STONE-ography, How to Order your Engraved Stone

natural stone

Many of our stone orders are custom made and one-of-a-kind. Please email, call or fax us with your general or specific request so that we can discuss the details with you. In addition to one-of-a-kind stones, we are also set-up to do volume projects for organizations, companies, fundraisers, award presentations, etc.

To help you further in deciding how you would like your stone to appear, we have listed some helpful information and options.

Stone Choices
We have many stones to choose from, and if you know approximately what size stone you would like, we can pick it for you. If you are within driving distance and would prefer, you may pick your own stone from our stock, or from a local stone yard. We are very knowledgeable and helpful in selecting the right stone for your special project. If you give us some information such as what your stone will be used for, whether you prefer a light or dark colored stone, approximate size, if you want color added, and how it will be displayed, ie; flat or upright, we can help you with your choice. If you are undecided on all or any of these questions, we will be glad to assist you in making the right choice for your engraved stone. If you are an organization or company wanting brick pavers for fundraising, awards, or any other purpose requiring volume, we can offer stones or bricks that are more uniform in size, shape, and color. Let us know what your requirements are and we will work with you to meet your needs.

Font Choices
We have hundreds of fonts to choose from, and you may pick whatever font you like. Please keep in mind that very thin fonts are not suitable for sand blasting. If you see a font or multiple fonts you like while viewing our gallery of pictures, please make a note of the Picture Number and we can use that for your project.

Designs
We have many standard designs that we have created in a variety of themes that you may want to choose from. If you have a specific idea of what you want we can email you samples of standard design choices that we think will match your request. If you have a custom design request, and do not have the artwork we will be happy to create it for you. If you have your own artwork, you can email it to us in a B&W camera-ready Adobe Illustrator.eps format, Version 11 (CS2 ) or lower.

Standard Engraving
The design or text is sand carved into the stone and is generally filled with a color or multiple colors for best visibility.
(Click on picture for larger view)

PR06
Deep Carve with solid black fill

AM03
Address Marker + Design with Solid Black Fill

AM01
Multi-Color blend on Design with Solid Black Fill on Text

ES15
Multi-Color blend on Text and Design

Reverse Engraving
The background around the design or text is sand carved leaving the image raised appearing embossed on the stone. If the sand carved portion around the image is much lighter in color than the outer portion of the stone, allowing greater contrast in color between the background and the image, the stone can remain natural with no color added.

If the sand carved portion (inner-part of the stone around the image), is the same color as the outer portion of the stone, it has little or no contrast and greatly reduces the visibility of the image. In that instance we create a border area behind the image and fill with a color or multi-colors to create a contrast.
(Click on picture for larger view)

ES17
Reverse Engraving with
no color added

PR04
Reverse Engraving with
no color added

ES12
Reverse Engraving with
color added

TT06
Reverse Engraving with color added

Sealant
The final step in our process is to add 2 coats of a Stone Sealer to the entire stone to protect the paint fill from harmful UV Rays and inclement weather, and to retain the natural beauty of the stone.

We offer two types of Sealant. Natural, a clear, flat finish, that blends into the stone and is not visible to the eye.
Wet-Look, a high-gloss finish which leaves a visible shiny wet-look to the stone and can enhance the color.

Some stones are better suited for the natural sealer, while others display their colors better with the Wet-Look sealer. If you have no particular preference, we enjoy making that decision for you based on the type of stone used for your order.
(Click on picture for larger view)

ES06
Natural Sealant

HG02
Natural Sealant

PR09
Wet Look Sealant

TT14
Wet Look Sealant

The Process

Step 1. First, we create the artwork on our design computer and size it for the stone it will be used on. Next, we make a template of that design using a special rubber material which leaves the images to be sand blasted exposed. After the template is applied to the stone, we mask off any other visible areas that we do not want to be sand blasted. The stone is then loaded into our enclosed blast room.

Step 2. We carefully carve into the stone with our sand blasting equipment in each portion where the template images are exposed. We continue the blasting process until a nice carved area exists. We then remove any excess abrasive material from the stone using compressed air.

Step 3. The stone is taken from the blast room to the paint area and prepared for color fill or outlining as needed. With Multi-color fills and blends various areas of the text and designs are individually masked off during this process. We use only paints formulated for stone application. Once painted, we allow 24-48 hours curing time for the paint to completely dry before the sealant is added. The last step in this process is removing the masking material, sanding or grinding any paint-imperfections, and applying 2- coats of Sealant to the entire stone.

Pricing
Please call or email us to discuss your engraved stone request and we will be glad to work up a price quote for you. Pricing is dependent on many combined factors such as, the size and type of stone requested, if it will contain text, and the amount of text desired, the simplicity or complexity of the design, the amount of computer time required to create the artwork and template, the type of engraving process desired, and whether it will have color added and/or multi-color blends.

Turnaround Time
Most orders are usually completed within 2-4 weeks. There are always exceptions to our schedule, so, if your order is large and/or complex it may take longer. If your order is a ‘Rush’ request, please let us know and we will try our best to meet your deadline. We do everything possible to accommodate our customer’s needs.

Call, fax or email today!
ofc (512) 847-0847 • fax (512) 847-0848
info@STONE-ography.com

We accept VISA, Mastercard and American Express.