Great ideas and input. Thank you, all
I agree.
You would be able to cut a very intricate mask and take it to a memorial maker and have them blast it. Granite is essentially forever. Iām not sure of the material they use for masking, but before you laser it, do a bit of research on the material safety to see what the combustion by-products are so you donāt kill the neighborās dogā¦ 
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Thank you. We are looking for something a bit more organic in looksā¦like a piece of basalt or similar. Even a big river rock (but I donāt know what kind of rocks are in the rivers 
) Do you think a memorial maker could sandblast on a smooth section of a piece of rock even if the surface was curved? Making our own mask/stencil is indeed sounding like a great idea.
I doubt that they would have a problem with that. Iāve used kapton tape and packaging tape as a mask for sand blasting before. Mostly because I had it on hand and was trying some stuff out, but both worked okay. I used a vinyl mask for the final product, but donāt laser cut that. I think I saw that some people on the forum have vinyl cutters, so they might be able to cut something for you, if you ask nicely .
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As long as it is smooth enough to get good adhesion with the resist mask, I would think that it should be do-able. The resist that I have worked with is an adhesive-backed rubber. It conformed well to simple curves like a glass jar or a HDU column, but began to stretch and distort a bit when you got rough with it.
I wish i knew what brand I used before, but I was not the purchaser. It may have been this Anchor or this 3M product.
I have no idea what would happen to the rubber when cut with a laser, but it cuts easily with a hobby knife, or with a plotter that is setup for thick material. I would certainly avoid the HartCo blast-resist products in the glowforge, as they are vinyl, not rubber. Again, a plotter will take care of that stuff just fine. A memorial maker or a sign shop should be able to take care of sourcing the resist and doing the plotting if you want to go that route, or a pattern/stencil could be cut with the glowforge on paper/wood/acrylic and transferred by hand to the rubber (or vinyl) with a pen and then hand-cut.
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Thank you, Joe and jbv. I think Iām going to need to go into the ābig cityā and talk to someone who makes monuments/markers and ask them just exactly what they might be able to do that would help me in this project. Whatever I CAN do with my Glowforge would make it a lot more personal for me.
Things to considerā¦
The reason the monument companies use granite is that it lasts a very very long time.
Marble reacts to the dilute acid in rain water.
Slate will absorb water and fracture when it freezes.
Anodized aluminum while fairly long lived will still corrode if there is the slightest nick or bump (like from a pebble tossed by a lawn mower), and many of the dyes will fade drastically in sunlight.
Cermark or Thermark on stainless steel would be a decent choice, but I would still be concerned about the effects of sunlight and rainwater over time.
Monuments are almost always made by sand blasting through a mask (often called a frisket). You can cut and apply these to a curved surface, but it would be a lot of trial and error. There are laser safe friskets available that are made to withstand sandblasing.
My personal suggestion would be to find a granite cut off from a kitchen counter-top company in āthe cityā (they often sell scraps for cheap). That gives you a nice flat polished surface that a frisket will adhere to. Then take to a sandblasting place. They can often be found by looking up shops that do āpowder paintingā or metal plating, or even a monument company (you might have to sweet talk them).
If you donāt want a polished look, then you can either use the back of the counter top, or have the sandblasters give it a few swipes before you put the frisket on.
If you really want to use a rock, consider having a flat side ground onto it. A stone mason, maybe a granite counter company, or contractors who do concrete grinding can do this.
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Thank you very much. You gave me some info. that no one else had yet mentioned, and I particularly appreciated knowing about the properties of the different types of stones when exposed to weather. I also liked hearing your other suggestions, as well. I have a lot to consider.
So I read what what has been posted so far, and while I do have some ideas, I saw this link that I thought I should share with you first:
International Southern Cemetery Gravestones Association
So for my ideasā¦
-You could use Acrylic for the lettering
-You could use Acrylic to make the base for a Form-press mold, then use a thin metal sheet.
Both of these have the added bonus that all you would need to do would be to add your crafted letting/sign onto the natural stone that you found.
-You could get a nice sized piece of Granite and with some stone working tools work it into a more pleasing organic shape, then attach the laser cut parts onto the outside of it, OR use something lasered to form the basis of a template.
I would also ask myself the questions: How long do I want this to last? How long do the materials I want to use last in the environment I want to use them in? How can I take standard used materials and conform them MORE to the vision I want to use? Do I have a budget to bring in outside artist help, either with doing part of the implementation, or designing something special from scratch.
I hope this has helpedā¦ but either way, I canāt wait to see how you honor your parents, it seems like a monumental undertaking (pun intended)!
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It IS indeed a monumental undertaking! And the more things I read and hear about on this forum, the more monumental it is becoming. Sorry to say, your link didnāt work. Try again? I do appreciate your direct suggestions and also the questions I should pose to myself. All in the process of thought and direction. Thank you.
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sorry the link didnāt work, try this:
http://www.iscga.org/best-materials-for-gravestones.html
And those are type of questions I ask myself when Iām working on a projectā¦ Sometimes you need to break the mold, sometimes you need to confine yourself to very rigid rulesā¦ both bring creativity, but in different ways. Just work in small stepsā¦ start with a concept, then go from there. Even the most complex things can be broken down to simple partā¦ just breath, and Iām sure you will do FANTASTICALLY!
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This was excellent advice and a good reminder. I have a tendency to overwhelm myself when really what I need to be doing is exactly as you suggest. Thanks for the vote of confidence!
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And thanks for the link. I went to the site and bookmarked it. Good info.
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My condolences on your mothersā passing last year, @Xabbess. She must have lived an amazing life!
Adding to what was said before, we used a laser-cut stencil that was then sandblasted to make the Glowforge-logo bottle I posted earlier. That seems like a great way to get both detail and permanence. We just used adhesive laser-safe paper for that purpose.
Weāve also engraved black granite (I think?) tiles - I think @Tony bought it. It came out looking amazing; light grey on polished black. Not sure how it would wear though.
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Yes, very nice contrast!
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