Anyone here ever carve granite

[elmer]

Scored these 3 surface plates at an online auction.
24"x36"x4 1/2" - $25 , 18"x24"x4" - $35 and 18"x24"x6" - $30 .
All grade A and just a month out of date. I am gonna keep one for a surface plate and thinking of trying my hand at stone carving with the other two.
Maybe my house address and maybe my own grave stone.

 

[PCustoms]

Scored these 3 surface plates at an online auction.
24"x36"x4 1/2" - $25 , 18"x24"x4" - $35 and 18"x24"x6" - $30 .
All grade A and just a month out of date. I am gonna keep one for a surface plate and thinking of trying my hand at stone carving with the other two.
Maybe my house address and maybe my own grave stone.

Keep/sell the plates and go get a chunk of material at the landscape yard.

Funny, odds are those came from VT but they never show up cheap around here.

 

[Beerhippie]

Scored these 3 surface plates at an online auction.
24"x36"x4 1/2" - $25 , 18"x24"x4" - $35 and 18"x24"x6" - $30 .
All grade A and just a month out of date. I am gonna keep one for a surface plate and thinking of trying my hand at stone carving with the other two.
Maybe my house address and maybe my own grave stone.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here....

I'll second the vote for resell and buy a less valuable slab for practice carving. Pretty sure you can easily double your money on those.

Get a good respirator before dry-carving stone. Silicosis isn't a city in Italy (but it is common among stone carvers in Italy).

 

[PCustoms]

Also, sandstone is softer and easier to shape.

 

[gte718p]

Scored these 3 surface plates at an online auction.
24"x36"x4 1/2" - $25 , 18"x24"x4" - $35 and 18"x24"x6" - $30 .
All grade A and just a month out of date. I am gonna keep one for a surface plate and thinking of trying my hand at stone carving with the other two.
Maybe my house address and maybe my own grave stone.

That is a crime for them to go that cheap.

Obviously, no one wants them or they would have gone higher and Shipping is a killer on anything that heavy. However, I'm in the crowd that says it is a shame to ruin a perfectly good surface plate. The counter top or tombstone manufacture generally have drops that they give away or sell cheap. There is probably a GJ member or a PM who would double your money .

 

[elmer]

OK maybe I'll make a couple funky little end tables for the patio or basement . Not really into selling small items.

 

[RoninB4]

OK maybe I'll make a couple funky little end tables for the patio or basement . Not really into selling small items.

-They're yours to do what you want with but you're still making me cringe. Maybe motorcitykid would want one.

 

[Steve from Socal]

As an address block, glue raised numbers on the smaller plate. Raised numbers are much easier to read and they will not harm the plate or you!

 

[motorcitykid]

Maybe trade them for tools or something you could use if you didn't want to sell them. They're yours to do as you wish, but the utility value may be better traded. If you change your mind let me know, either way bests of luck.

 

[elmer]

As an address block, glue raised numbers on the smaller plate. Raised numbers are much easier to read and they will not harm the plate or you!

Thanks for the good advice but if I were to put the granite in front of the house I would want the numbers chiseled in stone

 

[elmer]

Maybe trade them for tools or something you could use if you didn't want to sell them. They're yours to do as you wish, but the utility value may be better traded. If you change your mind let me know, either way bests of luck.

Sent you a PM

 

[Jayman17]

You sure got a deal on those plates!

 

[elmer]

You sure got a deal on those plates!

Auctioneer told me the smaller granite surface plates don't go as high as they used to , large ones still bring good money.

 

[gahrajmahal]

I thought of doing this (the stone carving part) myself. I was going to get sink cut outs from a granite countertop company. I’d suggest you do the same before you go carving up those nice slabs. Just because, I will probably **** at it the first time or two. I have carved a bit of stone, nothing fancy, I built stone steps, then a stone patio at our house. Here in Ohio the field stones have the most awesome fossils so where I was matching the stone to pavers I carved them free hand with my Diamond disc.

 

[Milton Shaw]

A lot of stone work is done with a rubber membrane stencil that is attached and then sandblasted to form the pattern. Most monuments in cemeteries are done this way from what I have seen.

 

[jblnut]

If you were closer I’d get you some far less expensive granite to practice carving with. This site is about 40 acres with stuff like this all over it. If you can picture a size of material from 6’x6’x10’ down to 4”x4”x2” material it’s all here. Mama Bear was eyeing treasures I had to later retrieve lol


As far as carving granite goes invest in a set of diamond bits for a dremel for fine work and other diamond encrusted grinding things for other sized grinders you may have. Chiseling takes an enormous amount of skill to get right.

 

[slowtwitch73]

If you're going to butcher them, better off making a vinyl stencil and sand blasting them.