recessing a sundial into stone

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olive
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recessing a sundial into stone

Postby olive » Sat Mar 24, 2018 1:25 pm

I have a little project to fit a brass sundial into a slab of what looks like sandstone. The slab forms part of a wall.

The base of the dial is circular. About 7 or 8 inches and maybe 3/16ths inch thick.

Ideally I would like to make a circular hole to accommodate it but cant think of an effective economical way to achieve it.

Funny how hard these jobs are when you consider people escaped from prisons with only a stolen fork to dig through walls or stone masons made fantastic buildings hundreds of years before power tools were invented.

Anyone got any ideas please?

Pamela1
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Re: recessing a sundial into stone

Postby Pamela1 » Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:27 pm

Son advised that you need a specialised chisel for stone carving, how you can go about finding one over there he has no idea...Even then its a job for a specialist...It may be an idea to visit a local quarry if there is one near and ask if they know someone who has experience who could help you...Not the economical answer you may have hoped for but because son is a stonemason i asked him about your project..

TorreDelAguila
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Re: recessing a sundial into stone

Postby TorreDelAguila » Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:50 am

If it's sandstone, it will be fairly soft, and easy to 'machine'. Not sure whether the surface is vertical or horizontal, but - either way - clamp on a piece of timber (about 2cm thick) with a circular hole in it, to limit the area of excavation. Sandstone can be attacked either with a masonry bit, or a flat-ended small grindstone, in an electric drill. An alternative could be using one of the multi-flap (metal removing) discs in an angle grinder. All of the above are harder than sandstone, and should remove it.

As you only have to go 3/16" deep, you could manually do the chiselling away (again, inside the wooden guide) by simply using a heavy hammer and an electrician's bolster (broad bladed cold chisel). Sandstone should yield to one of these easily, and leave you with a nice flat-bottomed recess.
Chris

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Re: recessing a sundial into stone

Postby Manchesteral » Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:48 pm

I have successfully dealt with a very similar project in the past and it's really easy, it won't be for free but it won't be that expensive.

I wanted to mount a small Bronze statue of a horse about 30 inches high onto a Yorkshire stone plinth, for my garden, I looked around in the d i y stores and couldn't find any kind of tool for the job, in the end I took it took a monumental masons yard (where they make gravestones) and they did it, it was a 4 or 5 years ago and cost me £35.00 if I remember correctly, it was by far the easiest solution and took less than 20 mins !!

I'm sure it would be cheaper in Spain.

BENIDORM
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Re: recessing a sundial into stone

Postby BENIDORM » Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:01 am

Good Morning Olive,
An interesting project and good to see that you are reverting to an ancient lifestyle instead of relying on the digital world.!

Do you really need to recess the sundial ?
During my antique- house-clearing and recovering architectural salvage days most sundials I came across were just fastened to a variety of flat surfaces..and looked and worked well..
A couple of bolts and some no-nails will do the job....quickly, cheaply and efficiently...

Have fun... :D
Regards,
Gordon..

olive
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Re: recessing a sundial into stone

Postby olive » Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:42 am

Some interesting suggestions. Whatever i do needs doing in situ. I have a tool - an arm with a cutting point on the end , that you use in a drill. It only does up to around 12 cm holes. Somethimg bigger and then roughing out with some form of stone masonry chisel off ebay. I generally like buying a tool for a job but cant imagine using either again!

Beni. Maybe fixing to the surface is the answer but of course it will need to be adjustable twice a year ( in the night) so glue will be out :lol:

BENIDORM
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Re: recessing a sundial into stone

Postby BENIDORM » Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:34 am

'' Beni. Maybe fixing to the surface is the answer but of course it will need to be adjustable twice a year ( in the night) so glue will be out :lol:''[/quote]

I was thinking more about fastening it to a decorative tile or off-cut piece of marble or granite ( very cheap from the workshops around our area), then easy to adjust or move around.... :wave:

Regards,
Gordon

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Re: recessing a sundial into stone

Postby swerve » Tue Mar 27, 2018 11:44 am

This is an interesting video.

https://youtu.be/f4DgLl5fh5o
It always seems imposible until its done. Nelson Mandela

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gerryh
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Re: recessing a sundial into stone

Postby gerryh » Wed Mar 28, 2018 7:58 am

How about one of these in a router?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/80-Grit-Diam ... lIGPNLXF9Q
Cheers
Gerry
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