Lightweight stone furniture

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention involves a new and improved technique for manufacturing panels having genuine stone surfaces.
According to the technique of the invention a large block of stone is cut using a gang-saw having a plurality of blades to produce a multiplicity of stone slabs concurrently.
The gang-saw allows a far greater number of stone slabs to be produced within a given period of time as contrasted with the conventional technique of first bonding both exposed surfaces of a stone slab to supporting structures and then bifurcating the stone slab.
According to the technique of the invention one hundred fifty sheets of granite can be cut by a single laborer in one week.
Thus, composite stone surfaced panels can be produced at a rate fifteen times the rate possible with the conventional manufacturing technique.
The expense of producing stone surfaced panels according to the invention is thus greatly reduced as contrasted with the prior manufacturing technique.
Due to the greatly reduced expense of producing panels having stone surfaces mounted on underlying supports in accordance with the invention, it has been possible to create articles of furniture having genuine stone surfaces which may be sold in competition with comparable furniture constructed of wood.
While the cost of such furniture having genuine stone surfaces is somewhat greater than the cost of a comparable article manufactured of wood, the cost differential is small enough so that furniture with stone surfaces, manufactured according to the invention, can be successfully sold in competition with wooden furniture.
Moreover, the stone surfaces of furniture manufactured according to the invention are generally considered to be far more luxurious and attractive than the wooden surfaces of conventional articles of furniture manufactured of wood.
Thus, the manufacturing technique of the invention allows stone panels to be used in furniture construction where such a use has heretofore been totally impractical on a commercially feasible basis