Stoneletters is a creative letter carving studio near Oxfordshire. We specialise in finely carved lettering for headstones, memorials, opening plaques, commemorative plaques and heraldry.
Wonderful work. I admire your philosophy and approach to all the aspects that you spoke about in your short but revealing video. I was looking for inspiration when I stumbled on your website and I found what I was looking for in abundance. Thank you very much.
Excellent discusion & reverence for the loved one... your team obviously feels passionately about your commissions. I an trying to find someone in USA to do a modest classical headstone for an architect... any suggestions. A. Crawford
We recommend the John Steven shop I think they’re in Maine but you can google them- they’re excellent. Thank you for your kind words. We have a newer video on our website Stoneletters.com/about best wishes Fergus
This is a great video for any beginner to see, I am enjoying it immensely! You can see myriad hours of muscle memory guiding that chisel. You make it look so easy but I know it is not. Lighting up the shadow areas a bit would enhance the quality of the video. I am about to start carving the headstone for my best friend who died a week ago. I want to do a good job cuz he's sure to find a way to bitch if I don't. Nothing changes.
Many thanks for the video. The strong shadows make it hard to see sometimes, but it's good to hear the sounds rather than music. If you do another video please zoom in a bit further. Great carving. Thanks again.
I count 4 lines of about 19 letters per line (6:37). That's 76 letters at about 6 minutes per letter. To carve the letters on this monument would take almost 8 hours of continuous work. I wonder what the cost is per hour (or per letter)?
An appreciation of the time it takes to carve by hand, thank you. Hand carved monuments are always going to be more expensive than machine produced ones. It is not only the fine letters themselves though, but also the care and time that goes into the actual design and the letter spacing, which can be adjusted by "a nothing" using the naked eye, something you could not manage using a ruler. It takes a very long time to learn. Our new apprentices tend to carve 1-2 letters a day, but as long as the letters are perfect, time is not an issue, it is the quality that matters, not quantity.
I carve stone strictly as a hobby -- statuettes not letters. I have the luxury of making a mistake and working it into my design. I know how difficult it is to precisely follow a penciled line -- especially depending on the type of stone. I watched this video because I need to get better at it. Two things from your video have helped me. My guide hand has been too far away from the chisel point and lift-tap, lift-tap as opposed to keeping the chisel pressed on the line. Thanks for sharing and awesome work.
My favorite font (Times New Roman). I hate and cannot stand to read in any other font. I hate writing and reading cursive. I prefer the straight lines of that beautiful Roman font.
apologies for not replying earlier, I was having trouble with my computer account. It seems your question has been answered! Please ask if you have any others! You may also like to see my latest video on my website. Fergus
Thanks for posting this video, I've started carving letters in script font into a number of hard, clay reclaimed bricks that I have been making a path with up to my house. I've been finding the brick difficult to carve neatly into though, without chipping the edges of the letters. Is brick bad for carving into by hand? I've paid a lot of attention to your technique, but I'm wondering if brick is the wrong stuff to try carving into! I've been using a 6mm carbide tipped chisel and 1Ib dummy hammer
