Stone Carving Tools

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

So, here is a brief peek into my little world out in the woods. I am continuing work on my marble “Gymnast.” While I have never been good about names and labels, I will try to use the proper terms for equipment here as I share with you some of my tools.

I bought a pneumatic die grinder with an extension tube at the front, as shown in this first image. Into that I added a double-cut carbide grinding tool connected to a 6-inch shaft. That is about as much reaching as I know how to do, other than to use a Fordham (and I think I broke mine some time ago). But even a Fordham might be of limited use since it has a flexible shaft. I need something rigid that not only will reach the distances I need, but help me push the tool into the marble to carve it. This is especially important since I cannot get even one finger into some of these areas between the figure’s torso and her thighs.


I hope it is obvious from this first image that the main difficulty in carving down into the negative space of the body in a pike position is that the gymnast’s head is in the way! This second image shows you what I really do not even get to see when I am carving (vs. photographing). I am reaching down between the face (upper left) and right arm (bottom of image) and trying to carve a deeper crease between the figure’s legs, just above her knees. It is like hiking in a snowy cave!


This third image shows a right angle die grinder … a Home Depot item with a great warranty. I have traded in two of these babies over the years for a brand new replacement! This stone carving tool also has a double-cut carbide tip with a 6-inch shaft on it. Fantastic helpers, but not many choices in tip shapes unless I am willing to wait and pay for a special order. Patience is rarely one of my virtues!


And even though I cannot always see what I am carving, I still like to draw on the stone to help me delineate various anatomical forms. Something to aim for! A straight pencil with a tapered tip will simply not leave a mark on the stone inside this narrow crevice. In this last image, you may see my thumb up against the figure’s eye as I am holding a specialized scissors that hold a pencil between its front claws. These teeth in the scissors are not designed to hold something as thick as a pencil, but it was all I could think to use. So, I bend the pencil in an angle that I think I want and squeeze the scissor handles very tightly so that I do not lose my pencil when I move down into my “well” of a workspace.

Really, I hope that I can pull this off! What are your favorite tools – for stone carving or any task?

Happy birthday, John! And thank you for showing me a lot about tools.

Awe in Stone Carving

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

“How did you do that?” is one question that seems to define the word “awe” for me. That is the one of the reasons I cannot seem to make a simple design in my sculpture – the attempt to make you (and me) feel awe. But I know that I also do it for the light. Mainly here, I am speaking about undercuts. I get frustrated enough because I am a slow producer, but then in the course of doing the work, I always seem to want to push myself to tackle a new challenge.

So, in my current marble carving project, the “Gymnast”, I thought creating a face that I can hardly reach was bad enough. Today, I took a masonry bit and drilled through the stone to create a space between the upper body and the vertical thighs. The “Gymnast” is in a tight pike position, with her toes pointed to the heavens.

I cannot tell you how wonderful it feels to drill from one end of the stone to the other and have the drill bit emerge on the other side … in the intended position! Twice even – once over the breasts but under the arms and the second hole was created below the breast line. This seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes it is easier to measure the angle of the drill when one is not right on top of it. It is helpful to have someone else around on occasion to act as an extra eye or hand, but it did not happen today and I wanted to get on with it.


After I created the first two holes, I then changed to one of my new favorite tools – a double cut carbide tip on a 6” shaft. As seen here in the photos, I used it to go in from the top between the arms to start to connect holes and open up the space a little bit. I tend to stand back from the piece often to check my proportions and line. At some point, I drew in a line for the bird’s eye view of the breasts, keeping the line further out than I really want to cut. I can refine the line later, but I will never be able to retrieve cut stone.


In this last image, I am looking over the left shoulder of the “Gymnast” and down into the small opening of her folded up form. Really, what was I thinking?

My goal was to finish this marble sculpture before I returned to Italy in May, but I would be surprised if I can pull that off. Still, it is good to have goals.