DINÁMICA DE LAS PRINCIPALES CUENTAS DEL PATRIMONIO

The basic steps in stone carving are design, percussion removal in three stages (roughing, secondary shaping, and smooth finish), hand rasping, sanding and finally finishing and mounting. The stone carving tools used to per- to as soapstone and therefore not suitable for

beginners.

Alabaster is the second hardest and

is considered a medium hard stone as are sandstone and limestone which are abrasive stones. It comes in many colors: Tiger's Eye Grey and Tiger's Eye Red, Bruno Carmello, Italian Brown Agate, Oyster Shell, Red Vein, White on White, Raspberry, Root Beer, Orange, Creamsicle, and Tropical, to name a few. How- ever, the favorites of sculptors everywhere are the translucent and opaque white alabaster. I would suggest the green soapstone and white alabasters as carving stones for beginners. All these carving stones are available at the larger sculpture supply houses or stone suppliers.

Used by students throughout Europe to speed up the carving process, alabaster cylin-

ders, also known as stackable stone cylinders,

are available in several sizes.

Marble is the third hardest stone, the

hardness varying with the geographic locale from which it is mined. Vermont marble is very hard; Italian marble (the highest grade known as Carrara marble) has a standard medium hardness as does Colorado marble. Carrara marble is favored by professionals; the number one pure white is by far the best. Also known as statuario, this last stone was used by Michelangelo. (I have not seen this grade of stone in the United States since 1978 when a friend had several pieces and even then, no one was permitted to touch the pieces he had.) Other marbles include Statuario Puro, Bianco Pi, Statuario Venato, Bardigilo, Belgium Black, Portuguese Rose, Vermont White, Ten- nessee Pink, Colorado Yule, California Crystal, Chinese Black, Alabama White, and Danby White. They range from soft to extremely hard. Consult your supplier for the hardness of marble best suited to your needs.

Granite is the fourth hardest carving stone.

There are also specialty tools which are not normally used in standard carving but by intermediate and advanced carvers for added assistance in multiple projects. They include the diamondshaped chisel, used for parting

ferrules width-wise. (In stone carving there are no “v” or veining tools as in wood carving; points do this job.) The rondel is a rounded curved tool for concave carving; the cutting edge is a round bevel. The caped chisel is used for rounding and concave/convex sculpting; it is used by the more advanced stone carvers in what may be described as challenging situa- tions!

The straight gouge chisel is used for mak- ing trench-like, or half-round grooves. All these tools are available in one standard size.

The Reduction Chisel is a larger, more substantial tool that makes it easier to reduce the geometric form of a stone to a more rea- sonable carving size.

form these functions are considered handheld unless specifically described as pneumatic or electric. The basic tools needed are the point, rake (tooth chisel), the flat straight chisel and a hammer, all of varying sizes and weights. All are made of high carbon steel.

The point removes the primary bulk mate- rial and comes in three sizes, small, medium and large. All taper down to a four-sided point and the thickness, or size of the point, will be determined by its heaviness. The smaller the size, the finer or lighter the point.

The tooth chisel or rake, for the second stage of removal, is a flat straight chisel with slightly beveled teeth. It is available in four basic widths, the smallest having four teeth, the next five teeth, the next six teeth, and the largest having eight teeth. The tooth chisel is principally used in the geometric reduction of a larger piece of stone.

The straight chisel is the finishing tool used before the final abrasive finishing, rasp- ing, and sanding. It has a straight edge with a slight bevel of possibly 30° and is available in three sizes, small, medium, and large.

Small, Medium and Large Points

4-Tooth and 8-Tooth Chisels

Small Straight Chisel

Medium and Large Straight Chisels

Diamond Chisel Rondel Caped Chisel

Reduction Chisel Straight Gouge Chisel

There is a four point flat tooth chisel, a one of a kind, very useful in finishing. There are also a diamond shaped point, a rondel, and two flat chisels. The shanks on all these tools are half the size of those on standard tools, used for fine detail work and delicate definition.

Stone carving hammers come in three

weights and are made of soft iron, so the percussion is easier on stone, tool, and user. There are two standard sizes of steel heads which are measured in pounds but these are not commonly used due to the strong percus- sion on the tools and stone. The sizes of the heads are: 1 pound used for small detail work, 1½ pounds for the most common type of carving, and 2 pounds for larger carving. The handles are heavy strength, the hammer heads attached to the handle through a center hole in the head with several steel wedges ensuring the fit. Unless you are very muscular, the 1½ pound hammer is the tool of choice.

1 _{Pneumatic tools are discussed in greater detail later in this chapter.}

The fish head is an outward, “c”-curved tool that, held sideways, looks like a sunfish. Its cutting edge is flat on the outer curve and is used to make slight long strokes similar to those made by a long bent gouge in wood carv- ing. The needle nose point is an inward shaped point (concave) that comes to a dramatic point used in removing bulk stone.

Carbide tipped tools are stronger than

standard carbon steel tools; as such they will need less frequent sharpening. However, they will not take a harder blow as most people believe. This is because the carbide, although stronger, is much more brittle than carbon steel and hence more susceptible to shattering or breaking on hard impact. Please take this into account when using these tools; they cannot and should not be hit harder.

Available in the standard handheld style, they come in point and chisel shapes in two sizes. They are also available in a pneumatic series including a straight chisel,three-point tooth chisel, and point.1

The carbide tips are welded in high carbon steel shanks, and, if not used properly, will shatter or break loose from the welded area. Always use a light touch at a 45° angle when using carbide tipped tools. The fragile carbide will shatter if the tool is struck too forcefully.

Carbide Tipped Chisel

Carbide Tipped Point

2 ½ lb. Hammer

1 lb. Hammer Miniature stone tools are made of high

carbon steel and were developed for detail work (small tools were formerly not avail- able). They are about a fourth the size of the standard tools. The tooth chisel comes in two, three, and five tooth points that are very fine.

Bush hammers are available in three sizes

½, ¾, and 1 inch, measured along the outside edge of the tool. The face of the tool is square and is similar to a waffle iron having small