Railworks America

I had to do this Coat of Arms for a family. They gave me a 8 x 10 plastic model. The final edition is 28 inches tall on the back of their monument. Got 4 hours of shape carving on it.

Good job, I guess their name is MacDonald!

That's so cool when families have a coat of arms or a crest like that to symbolize them or are able to trace theirs back. Nice work on that.

You ever get requested to do anything goofy like this?

When you say "Shape Carving", does that mean by hand with a hammer and chisel? Nice job by the way.

Shaping is done with steel shot, (like bird shot). I blast it with the shot through a 3/32 hole to start, bigger areas get a bigger hole. I cut lines around everything that needs shaped. Then I score the lines with shot about 3/16s of an inch deep. Peel the rubber off and round everything over. Once done, I put rubber back on the design and all the lines and open areas get sandblasted. Our grunt does that. Hammer & chisel is not used much any more. I do a thing called a starburst with a chisel. Some of our granite is on the cheaper side and the guys who make it know it is cheap and they do poor jobs of squaring them up. So we chisel them square.

Excellent craftsmanship!

EJohn, you have no idea of the goofy stuff I have seen and cut. When a salesperson can not satisfy a client, they bring them to me. I tie them to the chair and ask them what do you want, then I do it on the computer. My boss loves that. He is amazed how I can relate to people. I told him I "control" them with their own feelings. I am a mirror, what ever they spit out I give it back. Makes us on the same level.

This is so painstaking and the care it takes to not blow on the edges of the stenci is just superb. Its been a looooong time since I have seen layered work like that. But really why I responded was to point out the excellent polish job you did on the granite. Very deep. No mica outlines either.
Stone cutting is a lost art and you are a craftsman. Do you have pictures of you chisel work on the top of that monument or is it flat?

The top has an angel bust on it. The head and has wings stretched out across the top. That part we did not do. It was done by an actual sculptor. One of the Leonardo guys that are fading away. C&C is replacing them. Same with the polishing. We buy blank stock in many shapes and colors and add to it.

You can see a lot of my work at http://www.romemonuments.com

CNC and pre-polished stock would make it a bit easier! That coat of arms is really, really good. I love you stuff and I wanted to share I used to do cutting, polishing, finishing and installation back in the 1980s.

I ground the surface of these stones at the Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Campbell Hall, NJ. There are some black onyx stones here too that are just outrageous. (Our stone came in on depressed flatbed tractor trailers in 20 Ton Blocks)

https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2007/101/CEM46884184_117636029684.jpg

The man I worked for Ted Fournier, his wife would prepare the stencils with the letters and rosettes, he would affix the rubber to the stone, cut the letters and roses out, and blow them out with mica like you. He taught me how do it, so I know what can go wrong! I appreciate you showing what you do from time to time! You do good stuff man! *!greengrin!

Do you guys use chisels and oxy-acetylene torches to 'rough up" the cut face on the stone still?

We fake the stippling by simply blasting it with aluminum oxide (carborundom), stippling is pretty much gone as far as I know. I haven't run across much stippling though, mainly for large sunken backgrounds.The chisels are also being replaced with small grinders with diamond blades. That's what the sculptors are using these days. Very little chisel work required. I accused one of cheating as I watched him for an hour and he never picked up a chisel which is what I wanted to see. The main thing I use chisels for is smoothing the background of a raised letter job. I have chisels from 1/16th to 1 1/4 that I do the lettering with.

It’s really a delight to know that there still craftsmen, oops sorry persons, plying their skills.

I am a Journeyman. Title is Creative Director. Some people call me an Artisan. 1st 4 letters are in my name.

artimrj wrote:The top has an angel bust on it. The head and has wings stretched out across the top. That part we did not do. It was done by an actual sculptor. One of the Leonardo guys that are fading away. C&C is replacing them. Same with the polishing. We buy blank stock in many shapes and colors and add to it.

You can see a lot of my work at http://www.romemonuments.com

Excellent work by a master craftsman.

What is C&C?

Is there any 3D printing in this business? Like little metal decorations, letters, reliefs and small sculptures kind of stuff that used to be cast in brass or bronze? Or 3D printing in "liquid stone" like the material dentists use, for it needs to be durable under all kinds of weather for decades?

Bob
No slight intended, on the contrary.
It appears we are two nations divided by a “common” language.