When it comes to upgrading the elegance or wow factor of your home, it’s hard to beat a show stopping installation of natural stone. You can’t go wrong, whether it’s a kitchen countertop, bathroom vanity, or a stunning fireplace surround! However, the installation process traditionally involved a fair amount of guesswork and a margin for error. But Imagine getting a chance to look at your finished project before we even make a single cut! That’s today’s reality, thanks to digital production methods. Let’s take a look at what this means for you!
Unlocking Precision with Digital Innovation
Here at Rocky Mountain Stone, we know that precision is a hallmark of craftsmanship. With decades of experience under our belts, you won’t find us shying away from modern solutions that can take results to the next level. You deserve results where every cut is precise, and every seam seamlessly blends into the next. Those are just some of the effects of digital innovation in natural stone fabrication. But how exactly do we get there?
The Technical Breakdown
Let’s take a closer look at the digital process that takes natural stone from our desktop to your countertop:
- Laser Templating: For starters, all of the templating is done with a laser (LIDAR) templating device that collects data points for the size of each piece of countertop. This tool gives us an accurate reading of all the nooks and crannies, so to speak. Then, we “connect the dots” to create a line drawing of the actual layout of the counters.
- CAD Rendering: Now is the time for our skilled CAD technicians to spring into action. Using the precise measurements from the laser templating device, our CAD tech creates the countertop file, which includes off-sets for overhangs, sinks & faucet holes, joint locations, and radius corners where needed. Once the final drawing is complete, we’re ready to lay out the pieces on the slab material.
- Prepping the Layout: Let’s look at how the layout portion of the process starts. When we receive material that you’ve selected for a job or when we receive material for our inventory, we immediately take a calibrated photograph of the slab. After the drawing is finalized with cutouts, offsets, and radius shapes, we send the line drawing to one of our most important layout tools: the SlabSmith program.
- Seamless Integration: Within SlabSmith, the CAD tech imports the images of the selected slabs and virtually lays out the countertop pieces on the image of the slab, adjusting them for a perfect fit of size, veining, and color. The customer can review and approve the layout before your job is ever cut! The accuracy of this system is incredible, with the laser templating accurate to within 1/64” over 20 ft. and the layout accuracy within 1/8” over 10 ft. Once the layout is approved, the CAD tech then exports the layout file to a “CAM” program (Computer Aided Machining), which creates tool paths for the saw to cut the job.
- Making the Final Cut: Our CNC saw is a combination water-jet, and traditional circular blade diamond saw that follows the tool paths created within the CAM program. The circular saw makes all the straight cuts, and all the radius cuts are made with the waterjet. A typical job takes the CNC Saw less than an hour per slab to get cut to size.
Countertops Redefined
So, what does this digital process mean for your countertops?
- Natural Stone Fabrication, Perfected: From granite to marble to quartzite, our digital process ensures that every natural stone countertop is crafted with unbelievable precision. As professional stone fabricators we can say: seamless never looked so good!
- CNC Machining Mastery: Get as fancy as you want! Whether it’s intricate edge profiles or custom shapes, our CNC Sawjets work with surgical precision.
- Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed: We get a kick out of how the digital process gives you yet another way to be involved in your dream project. With digital renderings, you can see and approve the layout before a single cut is made, giving you peace of mind with your result.
If you value precision, digital production is one of the best methods for your stonework project, especially when fabricating natural stone or quartz countertops. The team at RMS have over 20 years of experience with our current system, and we all look forward to working with you to make your home the showpiece you deserve, one immaculate countertop at a time. Visit us online at www.rmstone.com or give us a call at 505.345.8518 to schedule an appointment today.