ISC Newsletter - December 2006

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In this issue...
* Italian White Alabaster
* Santafiora Stone
* Porphyry a.k.a. Porfido
* Stone Sinks

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Italian White Alabaster

Alabaster is a dense, compact gypsum which comes in many different colors, ranging from translucent white to opaque tans, greens and reds. It also has a high level of calcite which makes it extremely sensitive to acids and even water. Alabaster is cleaned using either milk or talcum powder and a soft brush.Alabaster is beautiful when it is backlit due to its translucency. It is most often used for lamps, tables, niches, decorative bowls and handicrafts. Unlike marble, which is quarried in large square blocks, alabaster comes out of the mountain in egg-shaped boulders that are up to 1 meter in diameter.

Technical Data
Weight per unit of volume: 2,3 kg/dm³
Compression breaking load: max. 30 N/mm²
Compression breaking load after freezing: Not frost resistant

Ask about Italian Alabaster - Click here


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Santafiora Stone


Santafiora is a fine- to medium-grained, brown to red sandstone of the Lower Tertiary period. Uses: Construction stone, flooring, cladding, ornamental stone. This sandstone can even be polished due to its hardness.This stone comes from a very large quarry and is known for its consistency in color, texture and technical characteristics. It is a particularly hard stone with a high silica content which means it is ideal for cladding and flooring of large areas and buildings which are exposed to freezing temperatures, salty air/mist or seismic activity.

Technical Data
Weight per unit of volume: 2,70 kg/dm³
Bending strength: 12,6 N/mm²
Compression breaking load: 88,0 N/mm²
Abrasion resistance: 19,6 cm³/50 cm²
Absorption coefficient (by weight): 1,53%

For info about Santafiora, contact ISC

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Porphyry a.k.a. Porfido

Porphyry is a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. The chief characteristic of porphyry is a large difference between the size of the tiny matrix crystals and other much larger crystals, called phenocrysts.The name porphyry has Latin roots, meaning purple or purple-clad. Porphry has long been associated with royalty due to its "royal" purple color. Various roman emperors were emtombed in sarcophagi made of porphyry.
Porphyry is typically used in small cubes set in sand to form pavement. This is the "cobblestone" street that is commonly seen in many European cities.

Technical Data
Weight per unit of volume: 2,555 kg/m3
Compression breaking load: 221.5 Mpa
Compression breaking load after freezing: 202.6 MPa
Absorption coefficient (by weight): 6,53%
Ultimate tensile strength: 66.180 MPa
Impact test, min. fall height: 62cm
Thermal linear expansion coefficient: 5.55
Frictional wear test (relative to S. Fedelino granite): 1.51 coef.
Petrological definition: Rhyelite with elastic structure

Write ISC about Porphyry

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Stone Sinks

Don't forget about ISC's line of Stone Basins!
See more stone sinks... - Click here