beginner in stone

[David Stephens <sms2@xxxxxxx>]

John,

Thanks for your advice, on the restoration project. It does appear from my
recent trip, to see the stone, (it is around 100 miles from my home,) that
all letters are actually there, but some are just less visible than others.
The differences in techniques, raised pictures, cursive letters, and Roman
Block letters for name and dates, will cause me to need more than just a
little cleaning, but maybe since I should be able to get a rubbing, next
time, perhaps I can start from there with some type of plan. I did take
some pictures, before and after, the small bit of sanding. It really made a
big difference. I must think George again for this advice. I can hardly
believe the difference. As for the cleaners, from my Geology classes, I
already knew that any type of acid will slowly dissolve anything but the
hardest minerals, so I knew better than to use any harsh chemicals, without
testing them on some ordinary marble first. In geology class we actually
used a weak solution of hydracloric acid to detect the presernce of any
type of calcium carbinate, like in limestone, the acid will cause it to
bubble, or disolve.

The name of this company I was thinking about getting some training from is
called, VIC International. It says that their products do not etch the
marble. But that does remain to be seen. They do recomment stripping the
stone, then adding a sealer. I will ask more questions, and read more
before I do anything drastic, like that. Especially, since they said the
stone had to dry before adding a sealer.

I want to think everyone for their help, and encouragement, especially
since I am such a novice. I know most of my questions seem very nieve, in
the eyes of such professionals, on this web page, but everyone has been
very patient and kind and I really appreciate that.

Thanks again,
I'll listen a while,
Sheila

At 07:58 PM 10/12/01 -0400, you wrote: