I understand the quarry at Barre VT is a great family trip. The scale of operation there is said to be breathtaking.
Yes, it is. They have quarries around the world, but I am partial to their Barre product. At the time, from what I recall, they were getting into more intrusions and losing the beautiful consistency that they previously had with that gray, so their estimates were dropping.
I understand the quarry at Barre VT is a great family trip. The scale of operation there is said to be breathtaking.
Yeah...my Rock of Ages T-shirt would be several sizes too small these days, but I had kept it for a long time for the memories.
I see from their website that their quarry operations are 600 feet deep and their workshop is huge.
Believe it or not it is cheap to quarry polish and cut the stone including inscription in China and ship it here (these things weigh 450lb minimum).
Yes, it's a sad thing, but I believe it. American costs are so much higher than over there.
As for lettering, I recall my father explaining to me that he'd specified a way to inscribe my grandparents' stone to enhance the lettering as it weathered, basically with the raised center that I see others using now. Once I got into typography a bit, I began to think of what typeface would be best to improve on my dad's idea. I still haven't had the time to figure it out. But no matter what I pick, I know it will be better than the old marble markers my ancestors used (which are intact but illegible)...or the beautifully detailed siltstone ones that are split along bedding planes even though the writing is still so sharp.
Go Granite!