1. MARBLE MOSAIC
TRAINING MANUAL
HafizullahKhan(AssistantManager,SMEDA-KP)
3/22/2014

2. Disclaimer
The purpose and scope of thisinformationmemorandumistointroduce the subjectmatterand provide
a general ideaandinformationonthe said area. All the material included in this document is based on
data/information gathered from various sources and is based on certain assumptions. Although, due
care and diligence hasbeentakentocompile thisdocument,the containedinformationmayvarydue to
any change in any of the concerned factors, and the actual results may differ substantially from the
presented information. The author or his employer does not assume any liability for any financial or
otherlossresultingfromthismemoranduminconsequence of undertaking this activity. Therefore, the
content of this memorandum should not be relied upon for making any decision, investment or
otherwise. The prospective user of this memorandum is encouraged to carry out his / her own due
diligence andgatheranyinformationhe/sheconsiders necessary for making an informed decision. The
time mentionedinthe scheduleisforthe minimumrequired standard duration but may vary as per the
decisionof the implementing authority. The training duration may also be reduced or expanded upon
the implementingorganization’srequirements. The use of informationtakenfromthe websitesof other
organizations also are for the purpose of education and by no means claim the ownership of that
specific organization.
The contentof the information memorandum does not bind the author or his employer in any legal or
other form.

3. Contents
Objective of the Training Manual.........................................................................................................1
Methodology......................................................................................................................................1
An Introduction to Dimensional Stones................................................................................................2
Application of Marble, Granite, and Onyx.............................................................................................2
Introduction of the Marble Mosaic (Products and Applications) ............................................................2
The Machinery and Equipments ..........................................................................................................2
The Bridge Cutter............................................................................................................................2
The Mosaic Tile/Strips and Tesserae Cutting Machine.......................................................................2
Calibrator.......................................................................................................................................2
The Manual Polisher.......................................................................................................................2
Tumbling Machine..........................................................................................................................2
The Hand Grinder/Buffing Machine..................................................................................................3
Tools/Support....................................................................................................................................3
Manual Stone Split Machine............................................................................................................3
Hammer and Hardie........................................................................................................................3
The use of this set makes the Tesserae shaping task very easy...........................................................3
The Tile Nipper...............................................................................................................................3
Pasting Grid....................................................................................................................................3
Tweezers........................................................................................................................................3
Paint Brush.....................................................................................................................................3
Rulers/Gonya..................................................................................................................................3
Wooden Planks...............................................................................................................................3
Raw Material......................................................................................................................................4
(Please refer to the presentation on “Raw Materials”). .....................................................................4
Tesserae.........................................................................................................................................4
Fiber Mesh.....................................................................................................................................4
Glue...............................................................................................................................................4
Polythene Sheet.............................................................................................................................4
Grout.............................................................................................................................................4
How to Operate Machinery? ...............................................................................................................4
Ensuring Personal Safety.....................................................................................................................4

4. Machine Maintenance........................................................................................................................5
Stone Cutting.....................................................................................................................................5
Designing for Marble Mosaic...............................................................................................................5
Placement of Tesserae on Designs and Cutting to Shapes......................................................................5
Production of Artistic Designs, Field Tiles, and Combinations ................................................................5
Marketing..........................................................................................................................................6

5. Objective of the Training Manual
The purpose of this documentisto help the trainer deliver an efficient and comprehensive training on
the topicof marble mosaic. Thismanual coversthe schedule of training,the presentation (canbe shared
upon request), and the required tools.
Methodology
Month Activity Mode Days
1
Orientation Class Room 01
Introduction to Dimensional Stones
Applicationof Marble, Granite, & Onyx
Class Room + Demo 02
Introduction of the Marble Mosaic
(Products and Applications)
Class Room + Demo 03
Introduction to the Machinery,
Equipment, Tools, and Raw Materials
Class Room/Machine Hall 04-05
How to Operate Machinery? Machine Hall 06
Safety at Work and PPE Machine and Production Hall 07
Maintenance of Machinery Machine Hall 07
Test 08
2
Marble TilesCutting Machine Hall 09-11
Marble Tiles Polishing Machine Hall 12-14
Mosaic StripsCutting Machine Hall 15-17
Mosaic Tesserae Cutting Machine Hall 18-20
Test 21
3
DesigningforMarble Mosaic ProductionHall 22-26
Placementof Tesserae onDesignand
CuttingTesserae toShapes
Production Hall 27-37
Test 38
4 Productionof FieldTiles ProductionHall 39-42
Test 43
5 Productionof ArtisticDesigns ProductionHall 44-74
Test 75
6
Productionof CombinationProducts ProductionHall 76-86
Test 87
Marketing(Prospecting and Approach) ClassRoom 88
Customers’NeedAssessment
Techniques
ClassRoom 89
Production asPer NeedAssessment ClassRoom 90
Final Exam 91
Certificates Distribution 92

6. An Introductionto Dimensional Stones
The Trainer will demonstrate the polished andunpolished tilesof limestone, granite, marble, and onyx,
to make the trainees feel the difference amongst them. The difference will be explained in detail.
Application ofMarble, Granite, and Onyx
The Trainer will explainaboutthe usesandapplicationsof the marble,granite,andonyx. Thiswill enable
the trainees understand the concept in itself and the logic behind the production and applications of
mosaic. The relevant types of stones will physically be shown to the participants.
(Please refer to the presentation for detail of dimensional stones’ properties- here not attached).
Introductionofthe Marble Mosaic (Products andApplications)
The participants will be traineduponthe basictypesof marble mosaic products, and their applications.
(Please refer to the PP Presentation on “Introduction to Marble Mosaic”).
The Machinery and Equipments
The aim of this practice is to familiarize and enable the participants on the safe and effective use of
relevant machinery, tools, and equipments.
The Bridge Cutter
The cutter with a blade between 32”-36” is used for cutting small boulders into tiles of various
dimensions.
The Mosaic Tile/Strips and Tesserae Cutting Machine
Small tiles preferably of 6” x 6” or 6”x12” are then processed into strips and pieces of required sizes.
Thiscan be done eitherthroughtwo single blademachinesortilessizing,splittingmachine,and resizing
machine followed by multi blade mosaic machine. For a beginner with local target market, the use of
low cost single blade machine is recommended.
Calibrator
For exportordersthe tilesmustbe of eventhickness, and in factories with local machinery this is done
through the calibrator. The imported auto polishers have built in heads for this.
The Manual Polisher
The single armmanual polisher can be used to polish the tiles before cutting into tesserae or to polish
the finished large products like table tops. Another method of polishing the tesserae also exists.
Tumbling Machine
In case of dimensional stones,the role of tumbling (water based) is to give the stone a natural smooth
and rounded look which appears attractive without polishing. (Please refer to the presentation on
“Machinery and Equipments”).

7. The Hand Grinder/Buffing Machine
This tool is required for polishing of mosaic handicrafts that cannot be done with ordinary manual
polishers. Besides, this is used over the edges of table/kitchen tops.
Tools/Support
Manual Stone Split Machine
Thismachine enablesyoutoquicklysplitthe stripsinto required shapes, but round shapes are difficult
to obtainfromit.This isespeciallyuseful whenyourequire piecesfor designs taking curves. Apart from
this, it can also be used for making crazy mosaics and split face mosaics resembling to smalti.
Hammer and Hardie
The use of thisset makesthe Tesserae shapingtaskveryeasy.
The Tile Nipper
Thisis the tile nipperwhichhelpsthe artisanshape small pieces as per design. It may cut and shape the
pieces as small as 1 cm with high accuracy.
Pasting Grid
The jobs of crazy tiles and field tiles are done by placing the cubes/tesserae into the pasting grids and
then fixing to the fiber mesh.
Tweezers
Sometimes the artisan needs to pick out tesserae from amongst the others on design. Doing this
through fingers is time consuming and also disturbs the design, so the tweezers prove very useful for
such tasks.
Paint Brush
While working on mosaic piece, this is simply used to remove the small stone and dust particles from
the piece.
Rulers/Gonya
Steel rulersare essential foralignmentof artisanbaseddesigns.
Wooden Planks
For trainingpurpose the wooden planks of about 8’ x 4’ should be used by laying them on floor and let
the trainees use it as working base.

8. RawMaterial
(Please refertothe presentationon“Raw Materials”).
Tesserae
The most common sizes for artisan based mosaic are 10mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm. The field tiles
are normally ordered in 20 mm, 25 mm or above as per the customer’s specification.
Fiber Mesh
Whether it is a field tile or artisan based tile, medallion, or carpet, the tesserae need to be pasted on
special fiber mesh.
Glue
The purpose of glue is to fix the tesserae to fiber mesh. Normally the water based glue is used world
overbut inPakistan,the local processorsuse the glueslike Samad Bond. However the effects of Samad
Bond’ssmell are associated with drugs and should be avoided, otherwise, safety masks must be used.
Polythene Sheet
In case of the artisan based designs, this is recommended to use the polythene sheet to protect the
original design from being damaged.
Grout
The role of grout in a mosaic factory is limited to filling over the handicrafts or table tops whereas in
case of tiles, medallions, and carpets the grout is applied after installation at site.
Howto Operate Machinery?
The TRAININGCENTRE authorizedmachine operatorwill imparttrainingonthe following:
 Am I Ready to start work safely? (Wearing Personal Protective Equipments)
 Is the machine readyandsafe enoughtowork with?(PreliminaryCheckingof the Machine from
operation and safety point of view)
 Will I be able to work safely and efficiently? (Are the raw materials arranged to ensure
ergonomic and process flow convenience?)
 How can I ensure optimum safety through my physical and mental fitness and presence?
 Getting started with machinery. The cutting dimensions to get the best results
 Will Ibe addingto the convenience of the workers/operatorsdependentuponmy task? (Where
and how to place the finished product?)
Ensuring Personal Safety
The TRAINING CENTRE supervisor will instruct the trainees about safety precautions. The Personal
Protective Equipments to use are:

9.  Safety Apron: For protecting clothes and body from water and machine
 Safety Goggles: For protection of eyes from dust, sharp stone pieces etc.
 SafetyGloves:Forprotectionof handsfromslurrywaterand reduce possibility of electrocution
 Safety Shoes: For protection of feet from falling objects and safeguard against electrocution
(Machine Hall)
 Safety Mask: For protection against dust particles and slurry water splash.
Machine Maintenance
The TRAININGCENTRE expertwill trainthe participantson routine machine check up, service (greasing
etc),and a certainlevel of initial troubleshooting. (Pleaserefertothe checklist,whichmust be adjusted
by the implementing authority as per its needs).
Stone Cutting
The trainees will be demonstrated about cutting of stones into slabs, tiles, strips, and tesserae. Then
they will be required to perform cutting of these products under the close supervision of the expert.
Designing for Marble Mosaic
Thoughnormallythe leadingmarble mosaic processors use the computer graphics designing to ensure
own innovative designs, but they also have to work as per the specifications provided by clients. The
small scale marble mosaicproducerskeeplimitedto copying the most running and demanded designs.
Though conventional mosaic trainings allow trainees to exercise creativity and explore their own
designing potential, but this should be avoided. For simplicity and cost effectiveness, the panaflex
designs should be used.
Placement ofTesserae on Designs and Cutting to Shapes
The essence of artisan based marble mosaic is about understanding the secret of tesserae placement.
The sequence,delicacy,andaccuracyof tesserae placement determine the worthof the product. This is
also important to place tesserae without any misalignment and bubbles in the product.
ProductionofArtistic Designs,Field Tiles,and Combinations
After having trained on the basic principles of the production, the trainees will be assigned various
designson individual aswell asgroupbasis.The mastertrainerwill continuouslycheckthe performance
of trainees and ensure continuous improvements in the production. This phase of production will be
focused upon target of producing atleast 70% of the marketable/saleable finished goods.

10. Marketing
Apart from being the skilled labor, the participants of program should also be trained on the basics of
marketing, so that to encourage entrepreneurship. The trainees will be taught about the following:
 The science and art of prospecting
 Approach the prospects,understandthe requirementsof clients, present your products best as
per the requirements of clients, and get purchase orders
 Fulfill the order as per quality and time requirements