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Indiana Limestone: The Nations Building Stone 
click rate:3427 issue time:2006-06-22 11:05
Producers and fabricators of Indiana Limestone converged on Bloomington, Indiana the third week of October to attend the Indiana Limestone Institute鈥檚 fall meeting. Approximately 100 members, guests and family attended the meeting at Terry鈥檚 of Westbury鈥檚 that featured Francis Heck, owner and publisher of Stone Industry News as speaker. Jim Owens, Executive Director of the institute introduced guests and new members of the group. Membership continues to grow as the Indiana Limestone Institute builds alliances with other natural stone associations. Jim announced the culmination of a two year effort making "The Nations Building Stone" a trademark identifying Indiana Limestone.

Mr. Heck spoke of the many changes he has observed over his 25 years of service to the stone industry. He talked about his early years designing machinery for the W.J. Savage Company and how the Tysaman Machine Company continued to be an integral part of sawing machinery design as it evolved into the state of the art technology available in today's market. The Tysaman Machine Company was sold to W.J. Savage Company and the Corborundum Company about 1970. The Corborundum Company discontinued building stone sawing machinery in the late 70's and W.J. Savage closed the 100 year old Knoxville, Tennessee operation in June of 2004. Sawing Systems was founded by former employees of Tysaman Machine Company and the W.J. Savage Company. The founders of Sawing Systems sold the company this year to new ownership which promises to improve existing designs and introduce new concepts in stone working technology.

Mr. Heck spoke of early experiences designing many custom machines as the technology evolved into more standardized designs resulting in both lower cost and higher quality. The cost of research and development of stone processing equipment is always high but the success of manufacturers in bringing innovation to the market has resulted in reducing the cost of in-place stone and making it affordable to the expanding markets. The day has arrived when every builder now considers stone surfaces to be a valued component to the success of their program. Even though the industry continues to be in a very competitive era as many new suppliers and fabricators enter the growing industry, the future looks bright. Over the last decade the stone industry has not seen the wild swings and "boom-to-bust"cycles experienced in the twenty-five years prior to this period of steady growth. Over the last 25 years we have witnessed the transition from a vertically integrated stone industry to horizontal integration where quarriers, fabricators, and installers have become proficient and specialized resulting in efficiencies that will continue to benefit our growing industry.

Mr. Heck spoke of how he has seen the improvements in technology as a result of innovative tooling and particularly the wide use of diamonds. Today a variety of shapes are readily available as increased demand and the competitive American spirit has found ways to reduce cost and improve quality. Today materials such as sandstones and quartz are being cut with improved diamond tooling and was cost prohibitive just a few years ago. He spoke of how harvesting blocks of stone has progressed from the days of three-man teams hammering drill rods into stone to pneumatic quarry bars to the quarry diamond belt saws developed by the W.F. Meyers Company. This same company developed the diamond belt block saw which produces slabs faster and more efficiently than the slurry wire saws and gang saws in a variety of applications. We can credit these advances in technology to the W.F. Meyers Company as a direct result of serving the Indiana Limestone belt.

Often enterprising companies begin new methods which are later further refined by progressive manufacturers resulting in new markets and techniques. Park Industries recently unveiled new technology directed to the processing of thin veneers. Thin veneers promise to be an emerging market because it will not require heavy footings which will allow more economical construction and renovation with the look and feel of thick stone blocks. Expect this product to grow in demand as a result of new production methods.

Mr. Heck concluded with a tribute to the old timers that have accepted the challenges over the years and laid the groundwork for solid growth鈥� growth that continues to be even more promising for the foreseeable future. He mentioned that the concept of an "Indiana Limestone Institute" is brilliant. The Institute is facing up to the challenges of the future and under the guidance of Jim Owens they are able to introduce the use of Indiana Limestone to new architects across the nation. Mr. Heck congratulated the Institute on its ability to get Indiana Limestone specified for quality installations stating that this will impact only the landmark structures, but will also enhance the use of the stone in smaller applications.