# My First Try at Tombstone Making



## Night Watchman (Aug 15, 2009)

Well I finally got going at making tombstones and here is the beginning of my first one. Thanks to everyone who posted how to's and ideas on how to make them. I will post more pictures once I have painted and put a base on this one. One other thing if you have a suggestion of what to do with the space at the top inside the rounded peak area let me know. I am not sure if I am going to put anything there or maybe carve a skull into the area.

Here is the initial stone.










Than I added a crack through the name to get the BEA WARE thing.










Let me know what you think.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I think it's going to make for a very lovely first stone. The lettering is neatly done and the cracking adds character.


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## samhayne (Jul 3, 2008)

Well done.
Carrving look's great.


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## randomr8 (Oct 24, 2009)

Nice. Wish I had that kind patience right now.


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## halloween71 (Aug 9, 2007)

First one?Looks like you are doing alot better than my first ones.
Looking good.


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## Nevergoback (Oct 2, 2009)

That's awesome, nice touches. A styrofoam skull cut in half front from back would be perfect for that space....or half of a foam wig stand face.


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

It looks wonderful so far!
Are you wanting to add a symbol to the top? There are a few websites that describe the meanings of tombstone symbols if you want to add something extra to it. Gravestone Symbols


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## The Watcher (Sep 13, 2008)

Great start and the hard part is over!


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## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

This is excellent!! Yes much better than my first also! I love the lettering!


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Looks good, post pics when you've got it painted.


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## Wildcat (Nov 3, 2007)

Looks great. Carving looks really good.


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

Love the engravig and love the shape of the stone  One tip for future stones is to carve the face on the side that doesn't have factory lettering. the impressions of the ink transfering machine will show up on your finished product. However there are some finishing techniques to age the stone that will reduce the impact... such as a blowtorch... or blowtorch with water droplets... CAREFULLY done of course


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## Night Watchman (Aug 15, 2009)

Thank you to all. niblique71 I wish I would have known sooner. I should have known better the lettering made engraving harder, I was having a hard time trying to figure my lines from theirs through the dust made by the dremel. Anyways I just finished putting on a base and putting PVC pipe in the middle for the rebar. I don't think I am going to put anything in the upper space. I think it would be very difficult to find a styrofoam skull this early and I have not found a picture that I can stencil on and dremel out, but the day is not over yet.


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## Just Whisper (Jan 19, 2009)

Wow, that is your first one? I am so jealous. My first tombstone was cardboard I think. Of course I did not have the benefit of the wisdom from this forum back then. That is a sweet looking tombstone. You should be proud. Now we are expecting more great things from you.


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## MommaMoose (May 15, 2010)

Wish my first tombstones would have looks 1/4 as good as your do. Maybe I would still have them if they did. Can't wait to see the finished product.


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## Just Whisper (Jan 19, 2009)

Night Watchman said:


> I don't think I am going to put anything in the upper space. I think it would be very difficult to find a styrofoam skull this early and I have not found a picture that I can stencil on and dremel out, but the day is not over yet.


When I transfer pics to my stones I do not stencil them on first. I just dremel right through the paper. That is how I did the flowers on this one.


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## Night Watchman (Aug 15, 2009)

A quick update on the progress. I need to sand some of the edges and I will start painting, hopefully tomorrow.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I see you changed your mind about putting something in that upper space


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## Night Watchman (Aug 15, 2009)

The space was bothering me, I just had to put something there.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

It looks great. I wish my first stones were half as nice as that.


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## JohnnyAppleseed (Apr 8, 2009)

Very nice first stone, nice work on the carving and I really like the use of the crack to create the "Beware", never thought of doing something like that before!


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## Just Whisper (Jan 19, 2009)

The skull was a great choice, and you did a capital job. I am impressed, again.


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## pagan (Sep 9, 2009)

It looks great.. Please disregard the PM, I sent it before I saw the carved skull. Great job for your first stone, you have the knack for it!


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## Night Watchman (Aug 15, 2009)

Just finished painting the stone. The paint is still wet but I wanted to show it. All that is left is a hundred years of aging.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Nice job, Night! Did you have a little help from your son?


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## Night Watchman (Aug 15, 2009)

I had help from Reese and my daughter Sydney. They were both very good painters.


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## Uruk-Hai (Nov 4, 2006)

Looks GREAT!


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

Very impressive!! My first stones were made with cardboard and a sharpy. I love that your kids helped, it's so fun when the next generation gets involved!


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Night Watchman said:


> All that is left is a hundred years of aging.
> QUOTE]
> 
> You only have 75 days! Better get cracking!


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## PirateLady (Jul 23, 2010)

Ok this gives me hope , I have been trying to start on my first tombstone... very nice job....


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## Night Watchman (Aug 15, 2009)

I finished it off today.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I don't think that's 100 years old yet

An excellent first stone - well done, Night, Reese, and Sydney!


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## dynoflyer (Oct 8, 2006)

Nice!


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## Wildcat (Nov 3, 2007)

Very well done. Would have loved for my first stone to have looked that good.


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## GothicCandle (Mar 26, 2007)

nice, i like it!


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## cerinad (Jun 23, 2008)

Sweet! Very good work. That's way better than my first attempt.


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## Night Watchman (Aug 15, 2009)

Thanks to all!!! I figured if I read enough threads I should be able to figure something out. On to the next one!


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## TheOneAndOnlyKelly (May 7, 2009)

If I may be so bold...

The cracks are a bit distracting. The inside of the stone wouldn't be that dark. If you painted them the same color as the outside, then added the dark paint to age it like you did overall (maybe a little darker) you might get the cracked effect without it being too obvious.

It's like makeup. If you notice the makeup, then it's too much.

Just my 2¢

Other than that it looks great! Keep making more!


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## fick209 (Aug 31, 2009)

An excellent stone, never would have guessed it was your first one. Very nice work!


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## SKAustin (Dec 12, 2009)

Very nice work.


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## ghoulieghoul (Aug 12, 2010)

Nightwatchman how'd you do the lettering? Dremel? I would like to make my first tombstone too, but not sure how the lettering has been done on the ones I have seen.


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

Nice job NightWatchman, love the lettering!!


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## TheOneAndOnlyKelly (May 7, 2009)

I did something similar last year, with letters both inny and outy...

















I laid out the design on the computer, using CorelDRAW and printed them out. After taping down the pages, I used an XActo knife to trace around each letter (hand cramps, ow!) and afterwards I used the tip of the blade to carefully flick out the unwanted foam. Goes quicker for inny's, as you would imagine.

When done with that, I used a coolish soldering gun to smooth out the underlaying foam, since there were divets where I'd flicked it out. Turned out rather well with that technique... YRMV


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