FEATURE BUILDING P The experts at Neolith talk us through the fabrication
Sintered stone has become a go-to surfacing choice for architects, designers, specifiers and fabricators.
A 100% natural material made up of granite, glass minerals and organic oxides, it is manufactured using a process known as sintering, which replicates the millennia over which natural stone is formed in a matter of hours.
The Seminal Material
Traditionally used for manufacturing ceramic objects, sintering is a process used in various industrial fields. In the case of sintered stone, natural materials are ground to a powder and placed under high heat and pressure to produce the desired results.
This process creates thin, lightweight, and extremely strong stone slabs. Although visually these surfaces seem similar to ceramic tiles, characteristically they’re very different. While sintered stone is stain, scratch, chemical, and heat resistant, traditional ceramics will only share one of these individual characteristics, not all.
These distinct differences begin with the raw minerals used. Although the materials used for both sintered stone and ceramics are sourced similarly, the raw materials used to create sintered stone are purer and more refined, which ensures a more uniform final product.
Additionally, the machinery used to process these raw materials is bespoke, designed specifically to produce sintered stone. Advanced equipment is essential within the production process to guarantee a high-quality surface.
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Another key difference is how the raw materials are treated. Sintered stone can only be produced when these materials are pressed at a significantly higher pressure compared to ceramics, creating a much denser result. Following this, the pressed material is baked for almost two hours—a much longer process than that of traditional ceramics, which usually includes 40-minute cycles.
WHILE SINTERED STONE CAN BE MADE TO LOOK
LIKE GRANITE AND MARBLE, THESE MATERIALS IN THEIR NATURAL STATE DO NOT
POSSESS ALL THE ROBUST CHARACTERISTICS THAT SINTERED STONE DOES.
A longer baking cycle creates an end product with a stronger, non-absorbent surface. It is these enhancements in both raw materials and production techniques that result in the superior technical characteristics associated with sintered stone.
www.tomorrowstileandstone.co.uk
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