There are many granite colors you can pick from.Two of the colors are quarried in Vermont; the most popular is Barre Grey from Barre, VT, the other color is Bethel White from Bethel, VT.The other avaiable colors are quarried in other places in US, Canada, and around the world.The following color gallery is setup by Made in VT and Imported so you can make an informed granite color decision. There are three main finishes used most frequently on memorials. There is the polished look that has a dark high glass finish, the steeled look which has a light smooth finish, and the rock look which has is rough chipped finish. The rock finish is often used on the top, ends and almost always on the sides of the base. Below are more with details.
Polished – this familiar finish adds a mirror-like surface to stone. Most frequently it’s applied by automatic polishing equipment. A hand grinder might be used for small scale projects.
Dusted – This satin finish is smooth but not shiny. It is sandblasted usually with steel shot as the abrasive. It is common finish that leaves the area where it’s applied a medium color in contrast to the polished surface and is similar in appearance to a steeled finish.
Steeled – This smooth finish is not shiny like a polished surface and has no distinctive patterns or levels. A steel wheel along with water and steel shot is used to grind the stone’s surface. It is comparable to a dusted surface.
Rock pitched and shell rocked – These textures are created when flakes of granite are chipped out of the stone with a pitching chisel. The texture resembles uneven waves on a choppy water surface. Memorialists are familiar with rock pitching the rougher of the two, from its use on the sides of memorials. Shell rocking is more regular in appearance and is applied as a border or frame on the face of a memorial. A guideline is cut into the stone, and the area is pitched to line to create a shell rock finish.
Axed - Fine lines that can’t easily be seen from a distance are a feature of this texture that is cut into stone with a 6-blade chisel.
Stippled – Another gently rough, but subtle texture where regularly spaced raised areas or high points are evenly distributed on the stone. It is applied with a 9-point chisel and pneumatic hammer.
Sun-burst or star-burst – Guidelines or rays are sandblasted into the stone, usually extending out from a feature to be accented. Then the sides of each ray starting from its top center are rock pitched with a chisel and hammer in any number of variations.
Flamed or thermal – This somewhat rough texture that resembles a pockmarked surface is typically used on architectural products such as pavers and floor tiles but could be applied to memorial designs. A torch heats up the surface of the granite and causes the grains to flake off. It’s best applied by an expert because its application can be dangerous.
