From:
Walter Arnold <walter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date:
Thu, 10 Jun 1999 10:16:17 -0500
Subject:
Old timers and trade preservation
At 08:00 PM 6/9/99 -0500, Kevin wrote:
Quoted text begins.technology. Patrik have you ever cut a 2' by 4' by 4' block of limestone by
hand saw? Well it takes a good sharp blade and goes about 1 inch an hour
and takes a lot of rhythm and is a good work out.
End of quote.
Are you willing to try a carbide tipped hand saw? You'd
need to test it to see if the tool marks it leaves are
the same, but I'd suspect that, considering the original
19th century work is heavily weathered the difference
would be minimal. It works best on soft stone like Texas
limestone or Bath stone (which, by the way, are very
similar), but you can use it on Indiana limestone or
Portland stone (again, those two are quite similar).
Depending on the stone, you may change that 1" per hour
into 1" per two to six minutes.
I have one made by Sandvik (Denmark I believe??) that is
29" long (75cm) and have ordered one from Texas that is
18" (45cm). If you remind me, after I test the Texas
stone I can let you know whether it is any good.
I fully understand hand tooling and dressing the stone
to create authentic surfaces; I do a lot of hand tooling
to put texture and shadow into my work; however, for
roughing out IMHO there is no reason not to use faster
techniques. Do you buy stone from a mill that uses 11'
diamond saws to cut the blocks, and who in turn gets
their blocks from a quarry that uses 12' diamond tipped
chain saws and the like to quarry the blocks, or do you
dig it out of the ground with sledge hammers and pry
bars? Where do you draw the line?
But then, I was always somewhat confused by the Amish.
To those not in the U.S. or not familiar, they are a
Christian religion that adheres strictly to the "old
ways"... that means they use only technology that
existed as of a certain date in the mid 19th century. I
understand how it makes their life more peaceful and
closer to nature, cuts out the haste and confusion of
modern times. What I find confusing is the concept that
using a machine invented in 1845 brings you closer to
godliness than using a machine invented in 1875.
As I mentioned, I always keep a mallet close at hand and
pick it up many times in a day- (or, for marble, an iron
hammer). I feel that the more different techniques you
have available the more versatile you can be, adjusting
the technique to the particular cut you are making.
Walter S. Arnold * walter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- References
- message 00150: Old timers and trade preservation - Kevin (10 Jun 1999)
- Previous by Thread: message 00154: Old timers and trade preservation - Patrick Huss (10 Jun 1999)
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