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How to Build a Limestone Sculpture
Post Date: 30 Apr 2009 Viewed: 905
How to Build a Limestone Sculpture
Limestone is soft and easy to work with. Although this stone does not polish well, it is popular among sculptors because it is one of the best stones for showing fine details.
Step1
Purchase your tools. Although there are many tools you can use to build a limestone sculpture, the basic starter set you will need includes seven chisels, a mallet and a set of stone rasps.
Step2
Purchase a sand bag. You will need to place your limestone on a sand bag as you build it. It supports your work and absorbs the vibrations when you hit the limestone with a mallet so that your sculpture will not break.
Step3
Make a sketch of your sculpture if you know what you want to build. This will save you some time. Some artists prefer to work without foreknowledge of what the sculpture will be.
Step4
Purchase limestone that closely fits your design. This will reduce the amount of stone you will have to chip away as well as the amount of time you will have to spend doing that. Make a drawing of your sculpture on the stone.
Step5
Rough out the stone to begin to define the shape of your sculpture. Roughing the stone involves cutting off the parts you will not need. Depending on the size of your work, you will need a chisel, circular saw, masonry blade or an angle grinder for this process.
Step6
Use the chisels to smooth the rough shape of the sculpture. The chisels, in order of use, are: the point, claw, toothed, flat, rasp, riffler and file. You will need to use these chisels in this order because each one performs finer work than the one before it.
Step7
Sand your sculpture with wet and dry sandpaper, also called silicon carbide, or diamond paper. You will start with a grade of 150 grit, the roughest paper, and go up through the grades until your sculpture is as smooth as you want it to be. It is best to sand with water when using sandpaper of 200 grit and higher.
Step8
Polish your sculpture. Rub wax onto your sculpture with your fingers or a buffing wheel. If you want color, you can apply a rouge with a buffing wheel.
