Headstone carving

I've been trying to figure out what to do to mark my dog's grave and was wondering if I could carve his name on a large field stone (basket ball size or a bit smaller). I have one with a flat surface. I think when they add names to a Head stone they sandblast them in but although I have a small suction sand blast gun I doubt that will be easy. Would a needle scaler work--I've been wanting one anyway to clean rusty metal. Or does anyone have any other ideas? If I can't do this I'll just leave the stone.

I would try try using a Dremel tool with a diamond burr. Or you could check with a monument shop and see what they would charge to sandblast the letters in. The used to spray a rubber coating on the stone and cut out the letters. The rubber would repeal the sand and only cut the stone where the letters were cutout. DH

make a form with scrap lumber and buy 1bag of concrete mix ., smooth off the top and write in it you can buy color to add to the concrete if you like, it will look good, I have done it before

The one marker I made for a favorite pet I found a large Stone,about the size of a wheelbarrow and noted all the info with a black marker and then carved the letters and numbers with a small air chisel. Looked very rustic as some one noted.I thought so also,his name was Red and he got hit by a car coming back from the neighbors. My son found him and brought him home and we buried him under his favorite tree he used to lay out there and note every thing that went on in the neighborhood. My fault I guess,he went on a jog some where and I got tired of waiting for him so went home leaving him there to get home by himself.He never made it. I thought a lot of that Dog.

Any decent sand blaster will do the job. Small unit, or low air pressure will just take longer. If you really want to get fast results quickly try sandstone, or limestone, they cut quickly and will last longer than you will. Harder stones also work fine, just harder to cut into them deeply. Deliberately look for a darker color stone with a smooth surface. The blasted area will be a lighter color and show up nicely.
3-M Company makes most of the products used in monument work. They make a masket which is about 1/8 inch thick rubber-like, with very sticky backing protected by plastic peel-off sheet. It is rather like a contact paper with a 1/8 inch rubber backing.
Best way is to do your lettering on your computer printer. Thin tall letters are best. Stay away from fat thick letters. To get the spacing right you might have to print up several sheets of paper, cut them out, and paste them up into a finished document. Put finished printed paper up to window and then trace on the back outlineing the letters. That way you have the lettering in reverse. Then use contact cement,,rubber glue, to fasten the paper lettering to the 3-M masket. Then use an Exacto knife and cut all the way through the 3-M masket. Get your stone dry, and 100% dirt and dust free,,,remove the backing on the 3-M masket and carefully place one side of it on the stone,,in the proper position,,,and like puting on a tractor decal,,gently lay it down. Push down all over to be sure you have good adhesion.
Use a pointed knife to now lift up the letters to expose the stone. These letters of course will be right side out so that you see them naturally,,,not in reverse! It is critically important that when you start to sand-blast you hold the unit at a 90 degree angle to the surface of the stone. That way the sand cuts in straight,,,and does not dig in under your masket. When you are done remove the masket from the stone. Sometimes a bit of glue will stick to the stone that needs to be removed with paint thinner. Obviously, you would be wise to practice a little on another stone just to get the knack of this process.
I have had no difficulty buying the 3-M masket from local grave stone cutting locations. It comes in a roll about 24 inches wide and last time I bought some they charged me about $3 a foot.
Once you get into this it is actually quite enjoyable and you can do a lot of creative things.
Good luck with this effort, Harvey

Don't feel bad, life is full of risks, sometimes the happiness they get from doing something outweighs the risks. You could have kept him locked in a pen and he'd lived to be very old but never really enjoyed life.

And lets not forget accidents happen to all of us and nobody knows when and what the consequences will be.

I know how it is to think if only I had done...

We used a rock about the shape of a jelly bean, maybe a foot long, to hold the door of the milking parlor open for the whole time we were dairying in the '50's. Dad found it, and it was inscribed "Laddy died 1929". Somebody had used a chisel or something to inscribe it- have no idea who Laddy was. Just seemed like a fitting tribute.

Just get a piece of the brown limestone it is soft a diegrinder bit in a 2000 rpm drill motor and carve away.

pour some cement in a card board box 4 inches deep and when it sets firm enough you can carve anything in it you like with your finger. let it set up then peel off the carboard box and you got an instant headstone! Heres one of our cats final resting places, although he doesnt rest in peace- a coyote comes and dumps on the grave every few days...

Chris - sorry about the loss of your buddy.

How about a piece of 1/4" or 1/2" plate metal, with his name welded on with a stainless steel rod?

I saw one like that, and it looked pretty good. In fact, I told my wife I was gonna make one for myself. Save her a few bucks when I kick off.

Paul

I used an air chisel to put my dogs name on a large flat stone.If I could have gotten the stone into my pickup I would have taken to a monument shop to have it marked.Had all I could do to tip the stone on to my tractor carry all.Riley was with me for 10 years.Got a Border Collie pup named Gus to replace Riley.Gus loves to ride in my pickup and watches TV.

My wife works at a monument company. They sandblast and paint the lettering on granite field stones for something like $50 per. Cheaper if you bring your own rock. Maybe more than you're looking to spend, but they sure look nice.

There are places that will do the job for you, just for pets. I broke down and found such a place on the internet (I think it was www.oldworldstones.com) and had one made for Elroy, I think it cost me about $30. We've had lots of real good dogs, and for most of them a simple stone on the family land was just right for them. But Elroy was a real mischief maker, and one day he got under the fence and found the road. He was just a pup when he died, and was a shelter dog - came all the way from down from south to our place, and was a long way from home, so I thought he should get a little something special...

Thanks to everyone for all the advise and suggestions. I might try chiseling on a stone and see how that goes. The concrete idea is actually really good and I'll probably go that route if I can't get the lettering in a stone.

There are some concrete yard art companies around here that have all kinds of animals for yard art. Got small kittens and cats and dogs for there graves and a 3 foot tall sitting doberman for her grave. The concrete can't sit on dirt or they will dissolve so something is needed under it.

Had a friend's son die when he ran a stop sign in very dense fog and got run over by a semi. There used to be an old station there that had a light so you could see the corner for miles when driving up to it. There was a pole close to the corner and I paid KPL to put up a street light. The light probably wouldn't have helped him much but the station light used to be our guiding light going home after spending the night at the fireside club and then driving home. I went to the local place that does trophys and had him engrave a stainless steel placque as a memorial. I screwed the placque on the power pole with stainless steel screws. So far so good. A semi pulled through the corner and pulled the pole down. KPL replaced the pole and reinstalled my placque. Later the county added rumble strips which probably would have helped better in that heavy fog.

Call Harold Clayton in Dallas Tx. He is a stone carver who works mostly in Indiana limestone but knows the business inside out. He would be glad to talk to you about what you are trying to do.
He may be able to help you with tools as well. Harold F Clayton Carvings in the Dallas Buss. pages on Fitzhugh. He had a big old white lab named Ben who he carved a stone for when the old fellow went down. Tell him John P. told you to call. I've known him for 30 years.