Thinking of doing a bit of stone shaping

[tombear]

Could anyone who has done some show me their basic stone shaping kit so I know what to look for please?

Naming the parts isn't so important as ill be rummaging on carboots rather than ordering off the net. I've the PPE so that sorted A image I can refer to would be very handy. I'll be assuming anything that's not ruined and as a good British makers mark will be of sufficient quality. I've picked up the odd all metal chisel on spec' but I've no real idea if they are suitable except one which has a replaceable toothed bit held in a slot. Unfortunately the old school brand decal came off when I derusted it.

ATB

Tom

 

[Toddy]

:11doh:
I thought you meant shaping stones…..like spindle whorls, pump drill flywheel things

M

 

[tombear]

Oddly enough I am as well! I've kept a bunch of old wood chisels for the excellent steel they are made from and will grind to whatever the correct angles are once I've managed to get hold of a Jacobs chuck with a no. 1 morse taper. I thought I'd cracked it and picked up a nice one for a fiver from the Colne market tool guy but when I got home, then it I discovered there were a lot of different sizes to morse taper pins and my Myford ML8 took a no. 1 and I'd bought a no. 5 oops. It will go on ebay.

Anyhoo once I have a chuck I can hold a bolt in I will have a go at shaping some thick terracotta pieces off of the bases of broken plant pots to make some spindle worls and loom weights, then if I can get the hang of it ill try it on some soft stone like soap stone or shale. Ill need to research it properly but it's definitely something I've been considering.

But it's whacking at big lumps to make a rotary quern, maybe some carved oil lamps and similar I want to do. I'm no artist so it won't be sculptures ill be doing! Saying that I've a vague hankering for the pairs of crudely carved heads ( one bigger than the other) that you sometimes find either side of a gateway onto a steding.... No idea why that appeals but it does

stb

Tom

 

[Robson Valley]

I've done some stone carving, just Canadian steatite soapstone. Really messy and slippery dust. Quite frankly, you can carve it with a rasp and a screwdriver, handsaw for rough shaping.
I'll drive to Vancouver/Sept for a family visit and probably buy more tools and more stone. Just so you can see where I will be shopping, here are some places to look at:

http://www.miconproducts.com/

http://www.neolithicstone.com/

http://giancarlostone.com/

 

[tombear]

Cheers, some nice stuff there.

i've policed up all the all metal chisels I have . I've literally no idea if any apart from replaceable toothed job 3 up on the right is for stone or metal or if you can use em for both. If anyone can advise I'd be grateful.

markings are, from top to bottom right side first.

SPEAR AND JACKSON ENGLAND

N.C.B. ALLOY STEEL 250 x 25 M/M FOOTPRINT ENGLAND 10" x 1 "

J.W. WARD SHEFFIELD \ CAST STEEL arrow 1943

union jack ARMATOOL

no markings but pre derusting it had a decal with a name followed by BIRMINGHAM

FOOTPRINT MADE IN ENGLAND 910 4181 arrow 77

DURACUT CrV-ALLOY MADE IN ENGLAND 97 arrow 5110999104205 JG

The rest have no markings ( the red one doesn't feel quality ) except the tiny one the the bottom left which has

CLAY SHEFFIELD ENGLAND.

All off carboots except the red one from a pound shop for a specific job when I was a student meny moons ago and the NCB one followed my Dad home when he left the pit. I cleaned it up and fettled it.

theres also a couple of wide I think Brick chisels, one says T-DROP FORGED and the other is Z a shiny new FOOTPRINT SHEFFIELD UK 230 x 100 No. 1236

ive also got some good lump hammers, goggles, gloves, leather apron and various breathing / dust masks.

atb

tom

 

[Macaroon]

The third one up on the right is a combing chisel, or scutch around here, and you can (could?) get the differennt double ended bits to fit to it for different jobs and different types of stone. When you look at old hand-dressed stone you can often see the marks from this tool left on the surface.

 

[Robson Valley]

They all look quite suitable for carving the softer stones like soapstone, alabaster and freshly quarried sandstone (I'd love to try that stuff.)
Have you got something like a 32oz/1.5kg hammer?
When I get to Micon Products (post #4 above), I plan to buy some tungsten carbide tipped carving tools. They last longer between dressings
and local stone is stuff that the glaciers of the last ice age could not grind down. I'm starting to assemble a kit for power carving (diamond blades, etc).
Fortunate to get a little mentoring from a local stone mason.