Hi new here

["George Graham" <georgergraham@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

HI Scott,
Welcome to the discussion!

I second the advice to the carving studio. Its close and you can get hands
on learning .  Its great that you live in one of the major stone centers in
the country. There are many private and professional stone carvers there, as
well as all the major tool manufactures.

Barre is the granite center, and Rutland and Danby Vt. is the marble region
of your state. Of course I'm being very general, you could run across
anything lying on the ground when you are hiking in the woods. A small cold
chisel and a 1lb hammer could be part of what goes into a daybag. If you
carve into a rock and the chisel edge is immediately blunted and mashed in,
you have a hard stone on your hands. Probably granite.  It can be cut,
broken and pounded into a shape, but without carbide tipped tools, its an
exercise in futility.

When you find some marble to work on, you will know right away that you have
a very carvable stone to work with.
You have just scratched the surface of the mountain of information available
to you. Keep asking questions and look back into the archives of this list.
There is a lot of how-to stuff for beginners.

My studio is in Batavia NY. Its a small town right on the NYS thruway,
halfway between Buffalo and Rochester. If you are traveling through this
area, stop for the grand tour. The door is always open. Just contact me
through the lists.
George Graham

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