Stone Products of Santa Barbara County
Here are some general notes about rock in general, the geology of Santa Barbara County, and the stone Santa Barbara produces.
Rock Quarries, Stone Setting, and Stone Finishing
Some Frequently Asked Masonry Questions
A rock quarry, or quarry pit, is a place where natural stone (rock; mineral rock) deposits are being removed (harvested) from the ground.
The stones were formed by the pressure and heat of the earth over a period of many millennia, forming huge deposits of such natural stones as marble, granite, travertine, slate, limestone, or sandstone.
Quarried Stone has been naturally harvested, or quarried, from the ground through the use of machines and/or manpower. The quarrier is the person whose job is to extract natural stone from a stone quarry.
A Ledge Bed Quarry is a stone quarry in which random layers of the rocks may be peeled off naturally in layers. A quarry block is a rectangular unit of rough rock delivered straight from a quarry. The rock may be dressed or wire-sawn for the purposes of shipment.
A quarry cut is a rock edge produced through natural breaking either by machine or by hand, and ideally at a severe angle to the upper and lower surfaces of the rock. This is also called a snapped edge, or broken edge.
A quarry run refers to a rock that has recently come from a quarry and which has not yet been sorted or selected. Thus the individual units are of various sizes and shapes as well as colors and textures found in the source quarry.
A rock slab is a large block of stone which has been quarried and then cut, typically lengthwise, either through splitting or sawing, as the first step in the quarrying or milling of the rock, prior to further fabrication.
A rock slab typically exhibits two parallel surfaces, and common rough dimensions for a rock slab are about eight feet long by about five feet wide.
Quarry sap is the natural moisture that is found in rock deposits as well as rock that has been recently quarried.
Shaped stone is stone that has been cut and then further fabricated through carving, grinding, or other stone fabrication processing methods.
Stone Santa Barbara Information Source continued:
What are some stone setting methods?
There are many different ways to apply stone products to achieve the appearance you desire. For example, a random ashlar technique sets the rectangular or square stone so neither horizontal or vertical continuous joints form, and thus there is no particular pattern, but instead staggered and irregular.
How is natural stone finished?
The stone’s finish is the final texture achieved on the face of the stone surface for decorative purposes during fabrication.
There are various methods and tools used to finish natural stone products. Finishing machines known include the tumbler and planer while the chisels used have names like hand chipper, bush hammer, and hand tracer.
A semi-rubbed finish, for example, is achieved by either hand rubbing or machine rubbing of the stone’s high spots or rough spots on the side of the stone that will be visible (exposed). Other finish types include honed finish, chat sawn finish, and smooth finish.
The stones Santa Barbara produces are varied in many ways yet they are some of the most beautiful rocks you will ever seen, and when quarried and cut properly, the stone Santa Barbara produces is the one of the most architecturally sound and products on the market, enhancing your home's value while providing a durable, aesthetically pleasing warm and welcoming look.
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