e 4359 USA: Blocks: I am a stone sculptor in New Mexico, USA. I am about to propose a sculpture of an African Mountain Gorilla. What is the size (in inches please) of the standard block you ship to the US? It will need to be be at least 7' X 4.5' X 4.5'. It could be as large as 9' X 6' X 5'. Is there someone in the US that I can deal with directly, who may already have blocks on hand, rather than ordering a block? It would have to be shipped to New Mexico. Part of the decision process will include cost of the stone plus shipping costs to New Mexico plus cost of shipping the final piece to South Carolina plus other costs such as insurance etc. Oct 7

Offer 8: We can import a granite block for you from India. The colors we can get are black, light grey, cream, pink, cocoktail, red and brown. Please take note that all colors other than black will have black speckles in them as its granite. The block size can be approx. 9ft. x 5ft. x 5ft. The maximum cost would be around US$ 900 per cubic meter. This price would be FOB Indian Port. We can import it, clear it from customs and ship it to NM. We are based in New York and have our own quarries in India. So if youre interested do let us know.

Offer 5: IN REPLY TO YOUR REQUEST OF MARBLE IN BLOCKS FROM MONTERREY MEXICO. OUR MATERIAL IS IDEAL FOR SCULPTURE USES. ATTACHED PLEASE FIND A SAMPLE OF OUR MATERIAL. WE ARE A QUARRY IN MONTERREY, MEXICO. WE CAN SHIP INMEDIATLY. $ 450.00 USD/M3 BLACK MONTERREY SLAB BLOCKS EX-WORK MONTERREY, MEXCIO, INCOTERMS 2000. FREIGHT CHARGES SHOULD BE AROUND $ 2,600.00 USD PLUS CUSTOMS CHARGES DOOR TO DOOR.
I am looking for GRANITE, not MARBLE - Thank you for your response though.

I CAN UNDERSTAND YOU CONCERNS REGARDING THE QUALITY OF THE BLOCK.

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO DO THIS, ONE IS TO TRUST MY EXPERT OPINION REGARDING OUR MATERIAL ( BLACKNESS, CORRECT WHITE VIENNING DIRECCTION, CERO FISURES, ETC.) ANOTHER IS TO CONTACT A MEXICAN SCULTURE HERE IN MONTERREY, HE WORKS WITH OUR MATERIAL AND WORKS IT WELL.

HE IS VERY WELL KNOWN FOR BEING VERY PROFICIENT WITH BLACK MONTERREY.
IN REFERENCE TO THE STONE:

WE CAN GIVE ANY SIZE YOU REQUIRE, I NEED TO KNOW THE AREA IN WHICH THE ARTIST WILL NEED TO WORK WITH, GIVEN THIS INFORMATION I HAVE TO OVER SIZE THE BLOCK TO AVOID ANY FISURES WITH IN THE AREA TO BE SCULPTURED.

FOR EXAMPLE A BLOCK DIMENSIONS ARE 7' X 4.5' X 4.5' FT ( 2.15 X 1.39 X 1.39 MTS)

Quantity - number of pieces and sq.ft. / sq.m, = 1 BLOCK
Approximate weight:                                         12,450 KGS.
Packing style:                                                  BULK
Delivery period:                                                 IMMEDIATELY
Quality guarantee:                                           100 % GUARANTEE, UPON INSPECTION
Price FOB or CIF:                                             WE SELL ONLY EX-WORK VALUE, IF NEED WE CAN QUOTE DDP, LAREDO,                                                                         TX., PLEASE ADVISE.
Your preferred payment term:                             50% UPON PO AND 50% ON DELIVERY,

TERMS AND CONDITIONS MAY CHANGE IN FUTURE SHIPMENTS.
Freight costs (approximate): $ 1,950.00 USD.

MEXICAN AND US CUSTONS FEES: $ 700.00 USD.

IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTION PLEASE CONTACT ME
As I stated before, I must have GRANITE not MARBLE. End of discussion.
I am NOT interested. Possible another project at some time, but this project MUST be granite. (Nov 15)

Offer 3: I am a stone sculptor who is 7/8 complete on a larger then life female figure (the piece is now 7’ x 4’ x 4’) in Laurentian Pink Granite that I hand selected in Beebe Quebec, Canada. I did the rough out with a 20’ saw in Beebe then shipped the block via rail to Hay River NWT, Canada then by truck to Yellowknife, NWT, Canada (basically nearly across Canada and half way into the Subarctic. This cost me including insurance approx. $3,000.00 CDN in 1991. I would like to correspond because I know no other artists you sculpt granite in this size. Will you be using granite? Do let me know if you are interested in hiring an assistant!

Please contact me to discuss possibilities. I also know of another sculptor who sculpts figures this large that lives in Vermont.
I am interested in talking to you as what techniques you use, tools and many other aspects of granite sculpting. I know of a sculptor in Vancouver, Canada named George. A few years back he did a huge sculpture of two intertwined whales out of black granite, then some bronze casts were also commissioned from molds. I have worked with a small piece of India Black that actually ‘sang’ when you put a grinder to it. It was so homogeneous in structure it was amazing stuff. Getting back to George, he uses a flame treatment (propane, oxygen flame cooling the rock with an internal water spray) to do a lot of his secondary reduction. He says it is more money to use but the control and lesser vibration to the stone allows for far more intricate/complex designs.
I would like to correspond with you.

- prefer to buy locally (no)or import?(Yes, but would prefer US based contact)countries? (Zimbabwi)
- stone details - country (Zimbabwi), trade name or description (Black), image, is it in FindStone's Stone Album?
- status of project(Awaiting decision by Selection board), expected purchase date (February 2003), &decision criteria for purchase e.g. price? (Choice of provider will depend on delivery date and price)
- application - where would it be used? South Carolina Museum - outside)