WANLONG
As a natural product, stone is becoming more and more popular with the public for its natural and beautiful characteristics. However, it is undeniable that it is precisely because stone is a natural product that there are many unsatisfactory aspects.
In fact, many unsatisfactory aspects of stone can be basically solved by paying a little attention to the production, processing and installation process, turning disadvantages into advantages, and even turning waste into treasure, so that stone can play a more beautiful decorative effect. The following is a little experience accumulated from many years of stone production, processing and installation practice, and I contribute it for reference by industry insiders.
Sampling
In order to avoid the blindness of cutting materials for a large project, samples should be knocked from each piece of rough material on the same sawing surface before cutting, polished, compared with each other, and numbered. Distinguish the three colors of dark, medium and light according to the principle of color transition. If there are many types of colors of materials, use English letters A, B, C, D, E… to distinguish. The samples taken are kept for a period of time after the project is completed for the convenience of customers to replenish materials.
After the sample is confirmed, the person in charge of the cutting section will formulate a detailed cutting plan based on the technical quality requirements of production and processing and the floor plan provided by the customer. The cutting plan must be confirmed and signed by the workshop manager, workshop quality inspection, and business merchandiser before it takes effect.
Arrangement, color separation, board removal, and planning
1. A large-scale project uses a large amount of the same type of stone. In order to ensure that the color and texture of the boards installed in the same space and the same plane are basically consistent and achieve a good decorative effect, before sawing the large boards, the most representative large boards should be selected from the large boards cut from each piece of rough material, arranged in the order of color gradient, color separation, and marked with words. The rough material number and the depth of the color are distinguished by thick, medium, and light. When there are many color categories of stone, A1, A2, A3… are used to distinguish.
2. When the color and texture of the stone to be processed are quite different, and there are other defects on the surface of the stone, the board should be taken according to the size of the stone divided on the floor plan and the decoration elevation provided by the customer, and the dividing cutting line should be marked on the board surface with a pencil.
3. After taking the board, draw the board surface size and number distribution with a diagram.
4. The process personnel or the board taker use words and pictures to indicate which part of the processing project the board is used for.
5. The boards cut according to the plan still need to be arranged and re-colored before edge grinding and special-shaped processing. And mark the edge grinding direction to avoid mixing up the adjusted color and texture during edge grinding and special-shaped processing.
Dyeing
In recent years, with the development of stone dyeing technology, stone dyeing technology has gradually matured. Many stones that were previously considered undyed have broken through the technical restrictions and can be dyed, and various dyes have also been produced. The dyed stone can change the problem of local color difference, making the stone installation effect better.
Before dyeing the board, it is best to take a small sample for testing, compare the dyed sample with the original color of the board, and then start dyeing after confirming that the effect has achieved the goal.
Digging and patching
Some stones, whether they are special or first-grade materials, are destined to have defects due to their natural properties. For example, purple colored hemp and oyster pearls inevitably have black spots. If customers insist on avoiding black spots when processing such stones, it may be quite difficult for manufacturers to carry out production smoothly, and even cause considerable losses.
The use of digging and patching to repair stones with color spots and color lines must be carried out carefully, and the correct method should be emphasized, otherwise the repaired stone will be difficult to achieve a good decorative effect. We once used the following method to process stones with color spots in a large stone processing process, and it passed the acceptance smoothly.
Install a drill bit with the same diameter as the color spot on the drilling machine, drill out the color spot, and then use a round stone with a diameter error of 0.5mm to repair the dug out area. Carefully handle the joints and it will be almost invisible.
Division
Smart designers who have a deep understanding of stone will adopt an isolation design method in large projects, separating the same stone from another stone to ensure that the colors of each area are basically consistent.
We used Spanish beige to process the floor of a project hall. Due to the large color difference of the material, we could not ensure that the color of the hall floor was basically consistent. Therefore, after fully analyzing the layout of the hall floor, we boldly used Spanish beige material with a large color difference, and properly used several glass walls in the hall to divide the floor into several areas. The floor was further divided by several display stands above the ground in the hall. The use of division eliminates color difference.
Processing according to spatial structure
Stone is easy to process, but not easy to process. When it is easy to process, the space for stone decoration is large, and it is divided into many small spaces by many beams, columns, corners, and floors. During production and processing, materials can be used according to these small spaces, so that each different space and room uses different materials, and the adjacent visible space uses basically the same materials.
There are many decoration projects. When a large area of ??a stone is used for decoration, this method is often used when it is impossible to ensure that the color of the same space is the same. First, ensure that the color of the entire wall is consistent, the color of the beam is consistent, and the color of the column is consistent. Use different colors in the same space to create a three-dimensional sense.
Usually, the actual operation of many projects generally does not consider the role of spatial structure in stone decoration, and blindly emphasizes that stone cannot have this or that defect. For example, the exterior decoration of a 30-story building is more than 10m high. Even if the stone has a big defect, how can people see a color spot with a diameter of about 100mm on the stone with their eyes? We have tried this approach in a project in South Korea, and both parties have achieved satisfactory cooperation.
Gradual processing by color
I have been in contact with a project in Japan. Due to the color difference of the selected materials and the large area of ??the ground to be decorated by the customer, the Japanese engineering technical guidance proposed a very novel treatment method when it was impossible to ensure that the color of the entire ground was basically consistent. The panels are arranged and processed in layers according to the color, ensuring that each layer has the same color. This method is interesting and novel, and can achieve a more ideal decorative effect.
Chasing patterns
Many stones have certain grain directions. If the changing characteristics of the stone are used during processing, and the front, back, left, right or top, bottom, left, and right grains are connected end to end, a natural pattern with great beauty can be created. This pattern can be like unpredictable clouds, or like a surging wilderness or mountains and rivers. This abstract natural pattern depends entirely on the imagination of the audience, and from the viewing, we can appreciate the beauty that nature brings us.
Now, the processing method of chasing patterns in stone processing is not only applicable to this kind of stone with visible lines, but also to stones with color differences when processing, so as to ensure that the panels always maintain their original natural style during installation, and explain to customers that the panels with color differences are processed from the same large panel.
Random shape
There is a popular practice of random splicing in stone decoration. Regardless of the color difference, random splicing is done to pursue a natural and simple effect. This decorative technique allows designers and decorators to freely use their imagination and create at will. The final effect of the decoration depends on others to understand and interpret.
Layered processing
Many stones such as old beige and brown net pattern have completely different colors on the same large board. If special methods are not used during processing, it is impossible to achieve a good decorative effect. The so-called layered processing is to cut the same color board and place it in the same area and adjacent areas according to the color of the large board surface, the level of the color, the technical requirements and size requirements on the production and processing order.
The installer strictly installs according to the manufacturer’s board number
Before the stone products leave the factory, the manufacturer generally has a number, and there is an arrow to mark the clear direction. If the construction party does not strictly install according to the number given by the manufacturer during installation, and randomly disrupts the manufacturer’s number, the installation effect of the entire space will become very poor.
Good communication and negotiation with customers
The world’s difficulties can be solved through good communication and negotiation between the two parties, especially for stone, a non-renewable natural resource left to us by nature. What reason do we have to be so demanding and nitpicking about this natural thing, and pursue the so-called perfect ideal state. A bright moon is beautiful, but can you say that the crescent moon is extremely ugly?
The beauty and ugliness of things are not viewed from the parts of things. The key is to evaluate from the overall effect and function of things. Good effect plus good function is the ideal state of the designer.
The quality inspection and acceptance of stone products are subject to their relevant quality standards, but considering that stone is a natural product, we cannot copy and apply the standards during the processing process and treat it as an unchanging dogma. During specific processing and installation, we must always start from the environment and spatial location of the stone, consider the final decorative effect of the stone installation, take into account both the quality of the product and the comprehensive utilization of the stone, maximize the potential of the stone and tap into its value, use various means to solve the inevitable defects in the stone, and make the stone products shine more brightly.
