Attaching an upright headstone to a base

["daedelus lanthanien" <daedeluslanthanien@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Hello Bill,
It is a hateful thing to have to think about destruction when engaged in
creation. I like the comments that I have read regarding pinning stone with
various materials. Pinning is a very common method to safeguard against
shifting when mortar joints break. Joining the stones on the site with pins
in epoxy is quite durable and can be used mortarless. Bear in mind that
leaving a vandal excessive leverage can ruin epoxy pinning jobs. You can
scarify the holes with a red hot steel rod to increase bond or let your
hammer drill rattle the middle and the bottom of the hole good. You should
profile or rough the pins up too, everything should be clean, clean, clean.

A base should be twice as wide as the piece is thick as a rule of thumb for
freestanding work up to 2 1/2 feet. For each additional foot after 2 1/2
feet add four inches to the base, you should be ok til your work hits 8
feet. No leverage for the weak little hooligans, the only things they seem
to be able to lift are beers and joints.

A very solid mounting method would involve drilling your base for acceptance
of a threaded stainless bolts countersunk. Hopefully you will have enough
room to box your fasteners instead of rowing them. Prepare a matching long
nut like I described for pins. Instead of epoxy, babbit or lead it in the
headstone with the bolt inside of it to keep the babbit out of the threads.
You can further ensure that your bolt will not be sticky by dipping the bolt
in wax and then the nut, then thread them together, put a glob in the bottom
end and around the bolt shank where it meets the nut. Clean the wax off of
your profiled or roughed up nut and do your pour. If you are doing a bunch
of them close together, watch the heat!

Have a good day, daed