Flat and Shape Carving on Monuments

Once you've designed your memorial, the monument sections are put through a series of production stations to reproduce your design in solid granite. One of the first stops is sandblasting. A flat carving is created by sandblasting the outline (v-lines) of the design into the stone. This process creates a simple, two-dimensional contrast on the granite surface. The remaining smooth areas are then polished. The term simply refers to how the design is sandblasted into the stone. Flat carving is a great economical choice for many families and is also recommended on flat grass-markers.

A shape carving is created after the v-lines have been sandblasted. Next, a worker manually hand-shapes the design to give it more of a three-dimensional look. Shape carving is generally more expensive than flat carving because of this extra step and hand application. Shape carving can add hand sculpted details to an upright monument without the higher cost of an all-sculpted monument.