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Below are some (but not necessarily ALL) of the equipment, materials and supplies you should consider before hiking cross-country to an abandoned
pioneer cemetery to do restoration work.  Of course, the materials you will need will vary with every project, but this checklists should help you make 
better use of your on-site time by making you think beforehand of things you should consider taking along.  Like this Zag Mobile Tuffmate. Some of us
find big plastic storage tubs an excellent way to organize these supplies so they aren't always rolling around loose in the back of our cars.  

Safety Equipment

• Drinking water
• Sunscreen and hats
• Gloves (leather work gloves, jersey work gloves and rubber gloves)
• Boots
• Long-sleeved shirt
• Insect repellant
• First Aid kit
• Snakebite kit (available from sporting goods stores that carry camping and hiking goods)
• Bee and wasp spray
• Cellular phone (sooner or later someone will fall over a tombstone or footstone)
• Safety goggles
• Antibacterial liquid soap and/or waterless instant hand sanitizer (such as Purell)
• Protective hand lotion (such as "Gloves in a Bottle" or Ivy Block (poison ivy, oak and sumac protection)

Most of us or our parents have tools in our garages that can help start us out with cleaning up the cemetery yard.  Take the time to really evaluate each 
step.  Safety should be your first priority.

Site Cleaning:  

Rakes,  Shovels and spades,  Trowels,  Clam-shell post hole digger  Grubbing hoe   Machete,  Chain saw,  Weed eaters,  Wheelbarrow,  Pruning shears 

Probes (i.e., "Smart Stick" sold by T&T Tools , Forestry Suppliers  Bench Meadows   or your local plumbing supply dealer)  Ask for tile probes.

GPS device to record the position for your County and the DHPA's Cemetery and Burial Ground Registry. 

Stone Cleaning

A note of caution, their are many new products out on the market for stone cleaning.  Please understand you are working with historic family monuments,
mostly over 150 years ago.  These 3 cleaners below have been proven safe and are recommended in the books.  Who can really say what these new cleaners
will do to the surfaces?  As my mother told me, "don't do anything you can't live with later"  

• Lots and lots of water, always start with water and finish with clean rinsing. 

• Soft-bristled plastic, nylon or natural bristle brushes only.

• Orvus soap by Proctor & Gamble (available at farm and animal supply stores; 1/4 cup to 1 gallon water for cleaning)  Wash stone with Orvus and
   water, using a soft-bristled brush; rinse thoroughly

• Kodak Photo-Flo (1/4 oz. to 5 quarts of water; used for initial cleaning) [wash stone with Photo-Flo and water, using a soft-bristled brush; rinse
   thoroughly] 

• Also you might try 1 part Ammonia and 4 parts water.   Be sure to rinse the stones well with clean water in the beginning and at the end. 
  Start at the bottom and work upwards.

NYALOX  BRUSHES: Dico Products 1-800-378-3546

Stone Repairing 

        Epoxies Used:

TENEX from Bicknell Supply Company. 1-800-241-7105

Mastico.  Available from Hilgartner Natural Stone Company, 101 W Cross Street, Baltimore, Maryland  21230; 410-752-4832 I always call.

Akepox 2010 Epoxy Transp L-Spec (Honey) - 2.25 Kg.   Most economical option.  Available from your local monument dealer or from GranQuartz, PO Box 33569,
 Decatur, Georgia 30033; 800-458-6222. You can download their catalog. 

Last Patch, from Bonstone  Good for areas where you need to secure the edges together, or build a corner with something more durable.  See photo. 

Barre Pak Epoxy - 70 gram Kit (in Gray)  More expensive, but handy for smaller repairs; dual barrels of epoxy and hardener.  Available from Miles Supply Company Inc.,
 PO Box 237, Barre, VT 05641-0237; 802-476-3963

Bonding of stones back together has a lot to do with the condition of the break. A stone broken many years ago weathers, leaving you with very little 
contact points. This may require a knife-grade epoxy. Where as an Epoxy such as Mastico, is thin flowing and best used when plenty of stone to stone 
contact is there. I use several types epoxy, depending on the stones need.   The Barre Pak bonds well, yet it is gray in color and thick in content. 
Better used when the break would be below ground. GranQuartz  has some excellent epoxies. Order catalogs from BICKNELL, Miles Supply or any
other company that deals with stone products. (11-14-2005)  
                                                                     WALT

More supplies to think about:

Denatured alcohol and acetone (for cleaning the broken surfaces; use rubber gloves) 

Clean rags  (for applying acetone & denatured alcohol) old white cotton T-shirts {washed WITHOUT fabric softener} 

Old Tupperware or margarine containers (for mixing and holding epoxy and mortar)

Tongue depressors, wooden paint stirrers or "popsicle sticks" (for mixing and spreading epoxy; available from craft stores)

Duct tape (for masking surfaces when applying epoxy or mortar)

Clamps, Carpenter's Level , Portable workbench (i.e., Black & Decker Workmate , Portable drill and bits , Generator (to power the drill) , Turkey baster
(for blowing dust and loose dirt out of the pin holes), Fiberglass or nylon pins (used to stabilize the stone while the epoxy cures; you'll need drill bits to
match; do NOT use metal pins), Scrap lumber (for bracing repaired stones), Compressed air (used for cleaning computer keyboards, etc.; useful in removing
dust and tiny debris before applying epoxy to a stone's broken surface)

Setting Compounds & Setting Cushions used under corners of obelisks.  Miles Supply Company 

Resetting Stones

• Shovels and spades
• Tamper  
• Garden trowel
• Tape measure
• Board for tamping or a wooden ball bat
• Carpenter's Level
• Sand and pea gravel (Mix 1 part sand to 1 part pea gravel)
• Wheelbarrow
• Mason's trowels
• Mixing box or hard plastic tubs
• Mortar ingredients:   MORTAR MIXES USED
• Wooden base forms for building concrete replacement bases (see detailed instructions for building forms on the 
  Association of Gravestone Studies) 
• Linseed oil for coating inside of form to allow easy release once it has cured
• Scrap lumber (2x4s and scraps of plywood; for bracing reset stones)

Reinserting Stones into Intact Bases

 

This page is maintained by  L. A. CLUGH.  Share your ideas? 

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