Stone carving
Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time.
Work carried out by paleolithic societies to create stone tools is more often referred to as knapping.
The term also refers to the activity of masons in dressing stone blocks for use in architecture, building or civil engineering.
It is also a phrase used by archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists to describe the activity involved in making some types of petroglyphs.
The Ancient Greeks used the ductility of bronze to trap small granules of carborundum, that are naturally occurring on the island of Milos, thus making a very efficient file for abrading the stone.
Prehistoric sculptures were usually human forms, such as the Venus of Willendorf and the faceless statues of the Cycladic cultures.
The earliest cultures used abrasive techniques, and modern technology employs pneumatic hammers and other devices.
The stone carver generally uses a shallower stroke at this point in the process, usually in combination with a wooden mallet.
Eventually the sculptor has changed the stone from a rough block into the general shape of the finished statue.
The sculptor uses broad, sweeping strokes to remove excess stone as small chips or dust.
A riffler is a smaller variation of the rasp, which can be used to create details such as folds of clothing or locks of hair.
This abrading, or wearing away, brings out the color of the stone, reveals patterns in the surface and adds a sheen.
When worked, some stones release dust that can damage lungs (silica crystals are usually to blame), so a respirator is sometimes needed.
Air hammers (such as Cuturi) place many thousands of impacts per minute upon the end of the tool, which would usually be manufactured or modified to suit the purpose.
This type of tool creates the ability to 'shave' the stone, providing a smooth and consistent stroke, allowing for larger surfaces to be worked.
