What next?

I’ve done a course and want to set up on my own. What do I need?

Please note that I don’t check this document regularly so if you find any lost links, please let me know

Here’s what you used on your Sculpture-in-a-Day course:

  • Saw - any carpenter’s saw. You want a first cut or panel or rip saw (names differ) such as this

  • Bastard rasp such as this set or a single one

  • Surform. We used a 10inch Stanley surform You can buy ones with fancy handles a bit like a plane but they’re no use for getting into smaller spaces.

  • Dummy/Mallet. Lots of different weights available. 600g is a good starting point like this one from Southern Stone 

  • 10mm flat chisel

  • 8mm bow/bullnose chisel also called a bow

  • 13mm claw chisel or scutch comb

  • Rifflers. These are a nice to have rather than essential at the start. but available here.

  • Sandpaper. We start at 40 grit (very rough) and went up to 3000 or so. You may be able to find a multi-pack on Amazon or elsewhere to save buying quite as much as this. 

  • Stone Wax. Not essential, you could use furniture beeswax like this

  • Workbench. You’ll need something, but it can be any old bench, you can make your own, or spend anything from not much to a lot. Cheap and cheerful up to first class and even more. I use a jacking trolley with a mat or wooden pallet to protect the top alongside several home-made wooden ones. This is the jacking trolley

  • Drill. Any standard DIY drill. Use wood bits for Maltese, masonry for harder stone. Useful but not essential for starting holes with Barbara Hepworth in mind. You can flail around with a sharp drill bit in Maltese and other softer stone to quite good effect.

You might then want to consider:

  • For limestone, sandstone and most slates the tools above are fine, but if you want to go into other stones such as alabaster or marble, or tougher limestones, or if you want to cut into pebbles or make precision cuts then you’ll want to get into tungsten-tipped chisels such as those from Harbro or Tabula Rasa. I think Southern do some as well, but I’ve not bought from them. 

  • A sharpening block is helpful, this is the one I use.

  • For bigger pieces I invariably do some work with an angle grinder and stone blades/discs:

  • And a sanding system for the angle grinder such as:

    •  this one which is medium soft, great for basically flat surfaces. For curvier ones you need ultrasoft like this

    • And the pads to go with it such as these

    • And if you’re using these you do need to have a variable speed angle grinder running at a low speed, such as (this is not optional, sanding discs shear and fly off at high speeds, so are unsafe as well as less effective) like this one.

Buying Stone:

Please mention my name when talking to any of these suppliers, as they are then even nicer to me!

The Maltese limestone used on our courses is from Tim and Debbie at Southern Stone, who also supply alabaster, soapstone and more here. They’re lovely and helpful, and reasonably priced.

I’m a big fan of Ancaster weatherbed and Ancaster Hard White from Nick Bristow at Glebe Stone. It’s the bicoloured (blue/ochre) limestone and the gorgeous creamy white that I use in a lot of my work. here. Nick’s sometimes difficult to get hold of but he always does what he says he will.

Tosh and Michelle in Corsham supply Bath stone of wonderful quality and are really helpful and flexible and can be found here, and they’re happy to sell at any size.

I get lots of stone from building renovations, open old quarries (Welsh slate) and skips. Most quarries will talk to you about samples and the suitability of their stone for carving. If you find a really good supplier, let me know!

Advice and help:

My experience of the sculpture community has been almost totally positive. Talking to sculptors at their exhibitions or contacting them through instagram is a great way to find out more and get advice. The equipment suppliers vary in their helpfulness as they tend to deal with professionals lots. Elite Stone Tools are great, and often send bags of sweets with your order! Southern Stone are really helpful, they work a lot with sculptors and will nurture your relationship.


Good luck! Have fun.


David