Learn the maintenance of stone sculpture!

MAINTENANCE OF STONE SCULPTURE

GENERAL:

Stone is a natural product and is very porous. This means stone absorbs liquids. The absorption of liquids can be good or detrimental to the stone.

On receipt of your stone sculpture the following should be decided.

(a)                       Is the sculpture an Indoor sculpture.

                  OR

(b)                       An Outdoor sculpture.

(a)                  INDOOR STONE SCULPTURE:

Polished surfaces of a sculpture could over a period of time become dull and even slightly discoloured. This is caused by heat or direct sunlight warming up the stone and the stone absorbing the polish.

To return a sculpture to its original beauty, observe the following steps:

(i)                        If the sculpture is very cold, place it for a period of time in direct sunlight or use an outside

warming aid to warm the sculpture. The aid to be used will depend on the size of the

sculpture. Small sculpture can be warmed by using a hairdryer and large sculpture by using a gas or electrical paint stripping tool. If a electrical or gas paint stripping tool is being used, be very careful making sure that the heat is evenly applied, do not concentrate the heat at any one spot.

(ii)                       When the sculpture is very warm to the touch, remove the heating aid and apply natural

                                                                                    clear wax or bees wax while the sculpture cools down. Apply wax continuously until the

sculpture is cool. Note how the sculpture absorbs the polish.

(iii)                      When the sculpture is cold, take a clean, soft, fluffy cloth and shine the sculpture. The

sculpture will look as good as the day it was bought.

(iv)   It is important to note that the sculpture must be cold before you start polishing, hot sculpture

will only give a dull finish.

(b)                  OUTSIDE STONE SCULPTURE:

On receipt of the outdoor stone sculpture and deciding where it will be placed proceed as follows:

(i)     Make sure that the surface of the plinth on which the sculpture is to be placed is dry, clean

and level.

(ii)                       Make sure either silicon or builders cement is available to seal the gap  between the

                                                                                    sculpture and the mounting surface of the plinth. This is very important because sculpture will

absorb moisture through its base. The moisture being rain or water for watering the garden

etc, etc.

(iii)                      Place the sculpture on the plinth and mark out the shape of its base on the plinth.

(iv)   Lift the sculpture and squeeze out a bead of silicon over the line or lay a mixture of pure
 builders cement mixed with water over the line on the marked plinth.

(v)                       Lower the sculpture onto the moist silicon or cement mixture.

(vi)          Using your finger or a suitable tool, smooth down the excess silicon or cement mixture to give

                           a through seal around the base of the sculpture.

(vii)         Using a cloth soaked with paraffin/kerosene to remove any excess silicon that might have
                                         inadvertently found its way onto polished surfaces of the sculpture. To remove the cement        

       mixture use a damp cloth.

(viii)         Allow at least 48 hours for the silicon or cement to dry before polishing the sculpture using

a natural clear wax or bees wax. Follow the steps for (a) above.

P.T.O.

REPAIR OF DEEP SCRATCHES AND CHIPPED SCULPTURE:

To remove deep scratches and chips on sculpture the following steps should be observed.

(a)                       For repairing small shallow scratches the following should be purchased:

(i)                        One sheet of the following wet/dry carborundum paper or water paper. In grades: 400, 600,

800, 1000 or 1200 grit.

(ii)                       Depending on the depth of the scratch, start by using the course paper (400 grit) as follows:

Tear off a section from the sheet. Dip into a vessel containing water and by using a round motion, apply the cloth to the sculptures scratched area, use lots of water, the water acts as a lubricant. Once the scratch has disappeared - keep checking by wiping the area being repaired with a damp cloth, change to 600 - 800 grit and eventually finish off by using the 1200 grit. The scratch should have totally disappeared, leaving a very smooth greyish area. Very light scratches can be removed by starting with 800 or 1200 grit

(iii)                      Clean thoroughly with water and a soft cloth.

(iv)          Polish as above by applying heat etc, etc.

(b)                      Should a sculpture have a chip or a very deep scratch. Proceed as follows:

(i)                        Purchase from a hardware store a 6 inch (150 mm) 2^nd cut and a smooth steel file, a hard

 bristle plastic nail brush to clean the file.

(ii)    Study the damaged area on sculpture and slowly file away the damaged area

using a circular motion, following the contour of the sculpture at all times. Start by using the 2^nd cut file and progress to the smooth file. Once the sculpture is nearly back to its original shape, remove all excess filings and proceed as above with the wet/dry or water paper then follow the polishing instructions.

WINTER MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME

Last but not least in extreme cold winter weather where the sculpture could stand in sub zero  temperature for any length of time, it is suggested a waterproof cover be made.

          Take an old dry blanket or carpet underveld, cover your statue with the blanket or underveld

and then pull the waterproof cover over the sculpture. Water expands on freezing and the sculpture with many other natural products are porous and will absorb moisture, as soon as the absorbed liquid freezes it will expand and may cause damage. The reason a dry blanket or underveld is placed over the sculpture is to stop the waterproof cover from coming into contact with the stone. It is very important to make sure the waterproof cover DOES NOT come into contact with the sculpture.

          After the winter, polish the sculpture as above. This method can be used on all natural

products.

REMOVAL OF SCULPTURE FROM THE PLINTH

Silicon and builders cement mixture gives a very strong bond between the sculpture and plinth. To remove the sculpture from the plinth, turn the sculpture to share this bond between the sculpture and the plinth, then lift the sculpture off the plinth. Should a pin be used to locate the sculpture on the plinth, make sure that NO bonding agent is accidentally spilt or applied to the pin as the sculpture WILL be permanently fixed/attached to the pin.