Indian trip - Stone production

[London Stone Paving]

I am going out to India next week to meet up with all of our suppliers. I have just learned how to upload photos to this site, so feel like a kid with a new toy.

I am going to take as many photos as possible of the stone production process for the different types of stone. I.e handcut, sawn , tumbled calibrated etc.

If there is any aspect of production that anybody is particuarly interested in let me know and I will try and get some photographs to post on this site

Cheers

Steve

[lutonlagerlout]

i always find with the 4 standard sizes 900 by 600 600 by 600 600 by 300 and 300 by 300
that the accuracy gets worse as the size gets smaller
my guess is that the dad cuts the big ones,the mum the next biggest ,the son the 600 by 300s and the small kid gets to cut the 300 by 300s obviously with any breakages being passed down to re cut
i'd be interested to see if that is so?
BTW PM sent
cheers
LLL

[London Stone Paving]

Thats a bit of a cynical view your taking there LLL. I will take some very extensive shots of the factories that we work with, I think you will be a bit surprised, its not all cowboys and Indians

[mickg]

photos of kids wearing hard hats, gloves and flip flops would be a good one too ???

[London Stone Paving]

Not biting Mick G. Well maybe I will bite a little bit.

Obviously there are problems over there, but there are also a lot of good companies who do things properly and play by the rules.

Its a long process of education and its not just the problems with child labour.

Living wages are a problem
Dangerous working conditons
Caste discrimination

But they are starting to realize that it pays to do things properly and not cut corners

[lutonlagerlout]

i wasnt being cynical steve,a few years back there was a blog on this very site
see here for detail

that is why i asked do they always start cutting the big units and if that breaks wrong pass it on to the next person etc etc
IME its the smallest units that are always the poorest sized
i.e. some 290 by 310 etc

also we spoke about the ethics and i stated, and i still see it this way that you cannot impose 1st world standards on to a 3rd world country
quarrying stone was,is ,and will always be a dangerous pursuit
but probably better to work in a quarry for £2 a day than be crippled by your family and beg for 5 p

I have to say that although the 22mm regularised stuff seemed to thin at first its growing on me
easier to handle,quicker to cut and far easier to sort your bedding layer out

good luck
LLL

[London Stone Paving]

Just read that blog. Really good stuff. Calibrations got to be better for everybody. I also think that calibrated stone will have a flatter surface as it needs to be flatter to go through the calibrating machine. Still think 22mm is too thin though. We bit the bullet and are going for 25mm. Taking our first delivery in about two weeks and from here on in we will only be ordering 25mm indian stone. We'll have to put the prices up a touch but so be it

[Al Jardin]

Just wondering where Global Stone get thier stuff from as this is what we mainly use?

Al

[London Stone Paving]

Global source from reputable suppliers.

[Al Jardin]

Simply wanted to know where they got the sandstone from and if you are going to the same area/quaries.

Al

[lutonlagerlout]

i use global and its fine,like their modak rose
i imagine its rajastan al
sandstone area of india
LLL

[Suggers]

Looking forward to LSP's report back & photos.
Have a good trip.

[London Stone Paving]

Al

We source from three suppliers in Rajastan area. One of the suppliers we use also supplies global. I only know one of globals other suppliers and that particular company is very well regarded in the industry.

Global is a superb company, very professionaly run and always innovating and moving forward.

[Tony McC]

LSP - if you want me to set up a blog for you to report on your trip, just let me know.

There was a lot of interest in the two Indian Travels blogs I published. Chris Harrop saw things through the eyes of the nation's largest paving supplier and his experience was very different from that of Chris Van Halewyn, reporting for a small independent importer. I published the blogs because the 'ethics' of imported stone were (and possibly still are) a real hot topic and I thought it would be useful for everyday readers to be given an insight.

[London Stone Paving]

Thats a great idea Tony. Would be happy to do that.

Ethics topic is as hot as ever. Please let me know the technical details of this blog

Regards

Steve