From:
Martin H Ray <mhray1@zzzzzzzz>
Date:
Sat, 18 Feb 2006 13:50:40 -0500
Subject:
Surfacing granite
My half-finished message went out inadvertantly - sorry, here's the full
reply.
Quoted text begins.What kind of granite do you have? Does it have a distinctive color?
Do you have a basic idea of what you want?
If you can clarify what you want, then you will get great advice
from the group on how to do it.
George Graham
End of quote.
From here on Cape Ann Massachusetts, Rockport and Gloucester quarrymen
were once major suppliers of granite to the Eastern USA. Cobblestones,
curbing, building foundations, some monument stone. At that time most of
the stone left the wharfs by ship. Because of its hardness, it was
particularly desirable for street applications. Knowledgeable workers
understood how to read the grain, extract and split it. Finer surfacing
is a bigger challenge.
The stone is mostly grey, although pink and green veins exist here. The
crystals appear large and chunky, compared to the more whitish,
finer-grained, softer granite that is currently quarried in places like
Chelmsford MA and Barre VT. To my taste the Cape Ann granite is much more
handsome, rugged, earthy.
Other than boulders, most of the pieces that I work with are either
recycled curbstone (typically 8"x16"x4-9') or interesting shapes from
quarry grout piles, which take diverse forms, fractures, edges.
Occasionally you find pieces from a fairly thin exfoliated layer, but
most of this is already utilized in walls and terraces.
One of my present directions, previously alluded to, is making coffee
tables out of stones on the order of 8"x24"x48-60". Lifting them isn't a
problem when my mini-excavator is around. I have anchored a short piece
of curbing on edge, set in concrete, as a pedestal, then pinned on the
table top. The installation comes out knee-high, nicely proportioned and
secure. Table tops to date have been pieces found with a ready-to-go
finish. The rest of my stock is much rougher, up to a couple of inches
away from true level. So I need to attain that, with a tooled or flame
finish. No polish.
Another thought I have is fixing bluestone shelves or tabletops to
evocative granite bases . One class of candidates for pedestals that I
have collected have wide bottoms and narrow tops. Joining problems will
have to be solved. I've wondered about leveling off the narrow top,
pinning an intermediate piece of bluestone to it, then anchoring a
larger finished top to it perhaps with little pins and/or epoxy. This
should permit free-form assemblies.
As I mentioned in an earlier note:
So far, all I have in my kit are a set, tracer, 3/4 inch chisel, and
point, plus a 2# and a 3# hammer. And for splitting, an electic hammer
drill, 10# bull set, and 8# rifter. I'm thinking about making an
investment for easier and bigger production.
I've seen a stoneworker use an oxy-propane torch to good effect for
surface finishing. I'd like to hear others' experiences with this, along
with specific sources and criteria for the right tool.
Thanks for your interest,
Martin
- Follow-ups
- message 00442: Surfacing granite with flame - Tomas Lipps (19 Feb 2006)
- message 00436: Surfacing granite - abknight (19 Feb 2006)
- message 00435: Surfacing granite - abknight (19 Feb 2006)
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