Continued

Although major companies supplying machinery to the stone industry in the UK have grown a lot with the expansion of the market over more than decade and new companies have entered the sector, Pisani have staunchly defended their position as the largest of the industry’s suppliers from their headquarters near Matlock in Derbyshire and their depots in London.
Their flagship is GMM, the brand seen in workshops throughout the country and considered by many to be the benchmark against which other saws are measured. Last year GMM introduced the Litox, a five-axes saw carrying discs up to 825mm. It has a high-speed brushless motor, high resolution encoders and rolling elements to provide precision movement for cutting in any direction, including complex profiles and curves. The basic machines costs more than £80,000 and there is a long list of optional extras.
GMM will be showing the Litox, as well as the Brio and the Blizz, on their stand in Verona this year, but have no plans to launch any new models, although they will be offering software upgrades mainly involving 3D processing.
They are also adding a numerically controlled lathe attachment for saws. It incorporates a brushless motor drive for the lathe and interpolates the rotation of the lathe with the axis of the saw.
A further recent addition from GMM was the option to have profiling capabilities on the Eura 35TS for the modest additional sum of £3,000.
GMM have bought shares in the company Cemar, who make production lines and machinery for cutting, calibrating and polishing marble and granite. Roberto Vianello, GMM Sales Director, says the move gives GMM the opportunity to add Cemar’s range of polishing machines to their portfolio.
Two years ago Pisani reached an agreement with Intermac UK to sell the Italian CNC workcentres in Britain while Intermac continued to provide the technical back-up.
In response to the requirements of the UK market, Intermac have now developed an additional function on their Master 30 that allows companies to create linear drainer flutes using diamond shaping and polishing wheels as opposed to routers.
Being represented by the sales team at Pisani has made it easier for Intermac to make further investment in their service and support structure to further improve their after-sales support for new and existing customers. Both companies say they are confident, in spite of the economy, of a successful exhibition in Verona when Intermac will be displaying CNC machinery ranging from the compact Master 23 through to the five axes Master 45.
Along with saws and workcentres, the other piece of kit many workshops find indispensible is an edge polisher and Pisani offer the range from Marmo Meccanica. Several new versions have been introduced over the past few years, the latest being the LCR 7133-SE for producing flat edges up to 40mm thick with chamfers top and bottom or pencil rounds. It includes calibration for chamfering and has a price of around £60,000.
Pisani’s offer on stone splitting machines is the Techno Split, and they say enquiries about these machines that are in the Steinex league have been high this year, with clients requesting complete production lines rather than just stand alone splitters.
And, says Derrick Fretwell, Machinery Sales Manager at Pisani, there has been particular interest in the Techno Split automatic pitching machine that pitches all four edges automatically, saving a considerable amount of time and man power.
Tel: 01629 823481   www.pisanisps.co.uk

National Masonry in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, are offering a low cost entry level to the kitchen worktop market through the Italian Technomac machines they are now selling.
Andy Bell, Director of National Masonry, says that in spite of a price of under £18,000 for the manual workcentre, it has a cast iron frame that is completely rigid for accurate milling, drilling, internal edge polishing, external edge detailing and polishing, producing sunken drainers and face polishing. “Normally something of this stature would be £25-30,000,” says Andy, who obtained the Technomac agency after seeing the company exhibiting at Marmomacc in Verona.
And, indeed, National Masonry are still selling the German Galeski worktop processing machine in that price bracket, depending on the options. Andy says: “You can even have spotlights on it if you want, although I haven’t had any boy racers asking for them yet.”
Also helping companies get started is the Mondial Mec Manta from National Masonry. The block cutter version can carry a disc up to 1m producing a cut of up to 380mm and has a price range of £8,500 for a 1500mm long saw cut to £9,500 for a 2m cut. The semi-automatic bridge saw Mantas, of which National Masonry have sold three in the past three months, have rollers in the bed, laser positioning, tilting and turning head and self-circulating water tanks. With a price of less than £19,000, they come in under the Cobalms that National Masonry also sell and which start with the semi-automatic D21 at £23,000, although it can be upgraded to automatic.
The latest from Cobalm is the D13R, that Andy says has had an extremely successful launch with one client already having bought a second. Cutting in any direction, including circles, the D13 is well engineered with a good scope of software. The price range is
£40-50,000.
But Andy says the two products in the worktop market he sells more of than any other are not machines, but kits for protecting and repairing worktops. The Sink Hole Saver clamps for protecting worktops that sell for between £400 and £1,000 per set are his best seller followed by the Stonelux worktop repair kit, now available in a compact version that is £350 less than the £1,200 of the full kit.
Andy can be contacted on his mobile (07967 385811) or at his office (number below).
Tel: 01388 488900   www.nationalmasonry.com

The first automatic version of the Kolb Genius stone workcentre, called the Genius Plus, will be among the latest developments being shown by the German manufacturers at Marmomacc in Verona next month. Kolb are also adding two new bridge saws, the EasyStar and the TopStar, that they hope to have ready for Verona.
Kolb are represented in the UK by Combined Masonry Supplies based in Bradford, who will be available on the Kolb stand at Marmomacc.
Genius Plus is the big brother of the manual Genius introduced in 2002. More than 250 of them have been sold since then with the UK the largest single market. The Genius Light was added later, with an input in the development from Richard Chandler of Combined Masonry Supplies. The Genius is about £30,000 and the Light is £10,000 less.
The new Genius Plus bridges the gap between hand-operated machines and CNC processing centres, with conversion from hand-operation to CNC and back again achieved simply by the push of a button, promises Martin Kolb. The CNC can be used for operations such as cutting out and polishing the hole for a sink (which takes a long time by hand) and hand operation for easy and fast polishing of draining boards, for example.
The EasyStar is similar to the K2-Star, which is Kolb’s best selling saw in the UK, but with a swivel head (0-370°) rather than a turning table. It is a space-saving compact bridge saw with a tilting saw table. It has a 400mm blade run off a 20HP (15kW) motor. Being a single unit, installation takes just a few hours.
TopStar is a five axes CNC bridge saw with all the bells and whistles. It can be linked to CAD programs such as AutoCAD via a DXF file. The head swivels (0-370°) and tilts (0-90°) for mitre cuts and milling. And it can drill holes using the specially designed motor shaft as a drill holder.
The TopStar can be equipped with hydraulic tilting for loading slabs and hydraulic rollers for easy positioning of the slab. The bridge can be mounted on masonry or steel walls. It can carry a blade up to 800mm powered by a motor up to 27HP (20kW) with adjustable speed.
This year Combined masonry Supplies installed the first complete Kolb production line in the UK at Montpellier Marble in Cheltenham (Montpellier were featured in the July issue of Natural Stone Specialist).
The 26m long line starts with a Bluestar DT-3300/3 bridge saw with a tilting and turning table, goes on to a K4-600 cross cut saw to produce the lengths required and through a KBL-2 edge polisher to a Genius 3000 manual workcentre via a drill to add the tap holes.
The whole line, including water recycling plant, lighting, installation and training represented an investment of £200,000, which Montpellier Managing Director Eve Iravani said represented the right level of investment for their regional business. They also felt it was the right level of sophistication, being easy to learn to operate.
Montpellier started in fireplaces and have expanded out into other areas of stone interiors. Worktops were the latest move but they don’t expect to be supplying more than five or six a week and felt the manual workcentre was precisely what they needed for that level of production.
Combined Masonry Supplies also sell the smaller ranges of Italian Metalquattro Tigers that come in below the Kolb sizes at prices between £2,300 for a bench saw up to £6,500 for a 3m long saw with a tilting head. They are generally considered good value for money.
Tel: 01274 730100   www.masonrysupplies.co.uk

It has been a tremendous year for the Waters Group in Liskeard, Cornwall, they say, not withstanding the economic climate. They say they have had particular interest in their tool handling equipment and accessories. “Most of our customers are very busy and have good sales so far this year,” says Daniel Waters.
Waters Group sell the French-made Thibaut machines in the UK and will be helping to man the Thibaut stand to address enquiries from UK customers in Verona.
New from Thibaut is the T108 XS, which is a less expensive version of the standard T108S, and the T508, which is a compact machine for polishing, texturing, bush hammering and engraving. Available with auto or manual head changing, the T508 has a tilting table for loading slabs measuring up to 3500 x 2200mm.
Other new developments from Thibaut include a wizard for the TCAD/TCAM software to make drawing and programming even easier; internal polishing of rectangular sinks; and flat or edge polishing with a new ‘B’ head
Among the machines Thibaut will have on show on their stand in Verona is the T108S V4 manual workcentre, which will be alongside two of their CNC workcentres, the T812 and the T818, and the TC750 CNC high production sawing centre. There will be live demonstrations.
Another of the Waters Group principals in Verona is Emmedue, who will be exhibiting their new Discovery Variaxis CNC saw. Visitors to the stand should check out the build quality and easy programming, says Daniel.
Prodim, who make the Proliner digital templater that Waters supply, are introducing new Countertop Software that allows measurements taken on site to be presented for customer approval and sign-off and used for accurate costings.
The new software allows the operator to store and use sink drawings, hob cut-outs, joints, job notes and material types.
Prodim have developed a range of digital templaters that they believe will accommodate most budgets, from relatively simple 2D versions up to sophisticated 3D versions. The Proliner can be set up at any location and in any position. All you need to do is turn on and measure.
Other companies represented by Waters in the UK exhibiting at Marmomacc in Verona include Righetti lifting equipment, Martini Aeroimpianti dust extraction and non flocculent water treatment plants, CMG edge polishing machines and Marmo Elettromeccanica diamond tools and hand-operated units for machining worktops. Marmo Elettromeccanica promise plenty of special offers during the exhibition.
To talk to Waters Group representatives during  Marmomacc, contact Daniel (0796 821 8190) or Jim (0796 663 0015).
Tel: 0845 658 5758   www.watersgroupltd.co.uk

Laser Products Europe are a rareity in Verona – a British-based company exhibiting in their own right. The product they are selling is an American digital templater – and they are selling it throughout Europe, with companies in Spain, France, Sweden and Ireland, as well as England, already having purchased units.
Laser Products Europe buy the machines in US dollars and sell them in euros and pounds. While the pound has weakened against the dollar the euro has strengthened. The outcome is that the sterling price has not increased as a result of exchange rate fluctuations.
However, a new version of the templater has been launched (and will be on show in Verona) at £1,100 more than the £7,800 list price of the original. The latest version is the LT55XL, which runs on Sampson Q1 Windows-based software and has more processing power than the original LT55, although is still a 2D templater to keep it simple to operate and less expensive to buy. Good news for those who bought the original version is that it can be up-dated to the XL version for only the difference in price – ie £1,100.
Carl Sharkey, who heads Laser Products Europe, had teamed up with Phil Haith as Stone Industry Supplies Ltd (not to be confused with the Irish suppliers of Steinex croppers) to offer machinery including Prussiani CNC machines and Sasso edge polishers. But that association has ended and Carl is now concentrating on the templating machines.
As well as the LT55 he also supplies the Swiss-made Hekotech photographic templating system that uses a digital camera to convert physical templates into DXF files for operating CNC saws and workcentres. In the UK they sell for about £6,000 and the eight British companies who have so far bought one say it can produce 20-25% time savings in getting the information from the template into a CNC machine.
Carl will be on his stand in Verona and can be contacted on his mobile (0791 284 9749).
Tel:01484 723730   www.laserproductseurope.com

Van Voorden saws are still seen in the workshops of quarries and traditional limestone, sandstone and slate processing workshops all over the country. And they are still maintained by the Van Voorden successor, Maveco, who can also upgrade them with the latest control technology.
Henry Bohncke runs Maveco from a 1,800m2 factory in  the Netherlands and these days he and his 15 staff spend most of their time providing bespoke solutions for individual customers, although they are still happy to supply standard saws and will adapt them to particular requirements.
Maveco have spent the past year developing and installing a production line as a major part of a 72million factory investment for a company in the Netherlands called Holonite, who make door steps, because most houses in Holland have boundary stones (or man-made alternatives).
The line automatically sizes and drills the steps according to the relevant building regulations. It produces a step every 45 seconds, replacing 15 people who it was always difficult to recruit because it was not interesting work. The Maveco line will have paid for itself in three years.
Next on the books is a major project in Senegal, although Maveco still have time to make and install a bespoke bridge saw for Portland limestone company Albion. Albion wanted a saw that would fit on to the existing walls of a bridge saw that they wanted to replace and called on Maveco to provide it.
“We have now a very flexible operation. I’m very happy with it. It gives me time to deal with customers and be involved in new projects. We have a good relationship with the companies we deal with,” says Henry.
He says he does not believe the weakness of the pound against the euro has affected his sales in the UK because Maveco machinery is keenly priced. A standard 1200mm bridge saw sells in the UK now for even less than it did a year ago at £38,000.
Maveco have developed a mobile workshop so that their engineers can go anywhere and stay as long as necessary to complete a project such as a factory move.
One of Maveco’s UK customers is Doulting Quarry in Somerset, who are featured from page 56 in this issue of NSS.
Tel: 0031 497 383441   www.maveco.nl

One of the most familiar faces in machinery supply is Cesare Lopez of London-based firm A J Lopez & Co, best known for Terzago, Achilli and Donatoni saws, Omag CNC workcentres, Montressor edge polishers, Fantini quarry equipment and Fraccaroli & Balzan water treatment plant.
The range of machines for different sectors of the market that Cesare sells has, he says, kept him busy so far, with more Fantini saws being sold to quarries and mines for extraction and two more Terzagos sold this year. Coming up, Donatoni promise a new crosscut saw at Verona and new from Fantini is the Turner, a chain saw for splitting blocks on the quarry floor without drilling and using plugs and feathers. Cesare says he is looking at supplying diamond wire sawing and waterjet cutting equipment to quarries as well.
Cesare is also talking to Omag about a smaller, three axes CNC workcentre for the UK market. Omag have produced some of the largest and most sophisticated of CNC machines used in the stone industry. But Cesare has been impressed by some of the new machines on to the market and wants to offer something similar to companies looking for much simpler machines.
He says he did take a look at some of the Chinese machinery now on offer, but remains to be convinced. “Some of the machines from China look identical to Italian machines until you look closely,” he says.
Tel: 0208 544 9980

Although the stone industry in the UK has never undergone the same level of consolidation as many other industries, the worktop sector in particular has lent itself to the growth of highly automated, dominant companies capable of producing large volumes at competitive prices. One of the biggest is J Rotherham in Yorkshire, featured from page 46 of this issue of NSS.
It is this sector that Ebor, in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, have set out their stall to supply with their Breton CNC workcentres and Commanduli edge polishers. Ebor Director Dave Beckett is straight forward about it: “We don’t have anything to offer the guy just starting into the industry.”
Coming from the glass industry, Ebor have seen the process of consolidation before and believe they will see it accelerate now in the stone industry as the economic climate worsens and smaller, less efficient companies drop by the wayside – although, of course, it is not always smaller companies that are the least efficient. It probably depends how much of an advantage expensive machinery provides and how much of its capacity can be kept productive.
More frequently those at the top of the market are not buying single machines but entire, fully automated production lines. Dave says that one advantage of increasing sophistication on such production lines is not only a reduction in labour but also more finished product per slab and less waste. As margins tighten that could prove vital.
Major companies continue to be attracted by Breton’s innovations – the UK’s first Golden Groove has been installed and two more are on order. The first Breton Duals are also up and running and the UK’s first CombiCut is now on order.
Golden Groove is a machine that cuts a perfect 90º groove in granite and quartz so that the surface can be ‘folded’ over to create a seamless return and create a built up edge that isn’t built up and can be as deep as you like. The Dual is a twin-tabled CNC workcentre with tables going in and out at either side so one can be prepared while the machine processes the slabs on the other. It means the machine can work continuously. And the CombiCut is a combined bridge saw and waterjet unit. It was launched several years ago but, until now, had not caught the imagination of UK producers.
Breton promise more innovations for Marmomacc in Verona but are keeping them under wraps for the launch there.
There are also rumours of something new from Commanduli in Verona although Dave Beckett cannot confirm them. The latest development from them was the addition of a cutter to put a groove in the underside of worksurfaces for fitting glass fibre or metal strengtheners.
Tel: 01706 869691   www.ebor.co.uk

The growing housing market since 1995 was good news for British quarries because it was accompanied by planners in traditional stone areas insisting that new housing should use local limestones and sandstones for the outer skin. Builders did not like using it to begin with but some eventually even began to appreciate it as a building material.
They were helped on their way to that opinion by quarries gearing up to provide stone that was more like bricks, being sawn, then cropped to give it a pitched face then tumbled to give it the natural look.
The machinery many quarries have used for that process has come from Wells Wellcut in Deeping St Nicholas in Lincolnshire. Their sturdy, reliable and easy to use saws and croppers – and more recently tumblers – were just what many British quarry operators and masonry companies needed.
And the fact that Luke Wells and his team were able to make the machines to order to the particular requirements of customers was an added bonus.
Wells have been flat out for several years and while Luke says the lead times for their machines have fallen, in August they still had four saws to build and 10 croppers.
In June they produced their 3,000th cropper, most of them made by Scott, who has worked at Wells for the past 20 years and is in charge of cropper production. “We had a couple of pints to celebrate that night,” says Luke, who adds: “When we started people used to say ‘what’s a cropper?’.”
Andy is in charge of saw production and both of them have three people working with them. There are also three machinists making the components, although Luke says everyone multi-tasks with whatever needs doing, including him – he is very much hands on in the workshop as well as running the business.
Wells have faced the same increases in the prices of steel as everyone else but they are holding the prices of their machines at the moment – that’s about £30,000 for a fully automatic cropper and £30,500 for a 2.2m Wellcut saw that has 12tons of steel in it.
And, says Luke: “When you’re a British manufacturer you have to pay people reasonable money – and I wouldn’t want it to be any other way. It’s not all about money. I’ve got a passion for machinery.”
The machines have developed over the years with some of the innovations patented. More sophisticated controls have also been added, but the Wells range is still basically the same solid, old school engineering it has always been.
Tel:017775 630627   www.wellssawsandguillotines.com

Also manufactured in the UK are Snell guillotines, in their case manufactured at Castle Cary in Somerset. The latest is the ‘W’ series, which features the Snell patented fully floating blade system that has now been proven over 10 years to deliver high yields and good quality splitting.
The ‘W’ can be moved around a quarry and used immediately thanks to its built in, low noise Yanmar 4.8HP (3.6kW) diesel motor that drives a two stage pump producing up to 40tonnes splitting force in a window that exceeds 600mm x 300mm. The hydraulic tank is also built in and visible and has a 100litre per minute valve.
Other models are floor mounted and trailer mounted, or the splitter module can be supplied on its own (that comes without skids, engine and pump system). Power options are diesel, three-phase, 240volt and 110volt.
The ‘W’ Splitter module prices start at £3,995. That is from £7,000 with a built-in diesel pack. This positions the ‘W’ series at the low end of the Snell range.
Snell Fast Pads are available for positioning stone to step up production. Long life four-edge blades are fitted as standard.
Other models in the Snell range include the ‘L’ series, which has an automatic rising lower blade as well as the floating upper blade. It has split forces up to 66tonnes and window sizes up to 760mm x 380mm. There is on-demand hydraulic conveyor feed that has achieved production rates of 40tonnes a day from sawn slab.
For heavier work, the ‘N’ series has split forces up to 135tonnes and window sizes of 900m x 970mm, again  with on-demand hydraulic conveyor feed.
Tom Snell says he believes customers in UK are holding back on purchases of machinery currently but that they will still need machinery that saves them time, increases their yields and minimises their use of mains power. He says that through the website he is now also receiving enquiries from abroad – and from an export point of view the weak pound makes British machinery especially attractive.
Tel:01963 351616   www.snellstonesystems.com

The British company ASM (Automated Stone Machinery), whose founder Mick Howarth claims introduced CNC machinery to the UK market with their bridge saws 30 years ago, has been put into administration by their shareholders.
Mick has set up a company called ASM Specialist Services that started trading this month (September) to maintain the hundreds of machines already in the market place and continue to supply spares for them. “Don’t worry, we’re still here,” says Mick.
He hopes shortly to be able to buy the copyright and designs of the machines so that he can continue to have them made in the UK, starting with the compact saws.
He says that the shareholders had carried ASM for 12 months when a lack of orders and difficulty in getting paid by some customers hit the company’s income.
Mick started making machinery for the stone industry in 1974, merging with Diavro Engineering in 1980 and forming Automated Stone Machinery Ltd in 1982.
He says: “I was in a bit of a daze at first, when the administrator was appointed. But after a couple of weeks I thought: bugger it, I’m going to do what I know. It’s been hectic for me since then.”
There is no website for the new company yet, but Mick can be contacted on Tel: 01204 597135. Mob: 0759 057 9788.
Tel: 01204 597135   asm.bolton@yahoo.co.uk
Irish company Stone Industry Supplies, who have been selling Steinex croppers into the UK for two years or so, have just started a promotion to cut the price of the machines in Britain in spite of the exchange rate. It is a promotional price until the end of the year.
Steinex machines, with their piano key teeth blades, vein rather than gear pumps and accepted quality of construction, are in a completely different price bracket to Wells and Snell guillotines and will not compete at that level. But they do intend to come in at a price below other Italian manufacturers.
Stone Industry Supplies, in Stradbally, Co Laois, say the Steinex machines have proved particularly popular in Ireland during the boom that the Republic has enjoyed and that more Steinex machines have been sold in Ireland than in any other single country. But the boom in Ireland is now over and Stone Industry Supplies have started promoting Steinex more aggressively in the UK. They exhibited at the Natural Stone Show in London in March and have now agreed with Steinex the price cut for Britain until the end of the year.
Stone Industry Supplies and their sister company, Diamond Saw Manufacturing, sell 20-30 products in Ireland as one of the Republic’s major suppliers to the stone processing industry. Their agencies include Prussiani CNC machines and recently they have teamed up with Bidese of Italy for the promotion of wire saws, which they say makes them the only wire saw agent based in Ireland.
With the rising cost of electricity, the company’s Technical & Marketing Director, Oliver Mitchell, sees a major future for wire saws in Ireland, especially the versatile Bidese models.
But in the UK it is the Steinex splitters and feed systems, along with Cogeim, Teka and Donatoni Quadrix machines, that they hope will capture a major slice of the market for them.
Cogeim produce shot blasting machines that have been introduced to the stone industry in recent years, although many companies have yet to appreciate the quality of the bush hammered and sand blast effects that can be achieved and the labour that producing these finishes in this way can save.
Tekas are stone crushers and the Quadrix is a five axes saw from Donatoni. It can, say Stone Industry Supplies, be used to produce intricate mouldings without any manual finishing needed. Donatoni say a new saw, called the Sprinter 625, will be launched in Verona next month in four and five axes versions. It has been designed specifically to work quickly in the worktop and vanity unit market. It has linear guides and central automatic lubrication. The head carries discs from 300 to 625mm and turns through 360º. A tilting table is an optional extra.
Stone Industry Supplies are primarily an engineering company. They not only offer machines and equipment, but also advise on production layouts and best practice – and their technical and research departments are always working on new ways to improve customers’ production efficiency. They offer full technical back-up and servicing in the UK.
Last year, in partnership with Steinex and Penta, they delivered their first automatic walling line, which splits and pitches stone on all four sides every five seconds. It was pictured in this magazine in November being commissioned at Howley Park in Yorkshire for Stancliffe.
Stone Industry Supplies’ latest project has been to develop for one of their UK sandstone customers a splitter that produces radiused wall capping (copings). The prototype has just been completed and Oliver Mitchell says the results are a complete success.
The intention now is to increase the power required for the harder limestone and granite markets before the end of the year.
And Oliver says they hope to have another major brea