Magma Granite - Dry Vein Problems

[MC]

We're finding that our clients are quite interested in a granite that goes by the name Magma or Venus.

In the past I had some difficulties keeping this stone together before getting it on the CNC or polish carts.

What are your experiences with this stone? Do some lots/shipments do better than others or can I plan on it falling apart on a regular basis? thx

[t-mobile]

Always plan o it falling apart, and when it doesnt just SMILE!

Also those big black swirls in the middle on the right.... they hate to be polished. usually have to fill with resin to get it to shine.

[Todd Luster]

I have to agree with Tony. It's the nature of this stone to repair it, but is easy to to so. Plan on it and if you can find good slabs or you end up lucky, you will do okay!!

[Nick]

I have only worked with it twice, but it was really no issues both times. Sure seems like I paid for good material though, if I remember correctly it was pricier than I thought it should have been

[Alex DiPietro]

Worked with that stone once no problems until the cable of my bridge crane snagged the corner of a full b/s piece and broke it into about 12 pieces (the reel broke and the cable didn't retract). Luckily the stone has so much going on i was able to piece it back together, and with a little stone dust, akemi, and ca I threw it on the bed polisher and saved the piece. The b/s was folded and the tops were already installed so if i couldnt save it i would have been royaly you know what. But if its as fragile as you say just treat as you would crema marfil. Rod, polish, fill polish again.

[Camzl1]

This material can be hell if your going to run it on the CNC be cause of all the mica in it. I just visited my old shop Tuesday and they had just finished a job of it. We call it Kosmos down here, but to help you if you have a cnc, make sure you mill your corners at around 10-12 in/min instead of 15-20 in/min. Once you get past breakers and D1 you will have no problems. Stay with the machine during those 2 tools because if a corner should break off you can catch it, dry it off, and then CA glue it back and run again. It will be 10 times stronger than it was at that vein and we have found it will profile fine on the cnc after repair. Now doing this by hand we have had no issues on standard edges like pencil and small A profile 6mm radius that require no router, and on all backsplashes we throw a crystal clear poly on it to fill in the holes and then polish. This keeps the BS machine from taking chunks out and the material from falling apart. But 2 weeks ago they did an install with this material and one small L piece during carrying it to the house broke as it was being carried vertical. So I would suggest straight bar on long pieces.

Edit*****......***** Hey it looks like I labeled the wrong stone. I called it Kosmos, but I took a second look and went OH crap that is Magma Gold. So disregard the advice for this material it is fine to fabricate. Hell to layout. The corner and backsplash advice is still good info though even on this material.

[stonewaco]

Just did a three slab kitchen in the exact same stuff two weeks ago. Also expect the top to "flake off" in the black areas when doing undermount cutouts. Some small flakes some as big as 2" x 3'' by 3/4' deep. It does face polish REAL EASY. our sink section had cracks open up three of four seperate times. It was only 65 inches long (we cut it to three sections instead of two very long sections) Be very carefull if you have a long run with a cutout. We finally just installed it, got it leveled and seamed, then filled and polished surface around the cutout. Corners will come off, we glued on a few do to the customer wanting a chisseled edge on this stone. just charge accordingly. It can be profitable if you charge for all the headaches.

I have also heard that you have to seal this stuff with multiple coats and that the homeowner should seal it yearly because it is very porous. Hopefully someone else can confirm if this is true.

[ShawnP]

I have worked with this particular stone in the past. Unfortunately, the quality was much better then than it is now as with most stones. I have found when in doubt, rod everything. Also I would take the time and fill all the voids and pockets with knife grade before it goes to the CNC. As we all know after edging some more voids and such will be revealed pending on the profile you are applying. However gluing before profiling seems to save repair time after processing.

Take Care