More Than A New Trick

May 6, 2008

   Look, I understand that it’s a good, hearty, bold word. I’m in the noun-and-verb business, and you just can’t even utter revolutionary without a hint of zeal. It’s new! It’s going to change your business and your life! And it’s ….
   … likely not going to live up to the hype, either. I once visited a computer trade show where someone showed me a color printer outputting posters, and I likely rolled my eyes the fourth time I heard revolutionary in less than two minutes. “Okay,” the printer’s rep asked me, “show me what you think is revolutionary.”
   “Printer,” I barked at the machine, “make me a poster of Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, two feet by three feet, glossy paper.”
   Of course, the printer sat and did nothing. The sales rep didn’t appreciate the request, nor my sly reference to a scene in Star Trek IV. But a printer that would print a product solely by referencing a simple verbal command – now that’s revolutionary.
   There’s plenty of improvement throughout the products offered to the stone industry, and occasionally something pops up that goes to the next level in redefining the standard of performance or ease-of-use. Finding something that’s going to cause a revolution, though, is a tough job.
   In fact, it usually appears when you’re not looking, as it did last year, when I looked up a company called Techno Carbon Industries (TCI) at Stone+tec 2007 in Nuremberg, Germany. (And, before anyone starts calling or writing to get their company or product in Spall; what follows isn’t a free plug for selling anything, and you’ll see why shortly.)
   I’d seen a press release from the firm on their use of reinforced thin granite – something like 1mm thick – which isn’t earth-shattering news. Several other companies offer the skinnier stone, and you’ll hear more about them in the near future. TCI’s product, however, had something different: carbon-fiber construction.
   Carbon fiber – usually in the form of carbon-fiber composites – is an incredibly light and ultra-thin man-made material that can be heated and molded into any shape. When it cools, the fibers create a rigid, strong structure.
   How strong?. Formula 1 race-car bodies are made of the stuff; last year, a driver named Robert Kubica ran nearly head-on into a concrete wall at 186 mph during the Grand Prix of Canada. While the nose of the car shattered, the rest of the body stayed intact and absorbed an impact estimated at 28G. Kubica suffered only a slight concussion and was back racing a month later.
   TCI showed off a nice, thin countertop with carbon fiber underneath, although an engineer for the Munich-based company wanted to show me something else. Between his halting English and my limited German, we didn’t communicate well – until he brought out a 2cm X 3cm rod of granite that was two meters in length.
   The rod’s edges were lined with carbon-fiber, which gave it a modern look. However, I couldn’t figure out why you’d do that until the engineer grabbed the top of the rod and encouraged me to lean into it.
   And, right in the middle of a trade-show floor, I started to bend granite. I’d estimate that I made a 20-percent deflection, and the rod seemed to have more give if I’d been willing. It also popped right back into its rigid straight shape once I stopped.
   Another company representative appeared at the booth and told me, in English, to hold on, because there was something else to show me. “I don’t think you’ve seen one of these,” he said.
   I hadn’t. After bending granite, I found myself holding a stone ski.
   There’s no misspelling in the previous sentence. I was looking at a ski made of Swiss gneiss, encased in carbon-fiber composite.
   Now this, folks, is revolutionary.
   It turns out that the engineer first got involved with stone a decade ago, when he came up with the idea of integrating heating elements directly into granite to create an ultra-modern cooktop. However, he continually ran into a problem; no matter how dense the stone, the heating and reheating of the elements eventually cracked the granite.
   The story is that, later on, the engineer found a brochure for carbon-fiber technology that was left behind on an airliner. Using the material would provide additional strength to keep a cooktop together, but why stop with just a kitchen appliance?
   The first application beyond the cooktop turned out to be the ski. It doesn’t have the wild flexibility to accommodate professional downhill racers, but the ski provides lively performance for recreational use. A pair weighs a combined 12 pounds, which is heavier than normal but nowhere near the concrete-overshoes level.
   The stone ski is more than a one-off made for trade-show amusement. Anyone can buy a pair of Spada gneiss skis made by zai SG of Disentis, Switzerland, although don’t expect to see them at the local sporting-goods shop: A pair will set you back a cool $5,000.
   The 2cm X 3cm rod represents a bigger leap for TCI. When I talked to company principals last year, they were talking to Munich’s public-transportation service to experiment with replace steel leaf-springs on a few buses with non-rusting, carbon-fiber-strengthened granite.
   Since then, they’ve expanded their thinking to look at other areas where steel could be replaced with carbon-fiber-encased stone, from building reinforcement to bridge supports. They’re making the argument that the enhanced stone is a green alternative to forged metals.
   Right now, this is very high concept. And TCI, which doesn’t offer any products directly to the stone trade, may never take its technology beyond a very expensive set of skis.
   For a few minutes on a trade-show floor in Germany, however, I saw something I deal with daily – dimensional stone – in an entirely new light. Stone went entirely beyond the idea of product with countertops or pavers or cladding, and entered the realm of sports, vehicles, bridges and beyond.
   It’s the kind of thing that’s intriguing and inspiring. And, yes, revolutionary.
   Emerson Schwartzkopf can be reached at emerson@stonebusiness.net