2 granite carving sequences

["George Graham" <georgergraham@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Bill,
I've gone through the site as best I can and can't find the pictures you
describe.

I do remember the pictures from the first time , a few days ago, but I need
to see them again.

Counting question marks to find a picture does not work , because everything
is in Japanese! I hope you are not playing an elaborate joke on me!
I do remember a picture that showed half of a small jackhammer. It had
pistol grip  handle , for lack of a better work. The carver must have been
using some kind of bush chisel with it.

There were other pictures showing a man using some kind of air grinder with
a flexible disc and water. Once the finishing gets past the first couple of
grits, and all the bush hammer marks and pits are cleaned off, and all the
shaping is complete, the honing can be done with flexible discs, and water.

 From 80 grit on I'd go with silicone carbide discs, up to 600 grit. That is
when you are working with a big open , simple shape. I learned to polish
granite with silicone carbide 7" discs. They are very cheap compared with
diamond pads, but not as fast. I'm just old fashioned, and like the results.

The process is the same for diamond or silicone carbide discs. The most
important thing to remember about polishing granite is to not move on to the
next grit until all of the scratches from the previous step are gone.
Otherwise they will come back to haunt you in the end. Polishing marble is
the same principal. Knowing when you are done with 600 grit is always the
problem. I like to see a very strong shine on the stone after 600. The
reflected light,off the surface should be sharp, not diffuse. Then  you are
ready to polish with tin oxide and a hard felt pad and a very little bit of
water . I know some sand up to 3000 grit, but if you work the 600 long
enough ,  the tin oxide will give you a great high polish. The hardest thing
to do is find a dull area that was not properly honed. To fix it means going
back a couple of grits.

That's the gist of finishing granite. There is a lot of details that  you
have to work out  by doing. Asking for help during the process is fine with
me!

There are some semi flexible course grinding discs that can be use for
cleaning up bush marks. Because granite is so hard, I like to use 60 grit
carborundum wheel to do the heavy clean up. The flat diamond wheels are very
good and long lasting too. I use a 5000 rpm grinder with all the hard
grinding wheels. I like a low speed  1300 rpms for the sanding and
polishing. Cleaning up big simple shapes in granite is pretty straight
forward. A team of 3 could do a huge amount of work  in less then a week
with today's tools.

One of the things I like about the old fashioned carborundum wheels is that
they can be shaped and retrued so they don't clatter and bruise the stone.
As a last resort you can shove it right into some concrete and it will level
its self off. I have some old worn out carborundum wheels that fit onto an
8" arbor that are great for cleaning up my baby wheels!
I've thrown a lot of stuff at you , so let me know if this is what you were
thinking of. If it is not, please don't tell me. I could have spent this
time squabbling with my in-laws about politics.
Don't get me started!
George