POLISHED SURFACES  are smooth and shiny.  After granite blocks are quarried, they are sawn into slabs of the desired thickness.  The sawn surfaces are then polished firstly with a coarse abrasive, then successively finer abrasives until perfectly smooth.  The final shiny finish is achieved with a buffing process that uses an extremely fine abrasive. Most monuments have at least some polished areas.

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ROCK PITCHED  are rough, rock surfaces that have been pitched by hand using a hammer and chisel to achieve a finished, consistent rock effect.

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SAWN SIDES are smooth, but may have lines in the finish from the saw blade, and are generally used only for surfaces that will not be visible after the monument is installed.

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AXED PATTERNS are a wide variety of smooth and textured patterns made by pneumatic hammers and steel chisels. If a surface must be smooth but it cannot be sawed to that shape, it is usually axed by a skilled stone cutter.

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SHELL ROCK SURFACES are hand-cut, rustic surfaces with a strong, scalloped or dish shaped appearance, cut by a skilled cutter with a hammer and chisels.

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STEELED SURFACES are smooth surfaces that have been sandblasted using steel shot, which gives a bright, white, textured finish.