# Carved stone trail markers



## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

While signs are prohibited without meeting additional regulatory requirements, our Land Manager did allow the placement of engraved rocks, as long as they are not on a post dug into the earth. Here's a few I have completed.


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

*Learning how to post videos  See if I can get a couple more up here.*


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)




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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

Thanks Switch, just happy with the result and want to share. Funny how a problem (not allowed to post signs) can lead to a happy result. These markers fit our trails PERFECTLY! I'm using rock that I collect from the trails so they fit in like they were grown there. I love it!


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

...


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## ray.vermette (Jul 16, 2008)

Very cool.



Switchblade2 said:


> It will be interesting if your rock signs get stolen.


I hope not, but I expect they will.  People can be such a$$holes sometimes.


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

There have been some disagreements about trail-maintenance goals and techniques, but all camps seem happy with the markers. 20 years the trails have been here with names but no signs. Some of the originators have passed and I think at least some of the Old Guard are pleased to see their naming being respected, immortalized in stone, and legitimized. Besides, they are HEAVY! Except for two of them, you would have to drive across some pretty demanding desert 2 track to get to them. Fingers crossed


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## mbmtb (Nov 28, 2013)

archeologist, year 7102:

What were these symbolizing?

Must have religious significance.


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## fefillo (Jul 24, 2014)

Pretty awesome man!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

*Johnnie Walker*

For our trail named Johnnie Walker...


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

*Backyard*

Backyard...


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

Directional markers for areas that the trail gets ambiguous. Haven't decided where exactly to place them yet. Will let others decide....


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

As some predicted, 2 of the markers, "Backyard" and "Birdpole" seem to have been stolen. Guess I need to get the rock chisels sharpened up.


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## aero901 (Apr 11, 2012)

Thats too bad. Says a lot about their cool factor if someone was willing to haul them out. 

Thoughts/ideas on anchoring them to prevent tampering? Could you go mobile with your carving setup and pick impractically large boulders? 

Looking forward to seeing the new markers!


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

That made me laugh Aero  Thanks. There are two of us who do the carving. George uses a grinder, I use chisels, so yes, carving particularly large rocks is something we've talked about.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

aero901 said:


> Could you go mobile with your carving setup and pick impractically large boulders?


I once saw evidence of someone who hauled a chainsaw out into the desert (on private property) to try to steal petrified wood. Needless to say, the chain got lodged in the petrified wood and broke, and got left behind. It was pretty rusty...I never did hear from the landowner how long ago the attempt was made...but people can be awful stupid about stuff like this.

For some people, if there's a sign, they'll vandalize it. Carve the rocks on-site so they can't be moved, and people will figure out how to destroy the carving, anyway. Maybe by smashing other rocks on it. Maybe by painting. Maybe by carving into it with their pocket knife or some other metal tool. Same result, either way.

It's a damn shame. Your sign work is incredible.


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

Thanks Harold. 

That's a pretty funny story. Something like that would be a great trail-name story, let's go ride Chainsaw... 

We are pretty lucky in that our trails are quite removed from the world, 20 miles out of town with nothing else around. The primary conflicts are with quads, but most of them are grown adults/couples who tool around at 25 mph max. Of course, there are the exceptions, and this is one but all-in-all I feel pretty lucky.


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## Oh My Sack! (Aug 21, 2006)

How about a bit of info on the tools you're using? I think it would be kinda fun to try this on some of our local trails.


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

Oh My Sack! said:


> How about a bit of info on the tools you're using? I think it would be kinda fun to try this on some of our local trails.


Cool! Sure!

It's not as hard as you might think. I started out by hand-grinding a masonry bit to a chisel edge with a diamond sharpening stone. It took some time, but I had one around, so that's all it cost me. I used a small ball-peen hammer, copying the traditional technique of using it sideways. (see post #5) This worked and it's what I used for my first couple of the markers. I had fun doing it so decided to buy some proper tools. I got a couple of chisels...

https://trowandholden.com/carbide-hand-carving-lettering-chisels.html

and a round hammer...

https://trowandholden.com/round-hand-hammers.html

I'm carving in basalt, very hard, so requires tools designed for granite or "hard" stone. There are others designed for softer stone, like sandstone and limestone.

I did my designs on the computer, printed them out, taped them on the rock and cut through the paper to get the outline.

My friend uses a dremel with carbide grinders. He works much much faster than I and can do a lot finer detail. When I did the Dos Eqis marker, I asked him to do the center part, it turned out great.

Some videos I watched. Keep in mind that most of these show work in soft stone, which, it turns out, is a bit faster. 








https://stoneletters.com/blog/letter-carving-in-slate

One of the few that shows carving HARD stone. You can see just how different it is. 





I also got the book, Letter Carving in Stone, by Tom Perkins
http://a.co/d/4IsFj3T
I'm not suggesting it because I didn't find it useful, but I did find it interesting and perhaps I learned from it without being aware that I did. It focuses mostly on letter design, if I recall correctly.

It would be great fun to see someone else try this. If you do, be sure to record it and share. Timelapse is perfect for this.


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## roughster (Dec 18, 2017)

Awesome


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

OMG, have I fixed all my misspellings of the word chisel?!


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## sapva (Feb 20, 2017)

mbmtb said:


> archeologist, year 7102:
> 
> What were these symbolizing?
> 
> Must have religious significance.


That was my first thought


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