Some of the tools used for working stone have not changed much in thousands of years. Others are evolving quickly to cope with changing methods and new materials. NSS asked the tool suppliers what developments they have to help the stone industry. Here’s what some of them said.
Although a lot of stone companies have invested heavily in new, sophisticated machinery in the past few years, there are still times when human dexterity wins hands down. Even with the best machines, many like the idea of hand finishing and there are always occasions on site when machinery is not available. So power tools and hand tools of all kinds have their place.
But which to choose? Certainly there are plenty to choose from when it comes to electric tools, although Flex and Makita are the favourites for many and both companies have developments they want to highlight.
The new Supraflex SE 14-2 125mm diameter grinder and polisher from Flex comes in both 240V and 110V versions. It was developed with a clear focus on the health & safety of the user. It is ergonomically designed for comfortable use, has an advanced two-stage gearbox and 1400 Watt motor to reduce vibration and noise and deliver rapid material removal. It is designed to be used with dust extraction.
Health & safety experts say on-tool dust extraction using industrial vacuums and class M filters is particularly effective (see the report on page 26) and when the Supraflex is used in conjunction with Flex safety dust extractors, the working environment will be almost dust-free.
Stepless speed control allows adjustment from 600 to 2100rpm. There is soft start and when the set speed is reached it remains constant even under load.
There is a temperature monitor to avoid windings burning out and a restart interlock prevents the machine from starting unintentionally after a power failure. The completely encapsulated electronic module is protected from damage by dust.
For 90 years Flex has been selling its tools to the stone industry and it says its engineers understand the nature of different stones – “its characteristics and sensitivities,” as Flex puts it.
The gearbox plays a major part in the reduction of noise and vibration. It does this through an innovative combination of planetary and angular gears. Planetary gears are compact but deliver high torque to keep the speed constant under load. And they are quiet.
The handle cover is ergonomically shaped with SoftGrip, so the machine fits comfortably and securely in your hand and can be guided with precision. The spindle lock is positioned to prevent it being pushed accidentally and does not interfere with the grip area.
The unit has a flat gear head to stay close to the material surface so the Supraflex can be operated safely in any position. The optimised air flow system cools the gearbox and motor and reduces heating of the machine housing without blowing exhaust air on to the user.
A tool-free height-adjustable extraction guard with brush ring means you can work near edges and in corners at maximum extraction power. A pivoted edge segment can easily be opened. There is even 4metres of PUR H07-BQF cable, which is robustly wear and nick resistant.
It is supplied in a box-on-box carrying case that can accommodate the discs and accessories required and comes with a special stone set including a diamond grinding pad and discs for processing natural and artificial stone in grits from 50 to 3000. It has M 14 tool thread and weighs 2.6kg.
Twin 18V batteries give Makita’s latest cordless grinders more punch.
Makita wants to highlight its cordless technology. Because of the nature of working stone, battery-powered tools have not made a major impact on the stone industry, although they can be useful for some jobs on-site.
However, battery technology is improving all the time and Makita has launched 180mm and 230mm heavy duty angle grinders with twin 18V batteries that offer more punch. The company says advanced electronics ensure optimum performance as well as machine and operator protection.
The new Makita LXT 180mm DGA700 and 230mm DGA900 angle grinders are powered by high torque brushless motors. The 180mm runs up to 7,800rpm and the 230mm up to 6,500rpm. Maximum wheel thickness can be 7.2mm for the DGA700 and 6.5mm for the DGA900.
Both models have soft start and feature the Makita Active Feedback Sensing Technology (AFT), which shuts down the tool to protect the user if the rotation speed suddenly slows, and Makita’s Automatic Torque Drive Technology (ADT), which automatically changes the cutting speed according to working conditions.
There is an anti-restart function which requires the control switch to be returned to the ‘off’ position and then back to ‘run’ before the grinder will activate after a power break, such as the batteries being removed for charging.
The new twin 18V Makita DGA700 weighs 6kg, while the DGA900 grinders have rubberised soft grip slim bodies with large and conveniently placed switch lever and lock-off function. A strong battery guard adds extra protection and the push-button spindle lock is designed so it can easily be operated with gloved hands.
Vibration levels are low – 7.5m/s2 for surface grinding and 2.5m/s2 for disc polishing.
The DGA700 and DGA900 are available as body-only machines or supplied complete with two 5Ah Lithium-Ion batteries and a twin port fast charger.
Makita has its own range of grinding wheels and sanding discs to complement the high performance of these new grinders.
Makita also has new versions of its 18V brushless LXT angle grinders with features you might expect to be confined to premium mains machines.
The 115mm DGA463 and the 125mm DGA513 have slide switch and lock-on function, and the 115mm DGA467 and 125mm DGA517 models have paddle switches. Performance is identical, with the 18V brushless motors running at 3000 to 8500rpm with a wheel of up to a maximum of 7.2mm thick.
They have variable speed, soft start, battery fuel gauge, Active Feedback Sensing Technology (AFT) and Automatic Torque Drive Technology (ADT). There is an electric brake and current limiter, soft grip handle and all models have a wire mesh intake cover to protect the motor.
Again, these grinders are available as body-only machines or in Makpac cases with batteries and a smart charger.
Another new power tool is the TSA from Achilli, an Italian manufacturer represented in the UK by tool and machinery company D Zambelis. It is a manual saw that runs on tracks that clamp on to a slab of stone. It is made specifically for the stone industry and competes with the Flex CSW, which is a similar tool.
From D Zambelis, the TSA from Achilli (right), a manual saw that runs on tracks that clamp on to a slab of stone. It is made specifically for the stone industry. And (left) new versions of vanity blades created specifically for working sintered UCS surfaces.
It has a soft start 2.2kW (3HP) 230V inverter motor so the speed can be adjusted from 1400 to 2800rpm to suit the material being cut. The head travels along rails on six, 32mm bearings. The rails come in three different lengths – 1.2m, 2.5m and 4m. It is all hand-operated, with the depth of cut up to 40mm adjusted by turning a wheel. It carries diamond cutting discs up to 350mm diameter and its use is intuitive.
It has a steel frame, sandblasted and painted with epoxy-powder finish (galvanized on request) that is sturdy yet compact to make it easy to transport and assemble. It requires a water supply as well as an ordinary single phase household electricity supply. There is one-handed water disconnect.
As well as the developments in power tools, there has also been a lot of development of diamond tools used on the sophisticated CNC machinery that stone processors have been buying of late. One type of machine that has grown significantly in popularity is the waterjet cutter, and one of the reasons for that is the problems stone companies are having cutting the latest ceramic and sintered stone products using traditional diamond discs.
However, the diamond disc makers have not been idle and D Zambelis is among the specialist tool and machinery suppliers now selling ranges of blades developed specifically for cutting the new generation products. The latest from Zambelis are vanity blades, with diamonds on the edges and the faces for grinding as well as cutting. They have been available for working granite for many years, but now there are versions available for sintered stone and marble.
D Zambelis has also introduced electroplated tooling made in Italy that can be produced to the bespoke designs of customers. They are used for creating edge profiles and draining grooves, for example. Most electroplated tools are made in Asia, but bespoke shapes have a typical delivery time of 10 weeks. D Zambelis can deliver them in less than 10 days. “And the price is good,” says Director Stella Zambelis.
Waters Group now has tools for just about every scenario – from ADI, Konig and ADW. ADW is new to Waters but its blades, routers and core drills have certification from Silestone and Dekton manufacturer Cosentino.
Another of the specialist suppliers with a range of tools on offer is Waters Group. During the past few years it has been improving some of its most popular products as well as extending the range on offer. The company’s stock-holding area for tools has been increased to give the customer a faster turnaround on their orders, with a particular increase in stockholding of ADI CNC tooling to satisfy the demand.
ADI has just released new router bits that work particularly fast. There is a new crown system on the bottom of the bit that means the router can be used at a constant speed with an extended lifespan.
Waters Group says ADI tooling is competitively priced but still offers an exceptional lifespan.
A new range of high speed blades for granite / quartz has been developed especially for the Waters Group. It is competitively priced and with blade feed speeds of 4-5m/min is being sold under the name of the Hurricane range.
There are new, three step Allbrite polishing pads that produce an excellent finish on quartz and have a particularly long life, and a new range of vacuum brazed core drills for angle grinders to be used on granite, quartz and sintered ultra-compact surfaces (UCSs) that are selling exceptionally well. Customers comment on the particularly clean cut produced, even on sintered UCS.
For UCSs Waters Group now has tools for just about every scenario, from ADI, Konig and ADW. ADW is new to Waters but feedback is good and the company’s blades, routers and core drills have certification from Cosentino, the maker of Dekton.
Stonegate, the tools and consumables specialist supplier, has made a considered effort to focus on the strategy of being a better supplier to its customers and last year introduced its new image at the Natural Stone Show in London.
Although Stonegate sells popular brands such as Nicolai and 3M, it says it is its exclusive ranges, such as Cherokee diamond tooling, that really sets it apart.
Stonegate’s New Product Development & Operations Team constantly strives to develop tooling – the latest is High-Speed Tooling, consisting primarily of the Falcon Diamond Bridge Saw Blade and the Status High-Speed Router bit.
Saw blade segments are often attached using copper strip welding, but laser welding on the Falcon Blade is 10 times stronger. This means it can cut fast (up to 2.5m/min through granite and 3.5m/min through engineered quartz). It also lasts longer than anything Stonegate has developed before.
The Status High-Speed Router also delivers impressive performance. It is light and small and capable of running at up to 400mm/min through granite and 600mm/min through quartz.
Status Diamond Tooling is the jewel in Stonegate’s crown. Each tool is guaranteed to have at least 5mm diamond thickness, which means metal tools can be redressed as many as four times, making them particularly good value for money.
And Stonegate has worked closely with Status Diamond Tooling to guarantee availability and minimise downtime in workshops needing tools urgently. All the popular profiles are kept in stock by Stonegate for immediate, overnight delivery and the company commits to having all CNC tooling orders turned round in 48 hours.
Stonegate has worked with Cosentino, the maker of Silestone and Dekton, to produce an exclusive range of high-quality, performance tooling that can be used successfully and efficiently to fabricate Dekton.
Increasingly, tools are being bought directly from websites that can take orders and apply individual customer and quantity discounts. It is a familiar enough scenario: you have an account or you create one with the supplier. Stonetools is the latest specialist supplier of tools and consumables to have updated its website – or in its case, two websites, because it has one exclusively for Ireland as well as one for the UK. Both are easy to use, fully commercial sites with all the tools, consumables and knowledge that stone workers need.
Intuitive design and search features allow visitors to navigate the site quickly. The company’s full product range can be viewed, including diamond tools for power tools and CNC machines, abrasives, power tools themselves and chemicals.
More than 750 extra products have been added to the company’s range for the new websites. Highlights include the Nicolai ProGlo edge polishing discs.
The sites display real-time stock availability and shipping dates so customers can plan ahead. The sites are driven by the same live data that the Stonetools team use to advise customers over the phone, but now this is displayed online.
By creating an account, users can see all aspects of their account with Stonetools. Payments, purchases, returns, invoices, statements and support cases can be viewed and created from one area.
Orders can be placed quickly whenever the customer chooses. Product codes and quantities can be added to a basket and previous orders can be retrieved in seconds. Stonetools has used past order history from its customers to set up tool lists organised into product categories that include products previously purchased by that customer. They can be modified by the customer and downloaded, shared or emailed at a chosen frequency to help prompt stock checking and avoid running out.
Product information is rich in detail, with information clearly presented and specifics quickly accessed. CNC product listings from Diamut and Marmoelettromeccanica, for example, display recommended sequences, guiding buyers through the options with expert advice, images and videos. PDF downloads such as safety data sheets, technical data sheets and colour charts are readily available. There is a ‘resources zone’ of reference articles, how-to guides and troubleshooting information, even UK Health & Safety Executive publications on all aspects of stone working. Stonetools says even more features will be added in the months ahead. If security concerns you, Stonetools says its sites use the same level of data encryption as those of banks.
However, if you are really railing against the fourth industrial revolution you can still phone Stonetools and place your order that way.
Even among all this powered technology and sophistication there remains a place for hand tools and according to those who make and sell them there does not seem to be a decline in the demand for them.
RH&G Travis & Son supplies to stonemasons, sculptors and engravers worldwide from its workshop in Brighouse, where it makes hand tools using traditional manufacturing techniques. All the tools listed on the company website can be customised if required, and if you can’t find what you need, the company invites you to contact it and it might be able to make just what you need.
The way hand tools are made often seems as old-fashioned as the tools being made, with the heating, bashing and tempering of steel being carried out using decades old machinery by people who have turned toolmaking into an art. And all of them are busy, so there must be plenty of people who want to use hand tools.
Hand tools are imported, but they are also still manufactured in the UK by companies such as RH&G Travis & Son in Brighouse and G Gibson & Co in Garforth, both in Yorkshire; Kelso Tool Company in Scotland; and relative newcomer John Parsons in Salisbury, Wiltshire, who established JP Masonry Supplies after 25 years as a stonemason at Salisbury Cathedral.
John says: “I worked on all aspects of stonemasonry including banker masonry, fixing and mould cutting. During this time I started to make my own tools using a friend's blacksmith forge and found that I enjoyed working with metal as well as stone. After some research I discovered there was a gap in the market for good quality, bespoke and hand made tools and I thought I would enjoy this change of direction.
“Now I provide tools for masons all over the world. I use my knowledge of stonemasonry to make tools that I believe are tailored to what masons really need and enjoy using.
“I have expanded my range of tools over the years to include firesharp and tungsten carbide masonry chisels, general masonry chisels, claw chisels, fishtail carving chisels and mitre chisels. My latest addition to the range is Italian style carving chisels, which I really like using and seem to be popular.”
A new product on the market was instigated with the same motivation by stonemason Andrew Gomersall, of Building Restoration Services in Hull. He likes using a wooden mallet rather than the new synthetic mallets. It occurred to him one day that others might also like to use wooden mallets. But where do you get them? The answer now is from Andlee, the company Andrew has established with Lee Wiles, a woodturner who makes the mallets.
The mallets have a hard African Leadwood centre band sandwiched between two thinner layers of English Beech to give the malet perfect weight. Leadwood is a durable, dense hardwood.
The direction of the grain in each layer is carefully aligned so the head can take the impact of a mallet headed chisel on the end grain on the same face of the mallet. With proper use and care it will last a lifetime.
Tools from Andlee, including the hand-turned wooden mason’s mallet.
All the wood is sourced from sustainably managed forests in England and Mozambique, with four trees planted for every one felled.
The handle is made from Ash for a bit of bounce (nature’s own shock absorber). They have a generous width and taper for comfort, and are oiled rather than varnished so the finish will not start flaking off.
These companies that make the tools are usually happy to customise them, which often surprises customers.
Craig Timmins, who owns G Gibson & Co, says: “I think sometimes customers don’t realise we manufacture the tools, so they don’t ask if it’s possible to make to their requirements. But we do – and we have for a long time. We’ve made scutch holders over 2ft (600mm) long, fishtail carving chisels with 45º cranked ends, lettering chisels on fatter 3/4in (20mm) shafts for a mason with a damaged hand.
“Away from stone, we’ve CNC milled an axe shaft from billet steel as a former for a client, made custom shaped hammers from brass for oil rigs, and we forge most of our chisel bodies in-house from Octagonal Steel, with just a few of the larger, high volume bodies being drop forged from our own tooling. All chisels are processed more than 90% on site, which has allowed us to gain accreditation with the ‘Made in Britain’ organisation.
“We manufacture scutch combs, a product invented by the Faulds Company in the early 1900s. We have the patent paperwork originally filed for the comb and holder. We supply our combs to a majority of reputable brands in the UK and worldwide. We continue to use the same suppliers Bobby Faulds used before we took over the company, although we now forge more blanks in-house than he used to. The tool designs have changed very little, although in places we’ve made improvements, where feedback has indicated.
"Last year we invested in more CNC machinery, so we can produce very accurate pneumatic shanks for use with air tools.
"Feedback has told us that one of the main issue’s masons have is with the accuracy of the pneumatic shanks with newer air tools, which rely on the shank to provide the seal to operate, unlike older designs which operate with or without the chisel present.
"This Machine will also accelerate our production of the antivibration sleeve we’ve been developing. We’ve tested a few concepts now, and we’re finding that how the holder clamps the tool in place is a difficult thing to secure, and reluctantly we may have to use a taper system. While we wanted to make the units compatible with all Pneumatic tools (1/2in shanks), we might have to use a taper system – but we will offer a service for converting chisels.
"Our Hammers are mostly manufactured in our CNC machine shop, the same shop which produces tools for uses outside of the stone industry.
"For our steel hammers, we use billet materials more and more, as the cost of forging low quantity items becomes uneconomical. It’s a better product, too, as it gets processed on CNC machinery, not just stamped and roughly ground up by hand.
"Some tools get forged from the billet, such as the curved punch hammer, then CNC processed for the eye cut-out, making the best of both methods."
G Gibson continues to distribute other Stone tools that support its own manufactured products, such as F+K Air Hammer, Cuturi Air Hammers, and the Gelma Woodpecker machine used for carving soft stone. The company stocks Milani Riflers and Carbide DK Abrasive products.
"We have our online shop (www.g-gibson.com) and are happy to trade with individual masons and smaller stone businesses. We are more than happy to receive calls and email enquiries, and can supply within three days for most orders and next day if we have the product already in stock."
Craig Timmins (on the left of the picture) of G Gibson & Co often has a stand at stone festivals to show his company’s masonry tools. This is him (on the left) at the event in Wells earlier this year.
G Gibson also works with many organisations directly, especially education facilities, where it can offer discounts to students and course leaders for them to supply on to their students.
"We are currently working with the Worshipful Company of Masons to help support newcomers to the sector, and both the Livery Company and G Gibson support the World Skills competitors."
In the coming year, G Gibson hopes to start selling a retail starter kit, to encourage more people into stonemasonry as a hobby or for use as a stepping stone for younger people. G Gibson intends to sell it online through sites such as eBay and selected partner companies involved in hobby supplies.
Craig says: "We also want to look at supplying stone to end users. The feedback we’ve received is that suppliers tend not to like working with end users who only want the one or two stones. We are looking to bridge that gap, working with quarries in a way they are happy to work and delivering the stones to the doors of our customers.
"Hopefully we can develop a website that allows customers to select the stone size, type, and when it is to be delivered."