Scribing Post to Stone - NOW WITH MORE SHOU SUGI BAN!
Introduction: Scribing Post to Stone - NOW WITH MORE SHOU SUGI BAN!
Scribing and carving a wooden post to fit a stone is an old art...really old… likely thousands of years old. It is a gorgeous way to support a building that likely meets no modern building code, despite the fact that the oldest standing timber structures use this method. The process is time consuming, can be frustrating, and is totally worth trying.
Do I want to build a giant structure that can stand for 2000 yrs? Of course I do, just like I want to build a castle. But, alas, lacking an army of serfs to do my bidding... my more reasonable wife suggested I start on a smaller scale.
So for this Instructable I tried my hand at scribing a single post to a totally uneven stone and then given it the Shou Sugi Ban treatment, with a flamethrower. In the end I have created a very good looking address post
OR as my wife so eloquently **snarkily** described it, "a very nice burnt log on a rock"
So read on!
Supplies
Since this was for the hand tool only contest i have used... hand tools only. It would go way quicker with plug ins.
At a minimum you will need:
post
stone
hatchet
chisel
mallet
scribe
pencil
source of flame
wire brush
Step 1: Seek and Ye Shall Find
Find a post and a stone.
I suggest a stone larger than the post. My first stone *shown above* would have been a bit much I think for a trial run. If you want the post to last, pick a stone that allows water to drain away from the post. My log was Pine cut this year, the stone was from a delivery of 100 Tons of stones that I was not quite expecting to be quite this big, but that’s a different story. I had a lot to choose from...
Step 2: Plumbob Squarelog
If you have your stone in its final location you are good to go. It doesn’t have to be oriented any specific way other than to allow water to drain away from the post. I was planning to move my stone later but the bottom was flat so I considered it easy enough to move and maintain the orientation. Stand your post upon the log and plumb it up. 812
Look at the unsightly gaps! A peasant wouldn’t even use this abomination of a post. Not only is it ugly, it's also guaranteed to fall over at this point. That is a poor design for a structure.
I used stone chips from a previous project trying to carve a stone to log to wedge the post plumb. Most people would use a couple of staked 2x4’s to prop up the post,. 2x4’s would have been better. More on that later.
Mark the stone and post with some reference marks. You will need these later.
Step 3: So… You Can Make This If You’re Cheap
But I would probably buy one if you’re deciding to make a living doing this… You will need a scribe.
I took some scrap bamboo and created a sort of compass thing then taped a pencil to it. On top of this I used a tiny level I found on the garage floor. Was it pretty? Nooooo. Did it function? Certainly well enough for a couple posts, it isn’t the most durable thing though.
Step 4: <PERSON>
Take your makeshift scribe-like-object put the level on it.
Touch the pencil to the log and the lower compass part to the stone just below the log.
Now run it slowly around the perimeter of the log KEEPING THE BUBBLE LEVEL.
If you don’t keep the bubble level you might as well just eyeball the whole project. The level is what keeps it all inline and on the same plane. You are transferring all of the contours of the stone onto the log so the two fit together like they were made that way. This is where my granite shim idea was shown to be less ideal. I had to jump the scribe up over the stone chips to get it all the way around and then go back and freehand those couple spots – It was not the best.
Step 5: Power Tools, Where Art Thou?
Since this was for a “handtool” only instructable contest (VOTE FOR ME) I forbade myself the pleasure of wearing muffs and eyepro and covering myself in sawdust. Instead I relied on a chisel and hatchet for the grunt work. There are several steps here
1.) Chisel the penciled scribe line all the way around
2. 353