To Doug Howard - I hope these comments from a carver in Wales are
relevant to you - I don't know the american stones but I have carved many
british sandstones - from quite hard buff stone from Grinshill in
Shropshire to soft red sandstone from Shropshire and harder finer pink
stone from Liverpool/Cheshire; also Millstone grit which is very
cristaline and hard.
My advice - try any stone! as different stones respond in diffrerent ways
- sandstone is a lovely carving stone, if it is coarse grained it will
not give very fine detail, but even the soft sandstone will carve well
and last well, tho perhaps not in the most exposed places!
Caution - sandstone is high in silicates which can cause lung-damage so
use a mask if you're carving indoors.
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