This journey took us to Collin Tile and Stone store located at 4715 Clovis Highway. It was started by Tim Collins and his wife, Ava back in 1984 out of their home garage. The tour included the current showroom, the slab storage area, and the new showroom back storage area that housed more of their slabs of rock. Their specialty is granite, marble, travertine, limestone, various types of tile, engineered stone, & laminates.
When we toured the back operations each of the various machines were discussed. The first machine that was viewed is called the (Gravellona Machine Marmo) GMM Bridge saw. This saw moves back and forth on a track and can cut at an angle while the table holding various sizes of slab can spin 360 degrees to accommodate any type of cut necessary. Two of the most recent machines added to the production line is the CNC machine which stands for Computer Numerical Control. Through the acquisition of the CNC machines creation of intricate shapes, increased availability of profiles and patterns of edges was made possible.
While there Tim also talked about the different finishes that can be put on a stone. They are polished, honed, and leathered. The polished is typical finish that is seen everywhere. Then there is the honed finish. The finish is usually a matte or satin. Commercial floors are an excellent choice for this type of finish. A leathered finish is achieved by running a high heat source such as a blow torch, across the slab so that flakes of stone pop off. After a slab is chosen, templates of the pieces are arrange onto the slab in order to check how the veining of said slab will look inside all the cut-out pieces. A new engineered stone product that has just come out was shown to us while on the tour also. It is called Cambria. The new stone requires no sealing, polishing, or reconditioning is needed. Countertops can be just washed with warm water. Its creation comes from natural quarts.
On November 1 our journey started at the showroom of Collins Tile and Stone business. A company that was started back in1984 with his wife, Ava, inside the garage of their house. The GMM Bridge saw and the CNC machine were viewed while getting a tour of the production line. A polish, matte, or leathered finish can be put on a stone. Templates are used to determine the best usage of the veinage of a slab. Cambria is a new engineered stone that has hit the market.
References
(1) Notes from field trip
(3) www.rgnytiles.com/cambria/
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