Grocery List_stone work tools, how to work with stone

[GarryRicketson]

In another thread, some one comented they were interested in learning to work with stone,
and suggested start with a "grocery list" of tools.
I can tell what tools I use, but this will vary, depending on the person, others will use different tools, and different kinds of stone will require different tools and aproach.
For me the most important tool is my:
1. Makita angle grinder, the GA7021, has lasted a long time , and served well. (There are many brands available, of angel grinders)The important thing is that there are good ventilating filters, so that the little pieces of stone and dust do not enter the machine and eat away the inside.
The above is for up to 7inch disks, I have another smaller one, for 4-5 inch disks and small 2 inch cups.
2: Next cutting disks, and grinding cups, these will vary according to what type of stone, Granite, Basalt ,and other "hard" stone requires pretty much all diamond, for marbel, onix, and other softer stones, silicon carbide is fine. For cantera, there are special diamond disks for cutting, intended for cantera.
3. A good drill, with "hammer", or impact capabilities,and variable speed is very useful.
4. Of course, a maul, or small sledge hammer, and some chisles, and a set of "feather wedges",..I actually only have 2 chisles, but there are some nice sets available, that I would like to get.,....one day
5. A die grinder, for various points, is almost necessary for details, and small work,..if you are doing very small work, a dremel tool would work, but you would need to get diamnd points, the ones that come with the dremel tools are almost useless with stone.
6: Variable speed polisher/sander,..unless you want to do all your sanding and polishing by hand, which I did at one time ,before my boss got one, also I used the variable speed drill, with a disk attachment, and still do, to get into places that I can not get to with the polisher.
7. a air hammer, is also very useful, it speeds things up, but then you also need a good air compresser, the air compresser is good to have also for many things,blowing dust away, etc . pretty much a necessity in any "shop",..also, with a good air crompresser, the angle grinder,die grinder,etc are also available "air powered", and probabley out last electric tools.
This "list" could get longer, and I am sure others will add to it, but with the above , one can do a lot,..Just the grinder, with cutting disks, and grinding cups,hammer and chisle, is enough to get started
There are many suppliers of tools, Home Depo, has the grinder, but for the cutting disks,and grinding cups ,you will need to get them from a supplier, they won't be found in most hardware stores, in the U.S. anyway, in Mexico, actually many hardware stores carry stone grinding cups,cutting disks,etc ...
These 2 I just found recently,
http://www.granitecitytool.com
http://www.braxton-bragg.com
One of my favorite sources, and they also have stone,..
http://www.neolithicstone.com/tools.htm
Ok well hopefully others add to this,
from Garry
Edit: Not realy tools, but also prtective glasses,or goggles, and dust masks,..I use a towel,or diaper, wraped around my face,it keeps the pieces of stone from "stinging" my face ,and the dust out, in hot weather I keep it wet,..others may use a face mask with a lense too, but I find a cotton towel, diaper, or t-shirt folded more comfortable,..

[Robson Valley]

Garry = thanks very much. I can get to the tools at Neo-Lithic Stone in Vancouver, BC., Canada (8hr S by car) Need to compare your list with what I might have already.

Relatively soft stone is easy to come by here and free. The small ones are 7,000' high and the big ones are 9,000', within 20 minutes of my house.
12,000'+ is more than an hour E.

I see things in wood = that's what I carve. I wonder if that will happen in stone? I'd really like to find out.
Much appreciated. Thank you

[Robson Valley]

I found my angle grinder = 4.5", 10,600rpm.
Just one marathon session to grind rust off a dozen 100(?) yr old railroad spikes to make a coat rack with oak 2 x 4. If I wrecked it doing stone, I won't blink.

neolithicstone.com appears to have all sorts of wheels/disks/blades that would fit.
Local slate, I can drill a 5/16 hole about 5 minutes per inch with a TC bit.
Other stone (scraps from a slab-cutting operation), I can scratch with steel but not with copper. 20 minutes per inch for a hole . . . guessing hardness of 2-3.

I'd like to get a cutting disk and some sort of smoothing wheel ( = grinding cup?)
I can budget enough to do some cutting & shaping experiments.

[Robson Valley]

Whaddayado with a grinding cup?

I had the idea that I'd glue some terra cotta type bricks together and have a go at them with a masonry disk in my angle grinder.
Can't buy a disk to fit without taking the guard off. Not gonna happen for this beginner. Option is to spend $30 on a 4" diamond wheel but the arbor hole is too small.
Maybe that's why the freakin' machine was on sale.

I think that I should carve Noah with a shovel. An extraordinary display of his concerns for the welfare of his passengers.
Maybe biological art = I have a gut feeling it will be intestinal.

Trying to get started without spending a bundle is a pain in my distal sphincter.
Did everybody else have so much difficulty trying to hit a single?

[GarryRicketson]

Whaddayado with a grinding cup?

Ok, the grinding cups, or (polishing wheels), are what you use to smooth down the cuts,or chisle marks, there are several levels of "courseness" just like sand papers,..the roughest,"coursest", for high removal ,is 36 grit, then follow with 80, 120, 320, and there is a 400, the last 2 320 and 400, are more of polishing, and the ones we used for the onix,and treventine actually had little bits of varnish in them,..to help polish. On bricks, you are probabley not going to need to go past the 120,....

Can't buy a disk to fit without taking the guard off.

Om this, well, What I have to say, first off , I am not responsible for any consequences,..However, the first thing I do when I get a new grinder, is take the guard off and through it away!,...
I would need to make a video, to explain in detail,..but also, like I say, I won't be responsible for anything that could occur doing this. But, especially in shapeing , cutting out curves, etc, there are a lot of things that can not be done with the guard attached,..However also

I found my angle grinder = 4.5"

if the grinder is 4.5, then it is not intended for any disk large the 4", 5 at the max, this is to say even if the guard is removed, do not try to use a disk larger then what it is intended for,..
On the arber size, usually the standard is 5/8,..there are some smaller,also some come with a little ring in the arber hole, so it can fit on the smaller size, or for 5/8 you take the ring out, it is a little brass ring,..and "pops" out, but again, it will be hard to find disks,and cups, etc to fit,...check for what size yours is, and before you buy a disk, make sure it is the same,..
Tip: You can make several cuts, maybe 1 inch spaced, then with the chisle, chip out the pieces, then make some more cuts, on the same area, chip them out, practice working your way in deeper and deeper, when the space is to small for the grinder to get in, this is where the drill comes in, drill several holes close together, then chip out the material between the holes.
good luck , from Garry

[Robson Valley]

Thanks very much. Just what I wanted to learn.

Tobias put both stills and video in his blog. Very rich illustration
of the process in his basalt work. He went to a lot of bother
to do those things and I, for one, really appreciate it.

I think I could handle the grinder with a 5" disk and no guard.
I have lots of soft slate piled up. Good stuff for straight cuts.
Pile of old bricks, too.
As I have a very good mask, etc, I'd like to do this outdoors
for almost no useful dust extraction indoors/winter.
Made outdoor work benches, quite stable.

Not a whole lot of choices for grinder wheels
here in a mountain village of 550. I can buy 5" masonry wheels
for less than $5 and a 4" diamond for under $30.

[Robson Valley]

I've been to the "big city" and bought some wheels/discs for my angle grinder.

4.5"
2 x 1/4" masonry which appear to be used for surface work
60 grit and 120 grit flap discs to be used for surface work
1 x continuous rim diamond blade for wet cutting
1 x segmented rim diamond blade for dry cutting

Have an idea to glue two bricks end to end and carve a caterpillar. Polyurethane adhesive is supposed to work for that. Need to lap the brick ends but I ran out of fine sand. The road past the sand mine got blown out by spring runoff, not fixed yet.

5"
6 x 1/16 Diablo masonry cutting discs
I won't try those without the guard until I mess around with the 4.5" things.
Even then, I'll start with straight cuts to shape 1/4 - 1/2" thick slabs of slate.

A Work-In-Progress, I guess. Did I buy useful things?

[GarryRicketson]

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

Thanks very much. Just what I wanted to learn.
Tobias put both stills and video in his blog. Very rich illustration
of the process in his basalt work. He went to a lot of bother
to do those things and I, for one, really appreciate it.

I was going to look at his video, but could not find it, Do you have the URL ?

Polyurethane adhesive is supposed to work for that. Need to lap the brick ends but I ran out of fine sand. The road past the sand mine got blown out by spring runoff, not fixed yet.

I can't say I have ever tried doing something like this, with brick, but also "BONDO", auto body filler, is very good, we use it to "glue" a base, to a stone , before turning it on a lathe, also some intersting colors/effects can be gotten, by mixing the stone powder, or ground up stone with it.
The tools you have gotten should be useful,..
I also made a video, but it is not complete,..I need to do one, showing what happens after several cuts are made, anyway here is mine,..
Me cutting a stone Also, I don't recommend working with out eye protection, however some times I do, because the dust covers the lenses so fast I can not see what I am doing,.. for now thats
I just added these 2 : First I made these small cuts Then I chip them out, In this it is a small piece, so they are small cuts, and the chisle is small, the same principle on a bigger piece, but one would use bigger cuts,chisle,and maul
Chipping out some pieces.
all from Garry

[Robson Valley]

Thanks for the video work. I appreciate that very much. The bird videos were just what I need to get started. Very stormy weather yesterday and more coming today. I don't (yet) have a sheltered place to work outdoors. I have a good mask, hearing protection and goggles. Tobias was working in doors, quite funny as he disappears in a fog of stone dust.

I think that I will begin by experimenting with cuts in a brick and some slate (12" x 12" x 1/2"). Masonry disc first, then the diamond.

Tobias put the links in his thread: 6600lbs of stone.

[GarryRicketson]

Thanks for the video work.

Well your welcome, I just recently bought the camera, I was kind of worried about maybe a piece of stone hitting it and breaking it, and also, I have not had much practice at that,(making videos),..I did find the ones at Tobias's blog, they are much better,...
Here is the URL for anyone else, they are great for learning something,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiF1...-JRMSQk3Mn2tc=
Hope Tobias dose not mind me posting the url,...
from Garry

[GarryRicketson]

attn : Tobias, or anyone else with info,
I am wondering, about the chisels you use, What kind ?, and Where could I buy some ?
The ones I have are not standing up very well with granite at all, one carbide tipped, broke the tip the others just "cold" chisels, get blunt so fast.
I did see some sets of diamond tipped chisels, they are pretty expensive. However if that is what I need , I will try to get some. My worry is also they would break or chip easily and how dose one sharpen them ?
Thanks from Garry

[Robson Valley]

There are two companies that I've looked at, mostly as they are not half a world away:

www.miconproducts.com/

www.neolithicstone.com/

GianCarlo Stone doesn't have tools although they said they would.