Introduction

["Ted Schaghy" <ted@zzzzzzzz>]

Howdy All,
My name is, Ted. I am a novice stone carver. Most of my background is in
masonry and stonecutting for residential and commercial purposes, mostly
working in limestone, e.g., signage, mantelpieces, hearthstones, etc.  I
have always wanted to sculpt stone and especially to learn the craft of
lettering in stone.
    For starters, I bought myself some basic carving tools and a few chunks
of soapstone.  I was surprised at how quickly the work progressed (don't
forget your dust mask!).  The stone is surprisingly easy to shape and to
work with all the way around.  I didn't know exactly what I was going to do
with the stone, so I just jumped in and followed the natural shape of one of
the pieces and finished a jewelry dish.  It turned out beautifully.  Not bad
for starters.
    Next, I am waiting for a book to arrive that will begin to explain a
little better how lettering in stone is done.  I chose the book, "Letters
Carved In Stone" by Richard Grasby.  I hope this is a good one.
    I have done a lot of lettering in limestone with sandblasting equipment.
Not much to it.  After the layout is perfected - blast it out and there you
have it.  The hand lettering is a different story however.  I have tried
lettering by hand on a few scraps of tough, hard Arizona sandstone and some
even tougher and harder metaquartzite I found in Nevada with questionable
results.  Maybe my technique is not all there yet, or maybe the stone is
just to hard to work with for a novice.  Next, I got a piece of slate tile
while walking through Home Depot and tried my hand at carving a few letters
into the surface of the tile.  Much better results and easier to work than
the others, but still not all there yet.  I suppose I am in need of a great
deal more practice.
   Anyway, it's a lot of fun!

Workin' on it,
Regards,
Ted