Madras Grey is a sandstone from the state of Rajasthan in central India. The sand particles were deposited on the bottom of an ocean roughly 3000 million years ago during the Cambrian era of Geological time. This makes them some of the oldest sandstones in the world. You won’t find any fossils in the stone because this is a period of the earth’s history before even the most basic forms of life existed. Over time the sand particles were buried and compacted resulting in the formation of this durable sandstone. The compaction has been so extreme that you can’t see the individual sand particles, only tightly bonded interlocking crystals. The material is made almost entirely of a very hard mineral called silica (SiO2) which is white in colour with the grey tone being provided by minute quantities of other minerals such as chlorite. The chemical composition and geological age combine to make this sandstone extremely strong and durable and the perfect paving product which explains why thousands of containers are produced and exported around the world each year.
For this project for Design Workshop, the slabs were crafted through a combination of traditional hand splitting techniques and precise machinery. The process began with hand-splitting the stone from its block form. Madras Grey sandstone has a natural characteristic that allows it to be split along its bedding planes. Skilled masons, with a deep understanding of the stone’s natural structure, identify the ideal splitting points. Using a chisel positioned along these natural lines and a hammer to apply controlled force, the stone splits cleanly, revealing a natural face with an authentic, textured appearance. To meet the project requirements, we then used our bridge saws to cut the stone to the required dimensions. The edges of each slab were hand-chiseled by artisans to achieve a rugged, handcrafted finish, adding to the stone’s natural aesthetic. The final step in the process was calibrating the stone to ensure uniform thickness, allowing the slabs to stand upright securely and fit seamlessly with the design.
