These are the 2 quarry blocks. I have drawn the designs onto the sides of the blocks.
Then it was time to get out "The Secret Weapon"!
This is the diamond tipped chainsaw run by a hydraulic power unit.
The chainsaw is 18" long and the stones are 24" thick. I can cut the ends all the way through. But, I have to use wedges to split the stone that the saw couldn't reach.
Then, I used a pry bar to pull the pieces away from each other. The whole piece was 10,000 lbs. so we're dealing with only half the weight already.
This picture shows how I start on corners to keep the saw cutting straight. The weight of the hoses can pull the saw sideways and lead to crooked cuts. They're hard to correct if it starts going in the wrong direction. The trick is to start it right and keep it right (if that makes sense...)
Voila! An 1,800 lb. end is cut off. This will become a large sculpture one day.
A 21,000 lb. quarry block was cut in half at the quarry. Then, the 2 halves became 5 pieces. I also finished what will become the bottom surfaces of the 2 bench preforms, while they are laying on their sides.
Next, I called in a crane. Dereck grabbed the first preformed bench block. They are about 4,000 lb. each at this point.
We flipped it upright after moving it to the shady side of the studio.
We reached out and got the 2nd piece...
...and flipped it upright as well.
Both preforms are now sitting next to the finished piece, ready for carving. In this picture, I've already started taking stone off one side to match the existing sculpture. They are actually much further along, but I'm behind on posting pictures. It's just about impossible to take pictures without one of the studio cats getting in there. They scatter when I turn on the grinders... but they're back by dinner, you can be sure...
We had a visitor one day - Mike Ferguson from French Lick, IN rode his Harley out to check out our work. Here's his bike parked next to mine.
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