MASONRY UNIT...
Featured Glossary "M" Term
MACHINE FINISH: The generally recognized standard machine finish produced by the planers.
MALLET: Type of wood or plastic hammer, used to drive chisels.
MALPAIS: Literally, badland; refers to dark-colored rock, commonly lava, in rough terrain.
MANTEL: The structural member spanning the opening of a fireplace. Also, a shelf (usually cubic stone) which is part of the finish and above the fireplace opening.
MANUFACTURED: Dimensional stone fabricated, ready for installation.
MANUFACTURER: One who fabricates dimensional stone.
MARBLE INSTITUTE OF AMERICA: An international trade association whose membership is composed of contractors, exporters, importers, manufacturers, producers, and wholesalers of dimensional stone, as well as those who supply products and services to the industry.
MASH HAMMER: A short-handled heavy hammer with two round or octagonal faces, used to drive hammer-head shaping tools.
MASON: Worker or installer of stone.
MASONRY CEMENT: A mill-mixed cementious material to which sand and water is added to make mortar.
MASONRY UNIT: Natural or manufactured building units of fired clay or shale, concrete, stone, glass, gypsum, etc.
MASTIC: A pasty, mortar-like material composed of solvent-based organic adhesives that cures quickly by evaporation of the solvents.
MATCHING: Selecting, cutting, and placing finished stone slabs to obtain a uniform and symmetrical pattern of natural veining and color.
MATRIX: The rock in which a crystallized mineral is embedded.
MECHANIC: One skilled in installation of dimensional stone.
MEGALITH: A stone of great size.
MENSA: The top horizontal member or surface of an altar, usually of stone.
METAMORPHIC ROCK: Rock altered in appearance, density and crystalline structure, and in some cases mineral composition, by high temperature or pressure, or both. Slate is derived from shale; quartzite from quartz sandstone; and true marble from limestone. Gneiss can be derived from both sedimentary, igneous, and pre-existng metamorphic rocks.
More on metamorphic rocks.
METAMORPHISM: The change or alteration in a rock caused by exterior agencies, such as deep-seated heat and pressure, or intrusion of rock materials.
METER: A unit of linear measure in the metric system; equivalent to 39.37 inches.
MICA: Any group of mineral silicates in a multi-layered form; characterized by cleaving which permits splitting into thin sheets.
MICROCRYSTALLINE LIMESTONE: A limestone that consists largely or wholly of crystals that are so small as to be recognizable only under magnification.
MILLING: Processing of quarry blocks through sawing, planing, turning, and cutting.
MITER: The junction of two units at an angle, of which the junction line usually bisects at a 45 degree angle.
MOCK-UP: A large or full size stone sample panel installed to show full range of color, shading and texture.
MODULAR-MULTIPLE CUT PATTERN CUT: This refers to standard patterns used throughout the stone industry. These patterns are usually based on multiples of 3 or 6, stone that is multiple cut or pattern cut is pre-cut to allow for ¼ inch or ½ inch joints or beds.
MODULUS OF RUPTURE: The stress at which a specimen of stone breaks in the testing.
MOH’S SCALE: A gauge of hardness among minerals. Not to be confused with hardness as determined by ASTM C241 test.
MOLD: Formed template. Sometimes spelled in the trade as “mould.”
MOLDINGS: Decorative stone deviating form a plane surface by projections, curved profiles, recesses, or any combination thereof.
MONOLITHIC: Shaped from a single block of stone, as a monolithic column, in contrast with a stacked column consisting of superimposed stone drums. Also, a bed of portland cement cast over a concrete slab without an isolation membrane.
MONO SAW: Similar to gang saw, except it has only one blade for cutting large stone units.
MORTAR BED: A troweled layer of mortar, in a plastic state, in which building units will be set.
MOSAIC: A veneering which is generally irregular with no definite pattern. Nearly all the stone used in a mosaic pattern is irregular in shape.
MULLION: Vertical division member between windows or doors
MULTIPLE PATTERN: Stone cut in rectangular multiples of a certain dimension. Usually cut to allow for standard ¼ inch or standard ½ inch joint.
MULTIPLE-RISE ASHLAR: Stone, usually splitface, which is cut in various rises that will “course out” (level with) each other when used in proper combination with standard-width mortar joints.
MUSCOVITE: A white, aluminum-rich mica found in granite.
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