 1cm to 6cm stone. The vertical spindle cores a ' -in. to 1'-in. dia. hole in ' to 1' in. stone.
The Pro-Edge III, a C-arm shaper and polisher allows the shaping and polishing of a variety of convex edges (3⁄8 to 6 in. thick) and flat edges (3⁄8 to 4 in. thick) up to 12 ft. long. It also works on concave and Ogee edges and can store up to 70 programmable edge profiles. The machine guides an operator through automatic processing steps by a series of interactive touch-screen selections.
The Wizard Deluxe has twin spindles, allowing edge shaping, coring, stock removal, undermount sink processing, drainboard cutting and polishing and sink bowl drop-outs at one machine. It also includes two adjustable "park benches" for material workholding. One spindle features 10,000 rpm operation that is suitable for cutting countertop sink bowl holes. The primary 3,000 rpm spindle provides the torque for coring, shaping and face polishing.
The Yukon sawing machine has a touch-screen computer control that guides operators through production and can be operated in manual, semiautomatic, and automatic modes. The saw's 20 hp arbor-drive electric motor powers diamond blades up to 24-in. in dia. It also has a rack-and-pinion drive system and laser saw blade alignment indicator.
Thibaut offers the T 55 Advance, which is a multipurpose system with a 16-space tool magazine. It works on straight edges from 20 to 80mm. It also uses shaping wheels for special profiles. The equipment is also capable of sawing, polishing, linear sawing, grooving on 3 faces and profiling with shaping and flat wheels. The machine has a longitudinal capacity of 3,800mm, automatic trueing and an assisted programming modem for telemaintenance.
