Because it is a thin and flexible sheet of stone, 100% natural surface, vStone is a fantastic product of enormous versatility, allowing to change some paradigms in the use of the natural stone in all its application segments, enhancing creativity and the development of new decorative solutions.
vStone’s natural surface gives each panel singular and unique characteristics, extracted by cutting, in an innovative production process and mainly using slates and micas, but also marbles and sandstones, resulting in a collection with more than 40 references of rare beauty, allowing design and developing indoor and outdoor applications in areas as diverse as coatings, facades, gates, doors (exterior and interior), kitchens, furniture, lighting, false ceilings, etc.
vStone is a product of great ecological component, because it consumes between 0.5 to 1.0mm of natural stone, competing with the traditional stone applications that consume up to 15 to 20 times more per application.
vStone ST
This is the standard or basic version of the vStone product, using a composite of opaque polyester resin and glass fibre as its base.
The product presents some flexibility, able to bend up to 40cm of radius, as long as it is guaranteed a sufficiently glued strong bonding.
Main Applications:
– Interior and exterior wall coverings.
– Interior decoration, shops, hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.
-Interior and exterior doors, gates.
– Various furniture, kitchens, WC, living room and others.
Application tips, gluing and finishing:
The polyester resin support may be glued directly to all possible surfaces, in some cases implying a prior preparation, or alternatively bonded to support platforms such as cementitious boards, wood pellets, OSB, plywood, etc.
The recommended adhesive may vary depending on the surface to be bonded to. For this purpose, we suggest consulting the application guiding and vStone bonding table.
The flexibility of the vStone ST gives it the possibility of bending up to a radius of 400mm in the sheet length direction. Other bending may be possible but their conditions must be previously studied and evaluated.
In all applications, both indoor and outdoor, we advise the prior use of stone sealants, strictly following the manufacturer’s instructions, thus protecting the vStone ST from water or grease stains and preventing the appearance of fungi, mosses, early aging , etc.
The vStone surface can be finished with stone sealant, or alternatively with any finishing varnish used on wood.
The lacquer finishes are exclusively for vertical interior applications.
For further details and technical information, please check the Product Data Sheet as well as the vStone Application Matrix.
Translucent vStone UV
Translucent vStone UV is technically a variant of vStone ST, where the resins used in the backing composite are transparent polyester resins, resulting in a transparent, translucent stone sheet solution.
With a range of applications similar to the vStone ST, this variant stands out mainly for its translucent characteristic, opening the range of applications to all decorative requests involving lighting and transparencies, with rare beauty effects, differ from stone to stone and even from panel to panel, within the same stone reference, creating, once again, unique pieces or effects.
The flexibility of the vStone UV is less than the vStone ST, and any design involving bending must be studied in detail. In these cases we suggest consulting the technical services of Value Optimized, Lda.
Main Applications:
All types of interior and exterior lighting projects, involving backlit panels, lamps, furniture, counters, facades, shops, etc.
Application tips, gluing and finishing:
Translucent vStone UV applications must be carefully planned and designed, as well as the stone reference should be chosen taking into account the intended final effects. Simulation tests are advised.
Usually, to give consistency to panels, the translucent vStone UV should be glued to an acrylic carrier, opal acrylic being the best performer in light distribution. The thickness of the acrylic must also be the object of study, and varies depending on the size of the desired panel, which can vary between 4 and 15mm.
The gluing to the acrylic panels must be made by the adhesion principle. Silicone or glue and transparent seals, applied to both surfaces on film (no cords can be used).
The surface finish of the translucent vStone UV should be the same as for vStone ST, namely stone sealants, varnish, etc.
For any project with translucent vStone UV, we advised consulting the Value Optimized, Lda technical services, enhancing the product and its decorative effects in order to avoid undesired results.
The available collection of stones in translucent vStone UV includes all available for the vStone ST, except marbles, sandstones and cements, according to the General Table of references and availabilities.
vStone TX
It is a distinct technical solution, using PVA resin (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) and a textile support structure, in its extraction process.
The uniqueness and extreme beauty of the panels are maintained, as is the vStone ST and vStone UV, but with an even finer and much more flexible final thickness.
Of course, the much reduced thickness obtained in this process removes some structure to the surface of the stone, but its high flexibility allows the approach to very demanding and impossible bendings with the vStone ST version, therefore, vStone TX applications are normally complementary to the vStone ST applications.
