At 02:57 PM 11/15/99 -0500, lettip "AT" hotmail.com wrote: >Hello, my name is Nicoletta. > >I am interested in stone sculpting, but know very little >about how to begin.Can anyone recomend a good stone for >beginers that is native to either eastern Kansas, or >Western Missouri? A couple choices - Kansas Silverdale is soft, easy to carve, but inconsistent - you'll find flaws, voids, some marshmallow like soft spots, and edges tend to chip. It's a very nice looking stone, yellowish-golden, and if you get a good piece you can do some wonderful things in it. I have a piece on my site that is in a 1' square block of Silverdale, it is the lead image at the top of my greenman page, http://www.stonecarver.com/greenman.html Kansas Cottonwood has a similar look, a little more tan, it's a harder, more durable stone. You can't do much undercutting, but it will take a low polish. There are two varieties, top ledge and bottom ledge. Top ledge is filled with tiny holes, looks a bit like sesame seeds, it's good for decorative or ornamental work, or some simple abstracts. Bottom ledge is smoother, without those holes or pits. You can get them from Larner Cut Stone in Topeka. Note that he'll have silverdale, but he doesn't like it much - he refers to it as "Kansas Clay". He owns cottonwood quarries, so he has good supplies of it in any size you could want. ____________________________________ Walter S. Arnold * walter "AT" stonecarver.com Gallery: http://www.stonecarver.com NT Fax: http://www.ntfax-faq.com Gargoyle postcards: http://www.stonecarver.com/postcard.html ........................................... FAQ info and help on using this list is on http://www.learningstone.net/lslstfaq.html
