Good news for lovers of the beautiful white stuff from Colorado called Yule Marble (yes we have beautiful white stuff that is not snow!) After being closed for 10 months the quarry is reopening under new ownership.
Read the Denver Post article.
It seems that Colorado Marble and Carrara Marble are now linked: the new owner is from Carrara, Italy!
I'm actually working on a small piece of snow white Yule Marble right now, so I was pleased to hear this news.
Showing posts with label stone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stone. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Friday, November 12, 2010
Test for Limestone or Marble
My cousin was here recently as he drove cross country...moving from Florida to California. Since he was a geologist in a "former" life it was fun to have him help me with some of my stones.
I confess I find stones that I think are pretty and I frequently don't know what they are! What kind of sculptor is that? Truth is, I'm more interested in how they carve and what they look like...but it is good to know what it is in case I like it and want to get more!
He told me that I can do a simple test to determine if my pieces are Limestone or Marble.
Take plain vinegar and place a drop on the stone. If it "fizzes" you have Limestone or Marble.
An alternate test is to, in place of the vinegar, use muriatic acid (you can get it from a swimming pool supply store.)
Sometimes with the limestone you have to have some stone powder rather than the solid rock...I'm not sure why, but I'm the carver cousin not the scientist!
Haven't tried it yet, but I have a couple rocks that I want to run the test on. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.
I confess I find stones that I think are pretty and I frequently don't know what they are! What kind of sculptor is that? Truth is, I'm more interested in how they carve and what they look like...but it is good to know what it is in case I like it and want to get more!
He told me that I can do a simple test to determine if my pieces are Limestone or Marble.
Take plain vinegar and place a drop on the stone. If it "fizzes" you have Limestone or Marble.
An alternate test is to, in place of the vinegar, use muriatic acid (you can get it from a swimming pool supply store.)
Sometimes with the limestone you have to have some stone powder rather than the solid rock...I'm not sure why, but I'm the carver cousin not the scientist!
Haven't tried it yet, but I have a couple rocks that I want to run the test on. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
"African Bazaar" , Sculptures and Stone Available
I heard from my friends at the Chapungu Gallery today...for all the stonecarvers out there, they have Springstone available in sizes up to 200 lbs.
For the first time in over two years, most of the Warehouse Gallery sculpture and all African Bazaar items are marked down by 25%.
This includes some beautiful work by Dominic Benhura, Amos Supuni, Arthur Fata, Royal Katiyo, Bernard Matemera and many other world famous artists.
Other items include batik products, beaded wire baskets, beaded Ndebele dolls, semi-precious stone eggs and paperweights as well as smaller stone sculptures in all of the beautiful stones of Zimbabwe starting at $5!
Other items include batik products, beaded wire baskets, beaded Ndebele dolls, semi-precious stone eggs and paperweights as well as smaller stone sculptures in all of the beautiful stones of Zimbabwe starting at $5!
This offer is valid until December 19th for Warehouse Gallery items only.
Visit the warehouse location which houses the largest collection of Zimbabwean stone sculpture in North America. (1052 N. Boise Ave., Unit B, Loveland, CO.)
Visit the warehouse location which houses the largest collection of Zimbabwean stone sculpture in North America. (1052 N. Boise Ave., Unit B, Loveland, CO.)
They are open 9-1pm M-Friday or by special appointment times, call 970-461-8020 to make appointments.
If you don't live in the Loveland area, they will send you images of these one of a kind sculptures to assist in your purchase.
If you don't live in the Loveland area, they will send you images of these one of a kind sculptures to assist in your purchase.
For additional shopping, visit their online Gallery at www.chapungusculpturepark.com
Photo courtesy of Chapungu Warehouse Gallery
Monday, August 25, 2008
How Hard is that Stone to Carve?
People often wonder how hard a stone is to carve. Of course, there are two meanings to this question. One being, how challenging is it to carve anything? Most people seem daunted at the prospect of the subtractive process of carving (as compared to the additive process of building up a sculpture from clay, for example.)
Today I'm going to address the other meaning behind that question. Literally, how hard is that stone? Some stones are actually pretty soft and can be scratched with your fingernail, making them about 1-2.5 on the Mohs scale. Soapstone is a good example of this soft stone. Soapstone comes in a wide variety of colors, depending upon where it is found. It is easy to carve. Again, it scratches quite easily, so keeping it looking good can be a challenge, especially if it will be handled a lot.
The Mohs scale is the scale of hardness for all stones.
Pretty much everyone knows that diamonds are about as hard as they get and it takes very special tools (and skills) to work with diamonds, a 10 on the scale. Most stones used for sculptures fall somewhere between those two extreme--between 4 and 7 on the scale.
The numbers are deceptive, they really don't go up in an easy progression. Each number reflects a significantly harder level. Granite and some marbles are quite hard and are typically worked using diamond or carbide tipped tools. Other stones use a basic tool--and are a lot easier on the body to carve when using handtools.
So if you have the proper tools, even a hard stone on the Mohs scale can be carved. If you have the wrong tools, carving that same stone will be next to impossible.
One of the challenges is that since stone is a natural medium, the stones are not pure...I've carved many stones in the 5 range on the Mohs scale that had bits of iron and quartz in them. Quartz is officially a 7 on the scale. When I ran over the iron and the quartz bits I totally ruined my standard file. When using a carbide or diamond file on the softer stone it is overkill. Getting both components to be even level and looking good is a challenge and an awesome result when done well.
Today I'm going to address the other meaning behind that question. Literally, how hard is that stone? Some stones are actually pretty soft and can be scratched with your fingernail, making them about 1-2.5 on the Mohs scale. Soapstone is a good example of this soft stone. Soapstone comes in a wide variety of colors, depending upon where it is found. It is easy to carve. Again, it scratches quite easily, so keeping it looking good can be a challenge, especially if it will be handled a lot.
The Mohs scale is the scale of hardness for all stones.
Pretty much everyone knows that diamonds are about as hard as they get and it takes very special tools (and skills) to work with diamonds, a 10 on the scale. Most stones used for sculptures fall somewhere between those two extreme--between 4 and 7 on the scale.
The numbers are deceptive, they really don't go up in an easy progression. Each number reflects a significantly harder level. Granite and some marbles are quite hard and are typically worked using diamond or carbide tipped tools. Other stones use a basic tool--and are a lot easier on the body to carve when using handtools.
So if you have the proper tools, even a hard stone on the Mohs scale can be carved. If you have the wrong tools, carving that same stone will be next to impossible.
One of the challenges is that since stone is a natural medium, the stones are not pure...I've carved many stones in the 5 range on the Mohs scale that had bits of iron and quartz in them. Quartz is officially a 7 on the scale. When I ran over the iron and the quartz bits I totally ruined my standard file. When using a carbide or diamond file on the softer stone it is overkill. Getting both components to be even level and looking good is a challenge and an awesome result when done well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
