I had a kind soul that went out to where my ggrandparents are buried and took a photo of their stones and it was amazing how clear, and I mean clear, the etchings were!!! When I told her how wonderful it was to find that clear of an etching on a stone after 80 years she told me she used plaster of paris....mixed it up in a container at home and applied it to the stone over the etching..and let it dry a few minutes..now I never thought to ask if she washed it off, I hope so because I can see where that would eat into the stone...the photos were fantastic but I would hope, hindsight coming in here, that there was no harm done...has anyone heard of using that process? Carol Lee ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Keith" <keithnancy@t-one.net> To: <CA-ONT-CEMETERIES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 9:19 AM Subject: Re: [ON-CEM] Chalk Rubbings? > > I hope that you get a lot of good answers for this question, as anyone > who tries to read old stones runs into this problem. What we DON'T want > to do is to further damage the stone! Therefore, old standbys like > using shaving cream and other such materials that leave a residue just > aren't acceptable. > > There are small blacklights on the market that, when plugged into a > car's cigarette lighter (or other power source) can illuminate a stone > well enough for you to read and photograph it. This works better at > different times of the day and in different lights. Experimenting with > one at your local cemetery can give you a good idea of what time of > day/what daylight level works best before you travel to a farther location. > > Sometimes we fill in the remnants of letters with plain old black dirt, > taking care to wash it down with plenty of water when we are done. > Often this will reveal enough to show what the stone says. > > When our parents were choosing their headstone, they wanted a > duplication of the pattern on Dad's parents' stone. The owner of the > shop went to the cemetery with a special paper that had been treated so > that when she simply ran a tennis ball (!) over the paper, it picked up > every part that the ball ran over. When I expressed amazement over such > a simple, noninvasive tool, she happily gave me a generous amount, plus > the name and address of the company that had produced it. I would > expect that nearly anyone who sells memorials would have access to this. > Possibly it could be found by Googling. > > Another method that works is plain paper (pieces of paper table covers > or newsprint work well) and a broad crayon. There are blocks of wax > manufactured for this purpose - and the blocks used for brass rubbings > work quite well, too. Nothing is left on the stone, and you can control > just how much of the image you want to pick up by rubbing more or > rubbing less. > > I also have discovered that most lichens/mosses will come off a stone if > you get it quite wet (you might need to carry a container for the water > and, in some older cemeteries, a jug of two of the water itself). > Sometimes they will come off with a gentle rubbing motion of your > fingers; sometimes it will require a soft brush; sometimes a stiffer > brush is in order, but used with gentleness. In extreme cases - on > granite but NOT on the fragile old stones - some bleach poured on, > scrubbed gently with a brush, and THOROUGHLY rinsed off will do the job. > (Wear old clothes, and be careful of what is growing by the stone - > rinse, rinse, rinse!) I learned this from a friend whose job is > cemetery restoration - in Ontario. > > Hope this helps. > > Nancy > next door in Michigan > > > > Janet Jones wrote: > > >Hello everyone. > > > >What is the suggested practice of reading deteriorated stones? Is it chalk > >rubbings or is there another method that's even better? Is there a certain > >'code of ethics' to follow? Personally, I haven't done any rubbings in fear > >of aiding in the deterioration and/or offending someone who visits the > >stone(s). How do you do it? > > > >Best wishes, > >Jan jjones@bam.on.ca > > > >"Every little obit helps" > >http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~janjones/ObitsHome.htm > > > > > > ==== CA-ONT-CEMETERIES Mailing List ==== > ONT. OBITS Website :http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~janjones/ > and > to join CAN-ONT-OBITS-L-request@rootsweb.com with subscribe in the subject and body. > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.764 / Virus Database: 511 - Release Date: 9/15/04