Showing posts with label stone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stone. Show all posts

Friday, 19 February 2010

Stoneworker


Stoneworkers work, unsurprisingly, with stone.
Various types of work—that of the lapidary who shapes, cuts, and polishes gemstones or engraves them for seals and ornaments; of the jeweler or artisan who mounts or encrusts them in gold, silver, or other metal; of the stonemason who executes the plan of architect or engineer for wall, pier, vault, bridge, or dam; of the carver who chisels bas-relief, intaglio, or freestanding figure, using a pointing machine for accuracy; and of the printer at his imposing stone.

Stonemasonry may be of hard materials, such as granite, bluestone, or marble, requiring full finish before laying, or of softer varieties, such as brownstone, laid with rough exterior, the decoration being carved afterward.

Friday, 12 February 2010

Metal work


Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engineparts and delicate jewellery.
Metal work has evolved from the discovery of smelting various ores, producing malleable and ductile metal useful for tools and adornments. Modern metalworking processes, though diverse and specialized, can be categorized as forming, cutting or joining processes.
Almost all other metals are found in ores, a mineral bearing rock, that require heat or some other process to liberate the metal. Another feature of gold is that it is workable as it is found, meaning that no technology beyond eyes to find a nugget and a hammer and an anvil to work the metal is needed. Stone hammer and stone anvil will suffice for technology. This is the result of gold's properties of malleability and ductility. The earliest tools were stone, bone, wood, and sinew. They sufficed to work gold.

Thursday, 11 February 2010

Flooring


A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many-layered surfaces using modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal, or any material that can hold a person's weight.The levels of a building are often referred to as floors and are described in the article storey. Floors typically consist of a subfloor for support and a floor covering used to give a good walking surface. In modern buildings the subfloor often has electrical wiring, plumbing, and other services built in. Because floors meet many needs, some essential to safety, floors are built to strict building codes.
Balcony
A kind of platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade. The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a wall.
A Floating Floor
Is a floor that does not need to be nailed or glued to the subfloor. The term floating floor refers to the installation method, but is often used synonymously with laminate flooring in a domestic context.A sprung floor is a special type of floating floor designed to enhance sports or dance performance. In general though the term refers to a floor used to reduce noise oravibration.
A glass floor
Is a transparent section of a floor, found most often in buildings (usually in the observation decks of towers) or boats in order to facilitate viewing directly beneath where one is standing.Usually made of a reinforced glass, the most common use is as a tourist attraction.
Nightingale floors
Designed to make a chirping sound when walked upon. These floors were used in the hallways of some temples and palaces. Dry boards naturally creak under pressure, but these floors were designed so that the flooring nails rubbed against a jacket or clamp, causing chirping noises.
Raised floor
Is a type of floor used in office buildings (such as IT data centers) with a high requirement for servicing to carry cables, wiring, electrical supply, and sometimes air conditioning or chilled water pipes. Additional structural support and lighting are often provided when a floor is raised enough for a person to crawl or even walk beneath.
Sprung floor
Is a floor that absorbs shocks giving it a softer feel. Such floors are considered the best available for dance and indoor sportsand physical education. They enhance performance and greatly reduce injuries. Modern sprung floors are supported by foam backing or rubber feet, while the traditional floors are cushioned mechanically.