Stone Italiana products are hallmarked by a highly advanced and carefully-controlled manufacturing process, designed to create materials suitable for high-performance, specialist functions in the construction industry. For the Stonit, Stonit+ and Marmorea collections, the composite material is based principally on quartz, and, in the case of Cosmolite, on pre-consumer recycled minerals.
The production process involves the mixing of aggregates (quartz, marble, minerals) of various grain sizes (from powder to grit with approximately 5-6 mm particles), organic dyes and structural polyester resin (to a proportion of 7%); in the finished product, the latter, in addition to its role as a binder, provides optimal values for deformation, impact and imbibition resistance specifications. In more general terms, it makes it possible to reconstruct the composite mass with physical qualities and performance exceeding those of the natural starting product.
The polyester resin, whose composition includes a 25% organic component derived from corn cultivation, is catalyzed by heat, and, by means of a computerized industrial process based on high-pressure vacuum vibro-compression, it enables the compaction of large-format slabs (120×120 cm and 140×305 cm) with differing thicknesses (1/1.3 / 2 / 3 cm), so that they can be used according to the needs of various functional applications. The production cycle compacts each single slab separately, avoiding the difficulties and expense of block cutting, the technique that is used throughout the entire natural stone sector.
In general, the mixture is first mixed and homogenized by means of computerized control units and then metred – in accordance with product thickness – between two sheets of paper on a conveyor belt that takes the product, which has not yet become solid, to the slab pressing unit. Slab hardening takes place in the catalysis chamber consisting of a tower unit with a series of heated surfaces, maintained at a temperature of 80-85°C, capable of inducing the solidification of the mixture pressed into slabs over a time span of about 30-40 minutes, half the time required for the entire slab manufacturing process.
The slabs produced in this way are then finished by means of operations performed on both sides, namely dimensional calibration, polishing, cutting, chamfering, and if necessary edge profiling, in accordance with the way in which they will be used. When finished, Stone Italiana slabs can be supplied, if necessary in large quantities, with carefully monitored, certified characteristics: constant weight, thickness, compactness, and uniformity of pattern and hue of the exposed surface.
Stone Italiana S. P. A. Tax Code | VAT No. | Company Reg. No. Di VR IT 00684880230 | share capital Euro 10,000.000 paid up Euro 8,570.099.95 | R. E. A. Verona 150830
