Manufacturing Process for Granite Tile

Scientists estimate that the newest granite on this planet is 750 MILLION years old. Some of the commercial granites have been tested and found to be over 3 BILLION years old! Much of the Earth is made of granite, but the stone that makes your granite tiles is relatively rare because it must be cut from nodes of granite that are intact and have not been broken up by natural forces. There are 3 main components of granite - quartz, mica, and feldspar. Different granites will have varying proportons of each. The color of the granite is determined by trace elements that are in this mix

Granite blocks begin their journey to our factory by means of road or rail transportation.The raw material selected for the production of world renowned Barracuda Granite Tiles is transported directly to our blockyard, situated in Newcastle KwaZulu Natal. On arrival a 30 ton overhead Crane off loads the granite blocks.Some blocks can weigh up to 28 tons each.

B.THE CUTTING PROCESS:
The first important process after the blocks arrive is the cutting process. Ten Cutters, cut the newly arrived blocks into various sizes for slabs of specific tile sizes. These multi blade block cutters, cut with sets of blades of 24 - 30 blades per set. To get the desired slab thickness we insert spacers between the blades. We classify the granite into 5 different categories according to cutting resistance. They range from one which is like Rustenburg (classified as soft) to five which is like African Red (classified as hard). The different classes of granite determine the speed of the cutting and down feed. We can cut class 5 granite (0.3 - 0.4mm) downfeed at a speed of 1000 - 1200cm/minute. On completion of the vertical cutting, a horizontal cut is made with a single horizontal blade to cutout the slabs one by one. These slabs are then packed onto tressels in readiness of the next operation which is grinding.

C.THE GRINDING PROCESS:
Each of our 3 grinding machines is fitted with 4 rollers with diamond segments. Essentially we grind down the granite slabs to the required size before the slabs enter the polishing or flaming lines which eventually produces tile with either a polished or flamed finish.

D.THE POLISHING PROCESS:
We have two polishing lines. Each is equipped with 16 polishing heads, an 11 head multi blade cross cutter, a two stage chamfering machine and a drying station. We use different abrasive grits to polish the slabs. It is usually a 4 stage process; the cutting stage, 1st preparation, 2nd preparation and the fine polishing stage. In line with our policy of constantly monitoring quality, we examine all polished tiles for quality and gloss. After polishing, slabs are cut into tiles on a multi blade cross cutter, a roller table moves the tiles to a chamfering machine which callibrates the tiles to the correct size. The top edges along the 4 sides of the tiles are chamferd 1mm or to customer specifications. The slabs are then sent to the drying station where fans blow the tiles dry before reaching the final quality controller. The quality controller carefully inspects the tile for quality and finish. That is size, thickness, squareness and gloss or degree of polish

http://www.zongyi.cn
http://www.counter-tops.cn
http://www.slabs.cn
http://www.sinks.cn

http://zongyi.en.alibaba.com

http://www.chinasink.biz/Bathroom.asp

F.THE DRYING PROCESS:
The drying station is where fans blow the tiles dry before reaching the final quality controller. The quality controller carefully inspects the tile for quality and size calibration including, thickness, squareness and gloss or degree of polish. These tiles will ultimately be packed according to the customer specifications.

G.THE PACKAGING PROCESS:
All tiles are inspected and crated per shade of granite. First grade tiles are free from scratches, chipped corners and cracks. Second Grade Tiles are tiles with defects identified by the quality controller. These defects may be uneven bevel, poor gloss, flaws in the material or chipped edges and corners. First grade tiles are packed into polystyrene boxes, cardboard boxes or loose into wooden crates. These boxes are stamped with the quality controllers identification stamp as proof of quality checks. A tile sample is placed on the top of the crate indicating colour, finish, block no, date of production and the processing line. The sample also represents the colour of the tiles inside the crate. After crating the finished tiles are then moved to the warehouse where we carry out random quality checks after we allocate numbers to the crates. The crates are then steel strapped and sealed. The crates are then allocated to orders and then loaded into 6m containers which are railed to Durban Harbour for shipment to offshore customers. Local orders are sent to customers by PX or CX containers or by road transport.