When you decide to use a natural stone for your design and in the projects, they can be available in various shapes, cuts, finished and sizes. By seeing this many options to choose from, it may pup a question in your mind that “how these slab and tiles are made?”. Here in this article our focus is on a specific natural stone: “sandstone”. In the past we have had many discussions about sandstone slab and tile uses, market, types, origin, formation process and many other features. If you are here, it means that you are interested in the matter; so you are here now, do not forget to check them out!
Sandstone, great choice for customers
Sandstone is a natural stone from sedimentary rock group. It can be used for many applications in both indoor and outdoor projects. Sandstone slab and tiles have many features that makes them a suitable choice among other natural stones for many projects. In below we will walk through steps of having sandstone slabs by giving you information about “How sandstone slabs are made” and furthermore we will name some of the most common finishes applied on sandstone slabs.
Steps that sandstone passes to get created
The full manufacturing process of making sandstone slabs, is a tricky and complex one which involves many steps. To have a quality sandstone slab these steps must be taken; here we go:
- Quarries with perfect quality sandstones are selected
- The sandstone is excavated from each quarry in blocks
- The sandstone blocks are packed and sent to stone cutters
- The large sandstone blocks are hand-cut to be paving slabs,
- The sandstone slab and tiles are sent for applying various finishes
- The finished slabs are stacked and ready to use and be laid in projects
How Indian sandstone blocks are extracted?
There are numerous methods used for extraction of Indian sandstone from the ground and its quarries. One of them is by make using a hydraulic excavator alongside of a breaker or a pecker; it will strike the stone at its natural faults, breaking points and joins. In this stage the quarry workers have to act very carefully and try to minimize the waste. By minimizing the waste, they will automatically maximize the extracted and usable material from the quarry; so the efficiency is the main goal. For the safety of the quarried blocks, upstands are added to them after the extraction.
Cutting process of sandstone blocks to sandstone slabs
When the sandstone blocks are carefully extracted, the quarries pack and send the sandstone blocks to stone cutters. Sometimes the stone cutters use hard industrial saws which diamonds on their edges that can cut through stone blocks. But usually they use circular saws which is the best and most efficient way to cut the blocks.
Either way, the cutters will cut sandstone blocks to be sandstone slabs and then they will send them for the finishing process.
Before cutting the large sandstone blocks, the cutter and employers must be sure that the blocks are secured. These blocks are very heavy, so any uncontrolled or unplanned movement can be a serious safety hazard for everyone.
Appling finishing on sandstone slabs
The sandstone slabs are ready to have different finishes on their surface.
Like many other natural stones, the sandstone slabs are finished from behind. This is a safety precaution in order to protect the slabs screen. Also it will help avoiding the risk of inhaling the silica dust –be cautious near silica dust, it can cause severe lung conditions-. The suppliers can provide many different finishes for each sandstone slab. The process of choosing the finishing type, only depends on the customer’s taste and style or more importantly, the application they need the slab for. Here are the most common finishes applied on sandstone slabs:
- Riven finish
- Calibrated finish
- Tumbled finish
- Honed finish
- Brushed finish
- Sawn finish
- Sandblasted finish
- Polished finish
Riven finish
The riven finish will provide the sandstone slab’s surface with a rough texture. These sandstone slabs have been hand chiseled by experts that has gave them a grooved and naturally imperfect look. As a result, these sandstone slabs have a raw, rustic and traditional appearance which have made them a common choice for landscaping and outdoor projects especially in rural properties.
Calibrated finish
The calibrated stone paving slabs present consistent thickness, usually in between 22mm and 25mm. the thickness of the stone depends on the its type. The softer textured stones can have less thickness than others. The calibrated finished stones are created in strip mills with diamond-edged saw blades.
Tumbled finish
Tumbled finish, is one of od the favored finishing types that many people choose and can be used for any type of natural stone slabs. The sandstone slabs with tumbled finish have soft and smooth with a worn appearance. The tumbled finishing is usually achieved by putting the slabs through a tumbling machine. The tumbling machine are mostly large in size and the have slow cement mixer running through them. The sandstone slab and tiles are placed on a rubber drum and they are in touch with a mixture of rocks, sand and water. Just and the slab and tiles rotate in the machine, the other aggregates and liquids in the machine act and gently wear down the edges of them. The result will cause the slabs to have a softer surface with a chalky appearance.
Honed finish
A honed finishing can be used on almost all of the natural stones. It means that the finished natural stone will have a smooth, flat and consistent surface. The honing process can create a soft matte finish for stone, a surface similar to slate tiles. If the honed finish in applied on granite and marble stone, they will have a smooth surface with added natural shine to their surface.
Brushed finish
The brushed finish makes sandstone slabs surface to appear with a slightly weathered texture with a more natural look that can be used in various styles, especially in rural eras. In this finish sandstone slab’s surface is treated with a metal or hard plastic brush.
Sawn finish
Sawn is a name of a natural stone that is known for its smooth and soft appearance. The sawn finish, is applied on other natural stones to achieve a beautiful texture similar to sawn stone. The process mostly occurs with heavy-duty gang saws. At the end, the finishing will result in a semi-smooth looking natural stone.
Sandblasted finish
The sandblasted finish is a result of blasting a mixture of silica sand with the help of an air gun on the sandstone slab’s surface. The sandblasted sandstone slab has small pores with a smooth abrasive texture. Sandblasted finish can bring out the best in color of your sandstone slab.
Polished finish
The polished finish is common finishing that can be applied on all natural stones. As for the polished sand stone slab, its surface is repeatedly exposed to abrasive treatment that results in a polished and glossy appearance. The polished finish can decrease your stones slip-resistance.it is advised not to use a polished finish if you want to install the slabs near water and for outdoor purposes.
Here at Unikastone, our groups goal is to help our customers achieve their ideal results in their projects. If you want more information about our sandstone slab products or just need help choosing a right kind of natural stone for your project, contact us. we and our professional consultors will try our best to help you in any way we can.
Where has sandstone come from?
It doesn’t take an expert to know or even guess that where natural stones come from. Like all the natural stones, sandstone blocks come from various quarries all over the world. Here is just a simple and short explanation that can give you glimpse of the whole picture. When the blocks are quarried, they will be pack and then send to different stone cutter companies. The companies job, is to cut and shape the blocks in to sandstone slab or tiles with various forms and colors that they provide for the stores and salesmen.
How many finishes does sandstone slab have?
- Riven finish
- Calibrated finish
- Tumbled finish
- Honed finish
- Brushed finish
- Sawn finish
- Sandblasted finish
- Polished finish