Despite having fun with a camera phone, a scruffy chicken and a nice piece of Kilkenny Limestone, I have in fact been carving a headstone this week. I realise that most “proper” lettercutters like to put their stones on an easel but I have always carved mine almost flat. Although I have carved many inscriptions (mainly on site) in a vertical position, I generally find it useful to be able to manoeuvre around the stone. Perhaps this is because I am self taught, with the help of a book by Gadsby from Tiranti’s (bought before I realised most of their stone carving stuff was tut). The only downsides as far as I can tell are that you can’t view the work as well as you would with it on an easel and that you are constantly blowing away the dust and chippings and sometimes you get a stiff back from bending over…………maybe I will stand the stone up next time afterall.
Taking a closer cluck!
Welsh slate memorial