To use stone
within publication design you would have to find out the limitations of the
slab in use. Steve Roche, a stone mason who specialises in lettering, answered
a few questions on the subject. He gave some good answers when considering
using stone.
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What are the limitations of lettering into stone-
It depends on what
you mean. In terms of size - I can only V cut a letter with a cap(ital) height
of about 20mm with a realistic maximum of about 400mm due to the thickness
needed, on a museum or library or summut (Few and far between!).
There are
limitations in terms of material, a welsh or cumbrian slate can take a finer
letter with more intricate flourishes etc due to the finer grain. Also letters
cut into slate have more contrast and are less likely to need to be painted to
stand out. V cut letters look best with raking light across the front. The
classic Roman caps have stunning proportions but were designed to be best used
in fine grained marble to go out in Mediterranean sun. For inscriptions which
are going outdoors in the UK I think its better to use thicker letters.
In terms of form,
some letters are easier to carve, lots of straight lines are pretty simple.
Tight curves with lots of thick to thin are more difficult.
ideally,
i wanted to have the cover of the book made out of stone and chisel in the
tital of the book but i needed to know whether this
was possible and what the ideal stone to work with would be if it
was?
Absolutely, slate
would be your best bet.
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another route i was looking into was how in scripted stones are effected by
erosion and weathering. I wanted to ask about what stones you have found to
last longer against weathering in your work and which ones are more prone
to it as well
As a really
over-simplified rule; the softer the stone the more it will weather, so
sandstones and some limestones will go quicker. Also depends on the local
weather and atmosphere conditions, some of the headstones next to Whitby Abbey
on the headland are corroded in really interesting ways. Slate or granite
weather well. But granite is awful to letter into.
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These answers he
had given has been amazing in the process of designing the book. To top it all
off, he offered me the chance to come and visit his studio to ask any more
questions that I might have and to get a feel for what stone masonry is like.
After telling Simon, he told me to book out a dlsr camera from photography to
get some professional photos of his studio and to also grab a tri-pod to help with
the stationary shoots. I look forward to this visit for both this project and
to coincide with the PPP module
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