<P><B>An introduction to the world of the artist craftsman, from the basic essentials of selecting stone and developing tool skills and techniques, to producing set-work pieces of the highest quality</B></p><P>Techniques are explained here with an accessible but detailed approach, and supported by step-by-step photographs. Readers will learn to turn a boulder into a perfect cube, make a voussoir for an arch, produce a tracery quatrefoil, carve a stunning sphere, repair an ashlar wall, and cut incised letters.The craft of stonemasonry will never be a dying art; the skilled use of hand tools to create or repair masonry structures will always be essential and sits well within modern construction industry. The traditional stonemason holds skills and knowledge that have produced the most spectacular and beautiful structures the world has ever known.