tungsten for granite working

["Simon Brown" <moonsong@zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

Thanks, Jacques. I wish I had known this when I first started carving
marble- some of the local marble is as hard as granite, and I curled up some
good firesharps after reading about UK sculptors using steel tools.

I contacted the manufacturers of the tungsten-tipped punches that broke, and
they immediately offered to replace them.

There were only 2 that broke, out of a set of 12 that I had bought for the
workshop. The other 10 are well-pounded now with no sign of breakage. After
the first 2 broke, I rounded the sharp cutting edges off the rest of the new
tools.

Another problem is flakes of steel flying from the striking surface, so I
have to keep them ground back to a rounded end. I guess it's a compromise
between too hard and too soft.

Simon