Masonry Magazine June 1965 Page. 24
A New
Sized
Veneer
Stone
A new development in the stone industry that provides mason contractors with sized veneer stone for easier and faster installation.
Photograph above shows the stone being quarried. The natural bed of the stone serves as the cleaving point. Benches are approximately 3'6" wide and from 8 to 40 long. Heights of specific layers will vary from to 4 feet, however, only the heights from are used for the Sized Veneer. Each specific height in the length of bench is broken into pieces approximately 3' 6" wide by 4 feet long as shown in the lower right hand corner of the photograph. The stones are then transported to the cutting machine.
Photo at the loft: The cutting machine has one piece under equalizer jaw about to be cut. Piece in the foreground has been broken into a strip. After cutting, the stone is inspected to insure beds are reasonably smooth. If not, they are pointed down. Then they are inspected to make sure the face is relatively perpendicular. Hand pitching will straighten out any foults here. After this process the piece is measured three times to insure that it is true from end to end. The height is marked on the bed and it proceeds to a cut which snaps the ends off reasonably square. The stone is then placed on a pallet.
Photo to the right: Over 1600 tons of Sized Veneer ready for immediate shipment in the yards of the Tennessee Stone Co., Inc. This basic inventory must be maintained in order to have sufficient quantity of each height in stock. The 1600 tons equals forty 80,000 pound car loads.