Sketches and Text by Brian Post Building with Correct Line and Batter Line refers to the horizontal straightness of the wall. Batter refers to the angle of the faces of the wall from vertical. Many level 2 testers struggle immensely with getting the line and batter correct while working under the time pressure of the…
For the Stone Trust, May brings Spring Certification Test Day. On May 17, eleven people will gather at the Stone Trust Center in Dummerston, Vermont to test their walling skills. Five of these men and women will spend seven hours stripping out and rebuilding 27 square feet of a double-face freestanding wall. They will achieve…
Workshop day dawned chill and windy. Seventeen people, fourteen participants and three teachers gathered around two double-face freestanding dry stone walls. Each person may have felt eager to feel the warmth that comes from a working body. But you have to know what you’re doing before you start working. How are these walls built? Why…
We so appreciate the time you took to travel to Kingston Springs to participate in the very first Stone Trust dry stone walling workshop in the southeastern United States. Thank you! You helped establish the foundation for a growing annual schedule of workshops from our Curriculum in Dry Stone. Several of you asked us to…
We had a great turnout for the first Stone Trust workshop in Nashville. Participants came from Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee and Michigan. A 50/50 male/female split of beginners with little or no experience. This was a two-day introduction to dry stone walling covering all the basic techniques required to construct a section of freestanding wall.…
In this 3-day workshop, you can build an arch, a square or round corner, or a squeeze stile, features relatively common in modern landscaping. You’ll also find them in the Dry Stone Walling Association Master Craftsman test. We’ll introduce you to the theory and techniques for all the features being built. You can use the…
Sketches and Text by Brian Post Leaping the Level 2 Hurdle The level 2 (intermediate) DSWA-GB certification test has proven to be quite difficult for many wallers who have passed level 1 (initial) certification. Level 2 aims to challenge your ability to make good choices, plan ahead, and build with correct line and batter. In…
Congratulations to Trevor Bickford, Whitney Brown, Melanie Kessler, Jonathan (Jonny) Mangini, and Kim Myers! Our selection committee awarded scholarships to these wallers, each of whom met a very tight deadline to apply for the 2021 Stone Trust Entry-Level Professional Pathway Scholarship. A decision is pending for a sixth applicant, from whom we sought additional information.…
Kim and Jerry Coggin of Laurel Stoneworks in South Fork, Pennsylvania will lead three one-day introductory workshops in October. Come learn the basic principles of building a structurally sound freestanding dry stone wall: 1.11 Women’s Introduction to Dry Stone Walling, October 9 1.11 Women’s Introduction to Dry Stone Walling, October 10 1.10 Introduction to Dry…
