My first Tombstone

I have made real progress on my first tombstone tonight. Those of you that know me also know that I have ADD. At times I can be what my wife calls me as "being shiny". My attention span can sometimes be that of a 9 year old and it gets worse when I'm tired or really stressed out. again those of you that know me also know that with my job I am working a crazy amount of hours and I am stressed most of the day. (Being a Plant Manager of a production facility means I am constantly fixing one problem after another.... but if it was easy they wouldn't need me.) So with that said, a few days ago Gavin and I started on this project. We measured and cut two equal pieces of styrofoam and I cut two slots in the back of one and placed pvc pipe (so I can slide the stone onto rebar for support.) I then glued them together with foam adhesive. Tonight, with me being hopped up on sinus meds I decided to cut the shape out. I made a template (I cheated... I have heard most people use photoshop or such to enlarge the template but I couldn't figure out how to print something as large as a tombstone so i just used Excel.) Here's a pick of me using the template to cut the shape.....

So I cut the shape out. I then used an electric sander to sand the sides down evenly and refine the shape a bit. I then decided that I wanted to have a base for the stone to sit on so I used some of the left over foam and made one. Here is a pic of that....

Notice that it is leaning. I've decided that since I am a Southern Vampire fan (actually my wife is...I just like True Blood) I am going to make this Bill Compton's grave stone. Since he "died" in 1868, I figured the stone will have settled by now and it being "crooked" just makes it more realistic. Tomorrow I plan on working on the engraving. I have an idea I'm gonna try using spray paint to "carve" the letters so it looks like they have faded with time. If it works I'll take pictures and describe what I am tried.

Well, that's all for tonight.. Time to go sleep, 3:30am comes awefully quick.

Happy Haunting!!!!

~Bill