From Slab to Finished Top
Receiving and Inspection
A slab is checked on arrival for cracks, for the block and bundle reference matching the order, and for colour against the piece the customer selected. Problems found here are the suppliers. Problems found after cutting are the shops. That asymmetry is why the inspection is taken seriously.
Layout
The template is overlaid on a digital image of the actual slab and the pieces are positioned. This decides where veining falls, whether a feature runs across a join, and how much material is left over. It is the single most consequential half hour in the whole process and it is where an experienced fabricator earns their premium.
Cutting
A bridge saw or a waterjet takes the pieces out. Water is continuous, for cooling the blade and for suppressing the dust, which is a serious health matter with engineered materials in particular. Cuts are made oversize on any edge that will be worked later, because machining removes material.
Apertures and Edges
Sink and hob openings are cut and their internal corners are radiused rather than left square, because a sharp internal corner is a crack waiting to start. Edge profiles are machined with shaped tooling in several passes, then the exposed faces are polished through a sequence of increasingly fine abrasives.
Dry Assembly
The pieces are laid out on a bench in the shop exactly as they will meet in the kitchen, and the seams are checked and adjusted. Finding a discrepancy here costs an hour. Finding it in a customers kitchen costs a day and a second visit, which is why any shop worth using does this step.
Packing and Transport
Finished pieces travel vertically in a frame, edge protected, because a slab carried flat will crack under its own weight over a bump. Most transit damage happens in loading and unloading rather than on the road, and it is one of the reasons a fabricator prefers to deliver with their own crew.