A short presentation showing the range of surface finishes applied to stonework in the UK.

1. Surface Finishes
Introduction for Stonemasons
Stonemasonry Department 2012

2. Plane Face and Broached
Plane faced stone is stone which has
been left with a fine chiselled
finished and then polished until
there are no longer any visible chisel
marks. This finished is often found
on ashlar stonework.
Broaching is carried out using a fine
tipped mel-point to work along lines
(normally 8-12mm apart) and leave
a “furrowed” effect. This is
commonly found on ashlar
stonework.

3. Dabbed and Sparrowpecked
Dabbing is carried out using a mel-
point to leave a number of identical
“dabs” all pointing in one direction
and evenly spaced. This surface
finish is often found on ashlar and
snecked rubble.
Sparrowpecking is very similar to
dabbing with the difference being
that the “dabs” are much closer
together, do not face in a single
direction and the whole face of
stone has been removed. This is
normally done using a mel-point or
a teeth tool.

4. Tooled and Chevroned
Tooling (droving) is produced by
striking a 2 inch chisel against the
surface of the stone to leave an
indentation. This surface finish is
often left at a 45 degree angle or
around the margins of a bull-faced
stone
The chevron surface finish is
produced using either a mel-point
or ¼ inch chisel to leave a series of
parallel and roughly equidistant
arrows. This finish is commonly
found in Yorkshire.

5. Bull-face and Split-face
Bull faced stonework has been cut
to a rough depth and then pitched
to working lines to produce a finish
which gives the impression of being
a split stone. This finish is
commonly used in various styles of
rubble walling.
Split faced stonework is similar in
appearance to bull faced but tends
to have a planer surface. It is
common in snecked and coursed
rubble walling and particularly
common for pre-cast (artificial)
stone

6. Reticulated and Vermiculated
The reticulated surface finish is
produced by sinking five sided
shapes, seperated by ribs, below the
surface of the stonework. It is a
very time consuming surface finish
and is normally only used sparsely
on prestigious buildings.
Vermiculated surface finishes
resemble reticulated but instead of
five sided shapes sunken below the
surface, the shapes are randomly
sized and often curved. This surface
finish is also very time consuming.

7. Hammer Dressed
Hammer dressing resembles a
combination of dabbing and bull
faced stonework and is produced
using a hammer and cleura. This
surface finish is commonly used
throughout Scotland.

8. Developed by The Stonemasonry Department
City of Glasgow College
2012