Stones

[Keoma]

Good Morning! I really have no clue where or how to begin carving stones. I really want to try it so I am going to try it out, but has anyone ever seen a tutorial or something of the kind anywhere?
My goal is a stone cottage, but would settle for a few pebbles in the road right now. Any direction would be really appreciated. Thanx in advance!

[doris]

hi keoma :-) before i carved wood, i carved stone (you can see some examples on my homepage, if you wish)...pebbles are quartz, that means very hard stones already, and you need strong tools for them... for pebbles you can use a rotary machine, like a dremel or a foredom, with a flexible shaft attached. and you need to use diamond burrs. all steal burs will be destroyed by stones like pebbles, since pebbles are harder than steel (spelling?). so, a few diamond burs you need. then you need to cool the stone while working, i dip it in water from time to time. if you not cool it, the heat the rotating burs produce will crack the stone... and if you want know more, just ask, i wrote somewhere more information on carving stone in small scale, i will then find it for you... have happy exploring !!!

[Keoma]

Wow Doris! Now that I am inspired to go out in my driveway and try out a few stones...how cool would that look set into a hair piece,eh? I should have specified, I want to carve wood stones In a picture Thank you for your great great advice on stone carving...I know you can tell me a great way to carve stones...in wood too!
Now I know what to do with those diamond bits

[doris]

lol lol ... oh, you want carve stones in wood, like on a relief ! i laugh so much, that i misunderstood you.... oh, and if you try carve real stone from driveway, please use a dustmask, the dust of most stones is very dangrous, you should not breath it... how to carve a pebble on a woddcarving...now, have you carved a ball sometime ? you know how to do that right ? i mean, you carved round shapes, like the belly of your cow, right ? now, a pebble is not much different , is it ? there you go, which way ever you want carve stones :-) ... lol...still laughing... thanks for making joy :-)

[chuckbolton]

draw ur stone wall on the piece-- make the row resonably straight- but the pieces of rock in the wall will vary in size and somewhat in shape-- go take a pic of a wall and study it. once u have ur wall drawn on-- i take a v-tool and out line the stones-- then take chips out of each corner-- 4 pieces-one in each corner of each stone- so u have 4 chips where 4 stones meet- they dont have to be large pieces. then incise and make deeper the lines between the stones--round the edges somewhat. also take and make the face of the stone somewhat uneven- the way real stone are. also dont paint them al the same color (if u paint) use several different colors-- in mo i use blue grey, gun metal grey, yellow ochre and and may darken each one to give variety. to see some examples go to
Woodcarving products and woodcarving classes-John Engler
he's a relief carver in springfield mo-- i learned from him-- his website has pics of some of his carvings-- good luck and have fun-- email me directly if u have other question or post here i will try to answer them

[dnstehly]

Hi Keoma, I'm going to keep a close watch on this string as I am faced with the same challenge myself. I'm creating a rocky water-side habitat for one of my water snake sticks. So far I have gathered several real rocks of the type I want to carve and tried to reproduce what I see. I've cut out some random shapes on the band saw, sanded them, and then distressed the surface with diamond burs (ball and cylinder). So far I'm reasonably pleased with the result but, never having done it before, I'm anxious to read what others have to say about this challenge. Chucks comments above were helpful and interesting but I didn't find anything at the suggested web site.

[Hugh-P]

Keoma, when carving small stones it usually ended up by carving my fingers, grin. I use a block of wood (6 or 8" long stick), carve the end the shape I want, and cut the rock off, and finish it with a finer bit that won't bite so quickly.
No Makinchips, I never imagined making a stone like that, great job!!!!!!!!!!! Thought Keoma wanted individual stones. You do fantastic work. Thanks

[chuckbolton]

makinchips has done a great demo and explain of how i do them-- in my orginal post i suggested this site --http://www.johnenglerwoodcarvings.com/products.html

go to it and click on tradesman colletion-- will get to see how johns rocks look painted. again- makinchips has done a great demo.

[Keoma]

Thanx very much! Yes Joe! Those were the stones I meant! Exactly! You were the one who wetted my appetite!
Been wanting some rocks ever since...
Thank you for you directions Chuck! With the written word and the pictures to go along with it...I think i can tackle it! I am off to find a board... Thank you so much!

[Keoma]

OK! I have found a board...and ihave drawn some stones...now I hold my breath right? Thank you all again so much. I cannot believe how much I have learned from this forum! everyday now it seems I am learning something new. I keep saying OMG! and WOW! and my favorite...I HAVE TO DO THAT! Thank you again. This place really means a lot to me!