2010-02-09
Step1
Put on eye goggles, ear countertop and a dust mask before you begin to carve. This paraphernalia protects your health and hearing as you work. Heavy work gloves are recommended to avoid cutting your hands on shards of marble.
Step2
Determine the direction of the grain, or bed, of your china granite . The composition of marble, a metamorphic rock, is layer upon layer. The layering makes it easy to find the grain. It looks similar to the grain in a piece of wood.
Step3
Mark the area of stone that you will not be using. Use a pencil or crayon to avoid bleeding ink into the marble.
Step4
Use sandbags to absorb vibrations when using a hammer or drill on your stone. Place them underneath the marble.
Step5
Discard large portions of stone that you do not want. One way to perform this function is with a grinder using a diamond blade. An alternative is to drill a hole in the middle of the unwanted area, then use a pitcher and hammer to break off the stone.
Step6
Define the shape you want the marble to take with a point chisel. Hold it at a 45-degree angle as you hit it with the hammer.
Step7
Follow the point with tools with teeth such as claws and tooth chisels. This defines the shape further and will start to smooth out the marble.
Step8
Smooth the marks left by the toothed implements with rasps and files, also called rifflers. Because marble is a soft stone, a lot of the detailed carving work can be done with files.
Step9
Sand your marble sculpture with numerous grades of wet/dry sand paper. Begin with the coarsest grade first--usually 120 or 150--and gradually use finer grades until you are satisfied with the quality of shine. This step is very labor intensive, as you may use up to 3000 grade paper.
Step10
Let your marble sculpture dry after sanding.
Step11
Put on rubber gloves and dissolve oxalic acid into warm water. You can find oxalic acid at the drugstore.
Step12
Dip a piece of felt into the oxalic acid and rub onto the sculpture. This seals the marble and serves to protect it from staining.
Step13
Wait a few minutes after applying the oxalic acid, then wash it off the marble.
Step14
Wax your sculpture with a clear paste wax, buffing it to a high polish with a soft cloth.
Tips & Warnings
Be sure the change the water with each grade of sand paper you use, to avoid scratching your sculpture with remnants of the previous paper.