SkillsUSA will be offering new national college competitions for the following programs of study that support fast growing occupations: landscape architecture, civil engineering and geospatial technology.
SkillsUSA is offering the newly designed post-secondary only program at the community college level. This program would provide colleges with a mechanism to validate their college's technical education programs and measure them against national standards. The new SkillsUSA program will allow interested individuals to join SkillsUSA and enter competitive events at the national level and outside the traditional SkillsUSA boundaries. In order to enter a national skills competition, students would have to meet a qualifying score via online testing developed by industry professionals.
More than 280,000 student and instructors join SkillsUSA annually, organized into more than 14,700 sections and 54 state and territorial associations. SkillsUSA is an applied method of instruction for preparing America's high performance workers in public career and technical programs. For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.
Global Granite Offers New Precision Tools
Global Granite & Marble, a St. Louis-based wholesale importer and distributor of natural stone products, is expanding its imports to include two new pieces of equipment for small- and mid-size fabricators.
The Global Vanity MasterTM and the Global Easy EdgerTM are the latest precision instruments for fabricators who want to keep pace with orders for natural stone applications specified by architects, designers and custom homebuilders. The tools are available in North America, exclusively through Global Granite & Marble.
The Global Easy Edger can grind, shape and polish up to 21 edge profiles, from 3/4-inch to 2-1/2 inches thick, and up to 78 trim details up to four inches wide. The machine can accommodate up to 10-inch blades that can make rips up to eight inches wide. A rear-loading table allows a fabricator to handle a slab as big as 48 inches wide and 123 inches long. The head of the machine has a 90-degree rotation capability to increase flexibility for the fabricator.
The Global Vanity Master has a free-motion articulating arm that can route, shape and polish slab edges up to 78 inches long and 48 inches wide. It will help a fabricator create precision edges for sink and vanity bowls as well as the popular curved-end countertops found in kitchens, bars and offices.
Bonstone Releases
TouchstoneTM Accessories
Bonstone Materials Corporation has released a DVD that provides an extensive look at the Touchstone family of products. The DVD begins with a brief history of the company. Then it features a menu where specific products can be chosen for in-depth technical information, as well as video demonstrations on uses, mixing and application. Not only is this DVD the perfect tool for installers and fabricators, but also industry professionals who are seeking product knowledge and training on Touchstone products.
Bonstone has also introduced the Touchstone Quik Set fabrication shop heat lamp for cold and wet stone needs. This heavy-duty, moveable lamp is designed and tested to work with Touchstone epoxies to improve cure speed and quality.
OSHA Moves to Prevent and Reduce Injuries
The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a new outreach and enforcement effort aimed at preventing and reducing injuries, illnesses and fatalities among workers in New England's cut stone products industries.
The new regional emphasis program focuses on workplaces that cut, shape, finish, handle or distribute granite, marble and other natural, engineered or other stone products. The industry, primarily made up of smaller employers, has grown rapidly in the past few years, prompted by an increased demand for countertops and other stone products.
During the summer months, OSHA offices in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island conducted outreach activities to inform industry employers and employees of the program, promote their awareness of the hazards common to their workplaces, and provide information on possible abatement methods. This included contacting employers to encourage them to schedule a free safety and health audit by their state consultation service.
Adirondack Natural Stone Opens
Two New Quarries
In addition to its current six quarries, Adirondack Natural Stone announced the opening of two new granite quarries. With this addition, Adirondack will be offering some new colors, including: Hawthorn, a blend of gray, white and black striations, with pink colored crystalline mixed throughout; and Heritage, a mixture of black, gray and white striations. Both granites have mica mixed in, making it sparkle in the sunlight. These will be offered in mosaic veneer, roughly squared and rectangular, ashlar, uniwall and wallstone.
Luck Stone's Augusta Plant Celebrates
30 Years of Safety
Luck Stone Corporation celebrated 30 years without a lost-time injury at its Augusta plant in Staunton, Va.
Almost 100 people attended the safety ceremony, which was held at the Holiday Inn Golf and Conference Center in Staunton. Attendees included county board of supervisors; officials and inspectors from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA); the Department of Mines Minerals and Energy (DMME), including its director of mineral mining, Conrad Spangler; the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance (VTCA); and the National Stone and Sand Gravel Association (NSSGA). Additionally, Spangler presented a letter and certificate on behalf of the governor's office congratulating the plant on its safety record.
Luck Stone Corporation is one of the largest, private, family-owned and -operated aggregate companies in the United States, and is the 12th largest of crushed stone in the nation.
WALKER ZANGER Introduces New Bathroom Vanity Collection
As homeowners have discovered the pleasures of spas and boutique hotels, they have often dreamt of bringing these experiences home. The WALKER ZANGER Bathroom Vanity Collection allows them to do just that, for it is the world's first collection of vanities, washstands and consoles that are designed to perfectly complement natural stone.
With 12 designs available in a total of 22 different variations, the collection embraces a wide variety of cultural and stylistic influences, ranging from American Neoclassicism and Hollywood Regency to Art Deco.
Park Industries Introduces New Products
The Park Industries® has introduced a new traveling bridge saw and a thin stone veneer machine.
The PYTHON II traveling bridge saw is extremely simple to operate. The simple, touch-screen interface allows operators to program the saw with no previous computer control or software experience. It's that easy. The program guides operators through set-ups and cutting cycles faster than manual processes available on the market. In addition, the PYTHON II can run unattended, resulting in significant labor savings for owners.
With the capabilities of handling a 78" to 100" diameter diamond blade, the PYTHON II can saw stone up to 42" in depth. The arbor drive is available in a 50- or 75-horsepower motor with soft start to assure high production sawing. The variable, cross head travel speed of five to 40 feet per minute allows operators the flexibility in determining the blade travel speed based upon various stone types.
The bridge, cross travel, and raise and lower assemblies are rigid structures utilizing high-precision, round slide bearings on replaceable, case-hardened chrome shafts resulting in precision cutting, lower diamond cost and vibration-free sawing. The gantry travel drive has a variable-speed, dual-drive motor with speed reducers, rack and pinion drive, and brakes on both sides. This system secures the gantry position to achieve accurate stone thickness. The laser light on the bridge shines a consistent width across the entire slab length, displaying where the blade will traverse. This allows for a one-person set-up because it simplifies cut location alignment. In addition, the primary load carrying bearings and shafts on the cross travel are submerged in oil and protected by solid way covers, which results in lower maintenance costs and few mechanical adjustments.
The all-new ThinStone® TXS-4500 stone veneer fabrication system creates thin veneer corners and flats from processed sandstone or limestone, either from split-face or natural-finish materials. This remarkable, revolutionary system is designed to dramatically reduce production costs as well as significantly increase production capabilities.
This revolutionary system can process soft limestone to the hardest sandstone. The ThinStone TXS-4500 can cut stone up to 12 inches high, two to 24 inches long, and up to 12 inches thick. The system has the flexibility to provide finished product 12 inches high, two to 24 inches long, and 1/2-inch to two inches thick.
Park's new ThinStone TXS-4500 is a revolutionary approach to improving and increasing the production of thin stone veneer corners. By giving fabricators a better, more profitable method of creating finished products, the ThinStone TXS-4500 system is helping to make natural veneer stone become more affordable and more available for residential and commercial construction uses.
Superior Stone Products Introduces
New Stone Protection
As the stone industry is being forced to provide solvent-free stone sealers to meet VOC requirements, several companies have developed solvent-free products to comply with these new regulations. However, there have not been any products created that perform as well as the original solvent-based products... until now!
Superior Stone Products is proud to introduce ZERO-Ultimate Stone Protector. ZERO will erase any doubts you may have regarding VOC-compliant stone sealers.
ZERO is manufactured using materials specifically designed for use with natural stone. Our "competitors" use off-the-shelf products that are mass-produced for other industries. Superior is a true chemical company manufacturing our own fluoropolymers, designed to actually bond with natural stone. Utilizing our exclusive fluoropolymer technology, ZERO provides unequaled protection against staining and is VOC compliant. ZERO is water-clear, has a fresh scent and provides ultimate protection against oil- and water-based stains. Used annually, ZERO will protect your natural stone investment by allowing you enough time to safely wipe up spills preventing your stone from staining. ZERO is available in 24-ounce spray bottles, quarts, gallons, and five- and 55-gallon containers.
Global Granite & Marble Names
New Sales Engineer
Jialin Qi has joined Global Granite & Marble as a sales engineer.
Qi brings seven years of sales, marketing and engineering experience, both domestic and international, to the Global Granite & Marble team. His newly created position will support sales of two types of machinery he helped introduce to the U.S. market: the Global Easy EdgerTM and the Global Vanity MasterTM.
As sales engineer, Qi will offer technical advice to customers and help the machinery manufacturer improve design and quality. His responsibilities include machine demonstration, customer assistance with problem-solving and post-sales technical, and training support.
Prior to joining Global Granite & Marble as a full-time employee, Qi worked as a summer intern for the company during graduate school, communicating with Chinese suppliers, developing the company website, and implementing new methods of inventory control. He's also worked as a consultant with Allsteel Inc. of Muscatine, Iowa. Qi also brings experience from his work as marketing manager for Guiyang Tristar Machinery Co. Ltd., Guiyang, Guizhou, China; and founder, president and project manager for Shanghai Wudai Digital Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China.
Qi received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. He also earned a master's degree in operations management from the Henry B. Tippie School of Management, Iowa City, Iowa.
Valders Stone & Marble Receives
MSHA Award
Valders Stone and Marble Inc. is proud to be a recipient of a second consecutive "Certificate of Honor" awarded by Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in Washington, D.C. The award honors the employees and the company for more than 203,000 man-hours of quarry operation without any fatal accidents or permanent total disability injuries. These consecutive certificates of honor span a period of time from 1999 to 2004. The latest honor was bestowed in April of 2006.
Valders Stone and Marble, Inc., a division of Eden Stone Company is a quarrier and manufacturer of dimensional cut limestone building products used for residential, institutional, commercial, and governmental facilities, both nationally and internationally. The quarry also produces rip-rap stone for public and private projects that is used for shoreline and harbor protection, primarily for projects located on the shores of local lakes and waterways.
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