Does anyone use a hammer mill to save money on disposal cost? It seems like a good way to save money on multiple trips a month from the disposal company.

I am not familiar with a hammer mill. What is it? Could you post a picture?

It can crush scrap stone pieces into a fine small pieces or powder.  You could possibly resell the scraps.

Wow. I can see where that would save costs.

Heck, it could be a whole new line of work for Greenie.

Yep a hammer mill is the way to go! We used them to crush sheets into pieces then followed it up with a finer grinding and screen classification into various sized cuts of particles (chips) to make different patterns of solid surface.

I would imagine for solid surface one could could make thiier own particulate for inlays, or for stone save the screened, classified material for sale as a filler for estone or a decorative accent in concrete counter tops. Or sell the unclassified material as decorative gravel for flower beds, or a paving material for driveways etc.

Lots of stuff you can do with those.

Are you diposing of solid surface or granite?

I know with granite, you can purchase a machine that will make pavers. Might be a great way to convert the slabs into something you can sell.

We looked into this a few years back. Problem is, to be used for landscape they color has to be consistant. They don't want mixed colors in the same yard. Also quartz, because it will fade, is not suitable for landscape use. We could not justify the cost.

Wags,

I beg to disagree. Sorting stone by color will solve the mixed look. Plus Ive seen seen mixed color stone used for landscaping.

Quartz fades? I had quartz in a driveway for years...and it alweays looked the same to me.

Lenny The problem is, as a fabricator your using different colors all the time. The time and effort it takes to sort scrap, store by color etc is not worth the effort. Quartz as in Cambria, Hanstone, Etc does fade, rather the resin fades, which makes it unsuitable for landscape. I think the original intent of this was to use a hammer mill to reduce the volume of scrape, and, reduce the cost to get rid of it. We looked into that also, and found the cost/benefit did not warrant the investment. One other problem we have is, landscape stone is cheap here, the whole state is a quarry !

Having been in Avonites NM Plant a number of time, I found their operation interesting. Pouring resin in molds, putting it in the hammer mill, sorting etc was interesting.

We even looked into fabricating concrete counters using stone scrap as the fill, once again, the cost didn't warrant the benefits.

a question please,      Why do stone shops have to treat the water used for cutting,  grinding ect ??

It's been a while since I've worked in our stone shop so I'll try to answer to the best of my knowledge.In order to save $$$ we recycle most of our water and treat it because it has a tendancy to go stagnant with fungi and bacteria(smells like a week old dumpster behind a fish market whenwe come back from holidays,ect)which can be pretty nasty if left uncontrolled,causing rashes and other unpleasant aliments.We also add a anti-flocculate that inhibits rust formation, mineral buildup,and sludge (from the stone) in our tools.

Posted By Tom Wagner on 21 Feb 2010 11:42 PM
Lenny The problem is, as a fabricator your using different colors all the time. The time and effort it takes to sort scrap, store by color etc is not worth the effort. Quartz as in Cambria, Hanstone, Etc does fade, rather the resin fades, which makes it unsuitable for landscape. I think the original intent of this was to use a hammer mill to reduce the volume of scrape, and, reduce the cost to get rid of it. We looked into that also, and found the cost/benefit did not warrant the investment. One other problem we have is, landscape stone is cheap here, the whole state is a quarry !

Having been in Avonites NM Plant a number of time, I found their operation interesting. Pouring resin in molds, putting it in the hammer mill, sorting etc was interesting.

We even looked into fabricating concrete counters using stone scrap as the fill, once again, the cost didn't warrant the benefits.

Hi Wags,

I have to disagree respectfully. Let me address your points one by one.

In the US, as you say it may not be worthwhile to separate colors etc. However in China I routinely did that.We ground up waste, and even saved the edges cut off sheets. We saved particle cuts we couldn’t use and designed patterns for them later, we saved the edges cut off from sheets and recycled them into patterns.. We figured out how to recycle sander dust and grinding dust instead of throwing it into a landfill. We even figured out how to make the pallets and packaging from recycled material.You and others may call it greenwashing. I call it saving the earth and environment, making a quality product at lower cost, and addressing a growing green market segment.

It’s a difference in 3 areas between the US and third world countries.

1.) Labor cost- labor cost is lower in third world countries, and they take the time to do it instead of whining that it isn’t cost effective. When its all said and done it saves lots of bucks.

2.) Space- they assign the space to make it happen.

3.) Desire, or hunger. We in the US used to have it. Its no wonder 3rd world countries are overtaking us. Remember when we were kids, living in little houses instead of McMansions, driving old cars that we fixed up and cared for instead of buying a new one every year, and wearing hand me downs instead of the newest designer bullcrap? We lost the hunger and simplicity, and became complacent . But we can get it back though! I still have the hunger! How about ya all?

Lets stop all the bullcrap and get back to basics, get the hunger back and make America great again!

Lenny As a Mfg I agree.. but were fabricators. We may do 150 different jobs before we run into the same color again, its's not worth it to sort and separate the scrap, then feed it into the mill, then stack it by colors ... if you don't have semi full of landscape stone they don't want it. Your not going to sell a few bushel full of a color.

I agree 100% as a mfg. I made the suggestion to Aristech to not throw the cut off of the edge of their acrylic sheet in the trash, but to grind it and reuse it in other sheets. They now ship from Kentucky to NM to grind it and use it in the poly recycled sheets.

We just don't get enough material of the same color to make it worth while.

There used to be a metal band from Ithaca,NY in the mid/late 90's called Hammermill. They were reknown for the brutality of their fans,and bloody mosh-pits.

see I told you it would be perfect for a gamer tag

Ithaca had headbangers?

Crazy as it seems,during theday you see the hippy/beatnik types then after dark the leather clad mohawked/mulleted goth punks take over...

"leather clad mohawked/mulleted goth punks"

That's five kinds of crazy rolled into one.
I believe that would qualify as weapon grade crazy, right here.

A commonly seen bumper sticker around here:Ithaca,NY 10sq miles surrounded by reality.
Says it all.