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Breaking and Stabilization: First Two
Steps in Stone Carving
By Ron T White
Breaking and stabilization are the arguably two of the
most important steps when carving stone. I will describe
in the following paragraphs the process that I undertake
to break each stone to its proper size and then the
techniques used to stabilize each piece. This is a
fairly labor intensive process and the consequence can
be devastating if the steps are not done correctly. If
mistakes are made at this point in the game you can end
up trying to carve a stone that is flaky and unstable.
The first step is obviously breaking the stone down to
size. This seems pretty simple but can get a little
tricky. I use a piece of an iron I-beam that used to be
the front bumper of my old Ford Ranger Pick Up. I try to
find second lives for all things and this one has sure
come in handy. I pick up a large piece of sandstone and
strike it across the edge of the metal beam breaking it
along the stones natural fault lines. There are times
when unseen cracks or faults result in a wild break but
generally if you read the stone correctly you will end
up with correct size for your use. Next you give your
broken piece the once over deciding which edge is
suitable for a bottom and which side is going to be the
front of the piece where the design will be carved.
There is no doubt the next step is one of the most
difficult in the stone carving process. Stabilization is
very messy, time consuming and tiring. It is done with a
variety of tools. I like to wet the stone down in a
bucket of water before working on it to keep the dust
down and help spot layers and fissures. Working with
sandstone can be tricky when trying to peel off the
different layers to get to a stable even carving
surface. If there are large layers to be removed a
hammer drill with a metal chisel attachment can be your
best bet. This is loud and can be tiring but is very
effective at breaking through the different layers. For
the finer work I like to use putty knives of all shapes
and size. When they start getting worn down and dull a
quick turn on the grinder will get them into fine
working condition once again. Finally to smooth out the
broken edges of the sandstone I prefer to scrape it
against another piece of stone. This same technique is
used to smooth each corner and give the whole piece a
finished look and feel.
This has been a brief overview of the breaking and
stabilization process. One should take the time to
complete these steps carefully. As I stated before these
processes could easily be considered some of the most
important steps in creating your hand carved stone wall
art. If breaking and stabilization are not done
correctly it could jeopardize the quality of your
artwork. |
