HOUSE NAMES, NUMBERS and LETTERING

Richard Harbury offers a concise range of letter carving services from bespoke design through to product supply.
The hand carved and creative lettering is available for memorials, house name and number plaques, free standing stones, date stones for new build and restoration projects and commemorative plaques with a large variety of lettering styles and stone types available. He also runs workshops and courses in letterforms and lettercarving.
 
PURBECK and PORTLAND STONE BIRDBATH
Letter cutting in progress. The birdbath bowl is made from Purbeck Thornback stone which is a rather hard and dense, beautifully shelly limestone that is an absolute joy to carve and is perfect for lettering and fine detail carving
The finished bowl. The spiral effect is the result of dressing the stone using a bullnose boaster in drafts working in circles from the outside in. This bowl was actually made from an old flagstone. Click here to see How It's Made
The finished bowl has been mounted on a rustic carved Portland stone plinth and base. How It's Made
 
PORTLAND STONE HOUSE NAME - LITTLE ARMSWORTH

 
CHILMARK STONE VERTICAL SUNDIAL
This sundial is sited on the front elevation of Trinity Hospital, Salisbury
and was just one element of an award winning conservation project judged by the
Salisbury Civic Society
Carved in the local Chilmark stone the dial was reproduced precisely from the fragmented and heavily weathered remains of the original which dated from c.1702
Chilmark stone is a particular favourite of mine. It has a fine texture facilitating precise carving, sharp arisses and has a unique and variagated olive green colour.
 
NATURAL BATH STONE MEMORIALS
This piece shows raised lettering carved in Stoke Ground Bath Stone Base Bed
The letter height is three inches with the depth sunk to approximately half inch.
Stoke Ground Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone formed approximately 135 million years ago during the Middle Jurassic Period.
Discover Bath Stone Mines

PORTLAND STONE HOUSE NAME

This piece, carved in Portland stone, shows raised lettering in an eliptical sunken panel. The top has been set out as a three centred arch and pitched to produce a natural appearance. At the request of the client the face has been left un~rubbed to show the marks left by the saw when processed by the quarry's sawyard


PORTLAND STONE HOUSE NAME


PORTLAND STONE HOUSE NAME
This Portland stone house name is an incised cut in a Roman style font with the lettering at a height of 3 inches. This particular stone is Best Base Bed,
probably the finest stone in the World
PORTLAND STONE NUMBER PLAQUE. 177
In the begining there was a circle of Portland stone.
After a while it became a blank plaque
After a longer while it became a house number
Click to see How It's Made

PORTLAND STONE HOUSE NAME


The lettering on this Portland stone house name demonstrates the incised 'V' cut letter and like all of my lettercutting it is set out, drawn and carved by hand


WELSH SLATE HOUSE NAME
Lettercutting in progress. I am using a 5mm lettering chisel and a dummy. It is paramount to have well honed chisels at all times, especially when working slate
The plaque has been finished with a pitched border designed to show the striations or bed of this fine Welsh slate


PURBECK STONE HOUSE NUMBER. 51
This house number has been carved into a rough piece of Purbeck stone
to produce a very rustic finish that seems at home on the grass verge


PORTLAND STONE HOUSE NAME. BYEWAYS
To begin the lettering design is roughly set out on this piece of Portland stone to gauge the aesthetic potential of the available stone dimensions and shape
It has only been roughly drawn as the whole of the face will be dressed back and any current surface details will be removed.
This picture shows the development of the chosen design. As you can see, the lettering has been tooled off although it is a simple process to re-draw the design once the final surface finish, which will be fine-rubbed/polished, has been attained.
To see the tools and techniques used to reach this stage check out 'How It's Made'
With the surface rubbed and lettering drawn it is now time to cut or carve the letters. A general rule of thumb when carving incised lettering is to use a chisel of the same width as the drawn letter. Here I am using a half inch tungsten tipped chisel to rough-out the letter before finishing with a three quarter inch lettering chisel.
The finished design. To see the complete production process visit 'How It's Made'

PORTLAND STONE HOUSE NUMBER. 9

Size isn't everything, although the bigger the better in some cases.
This Portland stone house number stands at over eighteen inches high
 
 
For further details and information on services, products and ordering please email Richard Harbury Stonemasonry