The Slabbing Process

Many of the blocks of granite purchased by the manufacturing division of Rock of Ages are transported to the company’s 20,000 square-foot saw plant near the Barre quarries. Here the blocks begin their metamorphosis, guided in the journey by a complex interplay of modern technology and the age-old skills of the stone artisan.

First the blocks of granite are cut into pieces or “slabs” of various thicknesses by diamond saws. Each precision circular saw has a blade that is nearly twelve feet in diameter. The center section of the blade is the “core.” To this core are welded one hundred-sixty segments or “teeth” to which industrial-grade diamond has been bonded. Since diamond, the hardest naturally occurring substance, is harder than granite; it serves as the cutting agent, allowing the blade to saw through the stone.

The computer-controlled blade and housing travel back and forth along a rail, while the block of granite remains stationary beneath the saw. With each pass, the blade makes a shallow cut, deepening it with every successive pass. Water is sprayed continuously over the surface to cool the saw, to suppress dust and to wash away the granite shavings. The diamond saw is capable of cutting up to fifteen square feet of granite per hour.

Once blocks have been slabbed at the saw plant, the resulting slabs are transported by diesel flat-bed truck one mile down the road to the Rock of Ages’ manufacturing facility, where each slab will continue its transformative journey.