Thursday, May 8, 2014

Limestone Block for the American Lion comes to the studio

I purchased the block for the American Lion from Indiana Limestone company.  Here it is - all 40,000 lbs of it- on a Stonebelt Freightlines truck which is out of Bloomington, Indiana.


At 40,000 lbs. this stone is a full load for this truck.



The crane operator and rigger from Padgett Cranes of New Albany, IN set up the block of the crane with a four part line.  These are metal cables and the set up - 2 part line, 4 part line will vary according to the what is being lifted and how much it weighs.   This is a seventy ton crane which is pretty big, but that is a big rock. 

This is looking up through the jib of the crane which is a way to extend it's reach.

The stone has been rigged up and is ready to be lifted. 



The stone comes off the truck and is set on the ground.




The stone then needs to be stood up on end.  A clevis is used to connect the nylon slings to wire cables which will give a lot more length.

The cables are fairly aggressive and can catch on the corners of the block so sections of carpet are placed under the nylon slings. 



The stone is then leveled.

Big block ready to carve....

and so the carving begins.  To watch this video follow this link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI7mt1YLKF4

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