Bending Stone

We can bend our stone. Visitors to the quarry are often amazed to see the truth of this when they walk over a gently arched bridge in our garden. Jerry made the curved handrails from eight pieces of stone laminate, each one shaped into an arc and glued together.

We discovered our stone’s flexibility when the lab measuring its different strengths for a big project announced that its flexural strength was off the charts. Jerry, trained as a woodworker, saw a golden opportunity to design beyond the bounds of countertops. His first idea was a table I call Modrian. It is very simple, a circle set atop an interlocking triangle and rectangle, all resting on a smaller circular base.

Jerry hired a shop in Barre, Vermont to build the table. When he came to see the finished product he jumped on top of it. Several terrified workers winced as they anticipated Jerry’s pain. These men were accustomed to the brittleness of granite, which is rock hard and king of density strength, but made of crystals that easily shatter. They were sure the table would be smashed to pieces as Jerry landed. Granite cannot hold its weight in span. Much to their shock and relief both Jerry and the table were fine and we delight in finding new ways to bend stone.