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Helpful Tools and Tips for Hand Carved
Stone
By Ron T White
There are a several options available to you when
exploring the different techniques and tools you can
implement to hand carve stone wall art. Through years of
trial and error I have found a few things that work best
for me when working with my chosen medium of sandstone
and some things to steer clear of. I have learned that
it is necessary to use a variety of tools not limited to
but including putty knives, chisels, diamond bits and
burrs, and even hammer drills to get my desired result.
In this article I will cover only the technical issues
of carving on the stone and will discuss getting a
feeling for each stone and tips for bringing out its
true beauty in latter articles.
First let's talk a bit about some misconceptions
regarding stone carving and sandstone wall art that I
have run across. One of the biggest misconceptions about
sandstone is that it is a soft stone. On the contrary it
is very abrasive and if the wrong tools are used it will
eat up your equipment very quickly including tools
coated in tungsten carbide and even titanium carbide.
Another misconception is that soaking a piece of
sandstone in water will make it softer and more easily
carved. Not true, what water will help with is the life
of your bits and chisels and keeping the dust down.
Now here are a few things that I have found work. One of
the best tools for the initial stabilization of each
stone is a hammer drill. All though it is truly amazing
to watch the stone wear down the steel chisels of the
hammer drill to a mere nub. The stabilization process is
completed with a plain, old fashioned, putty knife and
yes they get worn down, too. It is always great feeling
when I wear my tools down to their handles. During these
steps it is helpful to keep your stone moist just to
restrict the dust. As for carving the final images in
the stone wall art I have found nothing works better
than diamond tipped chisels, bits and burrs. Now here is
where the water really comes into play. You must keep
your diamond covered tools cool. If you don't the
adhesive will over heat and all your diamond chips will
fall off whatever surface they have been adhered to
making your chisels, bits or burrs useless.
I have covered briefly some of the tips and techniques
that I discovered work well for hand carved stone wall
art particularly if you are working with sandstone. As
you can see it is not a highly technical field and can
be entered into with a variety of low cost tools. It
takes a lot of heart and a bit of determination but with
the right equipment and a vision of what you would like
to accomplish hand carved stone is a very rewarding
endeavor. Never be afraid to try different tools and
different techniques as this is how we learn what works
and what we should stay away from. I know I will be
trying new things and will keep everyone posted of my
discoveries. |
