Inventions On The Fly

March 6, 2007

   Here is a look at what fabricators – not unlike yourself – developed to get the job done.
   • Tired of tripping over hoses on the floor? Hang them from a carwash type boom. The booms pictured were made by Scott McGourley,of Kasco Stone in Oldsmar, Fla. He and I discussed these booms and thought they were good idea; he actually took the time to make them.
   While at his shop for a Stone Fabricators Alliance seminar, I tested them and really liked the way they kept the hoses in an orderly fashion. More importantly, the hoses weren’t on the floor, posing a trip hazard.
   • Having trouble with chipping on your seams? Who hasn’t? That’s what gave Chris Checketts the idea of his new Chipless Seam Kit. I’ve tested this in my shop and in the field; it works like a champ.
   Simply glue a strip of sacrificial plastic to the surface of the stone, and cut your seam after the glue hardens. The kit comes complete with glue, a dispenser gun, plastic strips and instructions for use.
   • Need to get that polishing pad into the cove of an ogee better? Try the DT (of yours truly) backer from Helix Professional Tools. I was tired of offsetting pads to get them to contact the cove in ogee edges, so I made a special aluminum backer just for that purpose.
   • Got a radial-arm polisher and need a coarse stock-removal head? You can make one with epoxy and old diamond-blade segments! David Modine of Jack T. Irwin Inc. had to mill down some limestone and didn’t have a head that was aggressive enough for the job. So he made his own. I like it!
   • On a tight budget and need to rout some edgework? Rey Rodriguez made his own device with a piece of plastic and a wood-cutting router. It even has a hydroplane base! Inexpensive and fairly easy to make; how can you not like that?
   • Looking for a faster, inexpensive way to cut out those sink holes? Check this out – it’s another tool from Scott McGourley. He took a basic wood router and had an adapter made to accept 1/2” gas threaded finger bits. He even put a center waterfeed coupler on it.
   Again, I saw this in action at Scott’s shop. It worked great, and cut out a 2210 opening in about 15 minutes. As you can see by the pictures, he made templates for the sink cutout and the router follows the template.
   • Are you tired of trying to depend on glue alone to mount a sink? This is another of my contributions: Simply cut a V slot in the stone and slide a cheap #10-24 X 1 1/2” machine screw into the slot. Then place clips (provided with most sinks) and fasten with a wing nut. Simple, effective, and – more importantly – CHEAP!
   You can make many of the items featured yourself. Some of them have actually been picked up by distributors and are available to all in the business. If you have any questions about any of the featured items, go to www.stoneadvice.com and ask away.
   Thanks to all who have contributed in this month’s article.
   Until next month…..Donny Taylor.
   Donny Taylor is a proud member of the Stone Fabricators Alliance. To ask him a question on this or any other subject, or find more info, visit www.stoneadvice.com.