FAQ
What are the job profiles in stone working?
Natural stone technician
Natural stones, such as sandstone or marble, are worked by natural stone technicians using appropriate tools into things such as slabs, façades, columns or gravestones. For example to produce tiles from natural stone, natural stone technicians separate blocks of stone into sections and cut them to size. The edges and surfaces are then finished. This means that the tasks involved also include natural stone grinding and natural stone polishing. Natural stone working is done both mechanically and manually, for example when adding lettering or decorative features.
Stonemason and stone sculptor
Stonemasonry is one of the oldest professions. One of the tasks of stonemasons and stone sculptors is to shape artificial and natural stone - an extremely resistant material - into the required shape using the right tools. Whether making gravestones, restoring a monument or making floors, stonemasons and stone sculptors are the experts when it comes to working with stone. Typical stonemasonry work also includes creating walls or staircases, and typical stone sculpture work involves making sculptures either manually or mechanically.
How can you work on stone?
Natural stone (marble, granite, sandstone) or artificial stone can be worked on either manually or mechanically using a variety of tools. Tools used for working on stone include angle grinders, wet circular saws and special band saws. The job involves stone sawing, for example marble sawing or granite sawing. Drilling is also part of the process, e.g. using a core drilling unit or blind hole drilling machine. The jobs involved include natural stone drilling, granite drilling and marble drilling. Stone can also be ground or polished with a wet grinder, examples being polishing marble or polishing granite. Milling natural stone is another method of working on stone, as is working on it with a hammer and chisel.
Which tools are needed for stone working?
Tools such as mallets and chisels are required for working on stone. These are used for jobs in which the materials are worked manually. But electrical machines are also needed. Besides pneumatic hammers, these include special saws with diamond saw blades, bushhammers, angle grinders, milling cutters, stone drills and grinders for stone.
Stones have different properties, which is why different machines are used depending on the stone and the type of work involved. For example, different tools are needed for working sandstone than are required to work with artificial stone. The tools used also depend on which products are to be made from the stone.
