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Ledgervo
Working drawing of a slate house sign reading Bramble Cottage Elevation of a riven blue-grey slate sign, 450 by 150 millimetres, lettered in two lines of Roman capitals over setting-out lines, with a 15 millimetre margin and two hidden fixing pins. Eight numbered callouts name the serif, the stem, the 60 degree V-cut, the arris, the margin, the riven edge, the hidden stainless pin and the setting-out line. ELEVATION · BLUE-GREY SLATE · 450 × 150 × 25 MM Drawn full size for one house, and cut once. BRAMBLE COTTAGE 450 mm 150 mm 50 mm 1 SERIF 2 STEM 3 V-CUT AT 60° 4 ARRIS 5 MARGIN 15 MM 6 RIVEN EDGE 7 HIDDEN STAINLESS PIN 8 SETTING-OUT LINE
SECTION · ×12 FACE 4.6 mm 60° 4 mm ARRIS

Every Letter Cut by Hand, One Chisel Stroke at a Time.

  1. 1Serif
  2. 2Stem
  3. 3V-cut at 60°
  4. 4Arris
  5. 5Margin 15 mm
  6. 6Riven edge
  7. 7Hidden stainless pin
  8. 8Setting-out line

Ledgervo is Orla’s workshop outside Kilkenny. Since 2010 she has cut house signs, plaques and memorials by hand in slate, limestone and sandstone.

Kilkenny · since 2010

See how a sign is made hello@ledgervo.com
Eight stepsFrom first letter to fixing
The method
Eight steps, one job at a time

From First Letter to Fixing

Most of a job happens before a chisel touches the stone. Here is the whole of it, from the note you send with a photo of your wall to the morning the sign goes up beside your door.

  1. SIGN HERE ABOUT 450

    Step 1: The Conversation

    Send the wording, a rough size and a photo of where the stone will go: the wall by the door, the gate pier, the grave. From those three things I can tell which stone suits, how tall the letters can be and what it will cost. If the wall is awkward or the cemetery is close by, I’ll come and look.

    TimeA written quote within 5 working days

    What to send
  2. 25 mm HOUSE SIGN FACES NORTH 75 mm HEADSTONE

    Step 2: Choosing the Stone

    Blue-grey slate holds the sharpest letter and stays readable on a north-facing wall where nothing else dries out. Kilkenny limestone is warmer and takes gold. Sandstone is soft and wants big, plain letters. Signs are cut from 25 mm stone, headstones from 75 mm.

    TimeSettled alongside the quote

    How each stone weathers
  3. THE OLD BRAMBLE COTTAGE HOUSE KEEP FOUR LINES DOWN TO TWO

    Step 3: The Words

    We pare the wording back together. Line breaks are decided now, Irish and English can share one stone, and every word you leave out lets the rest be cut larger and deeper. On a 450 mm slate sign, fourteen letters is about right.

    TimeAs long as it needs. Most wordings settle in two or three letters back and forth

    Editing the wording
  4. EQUAL AREAS, UNEQUAL GAPS

    Step 4: Drawing the Letters

    Every job gets its own drawing, made full size by hand. I choose the alphabet for the stone and the setting, space the letters by the area between them rather than the gap, and give awkward pairs like LA, AV and RT the time they need. Irish vowels get a properly drawn síneadh fada, and dates get numerals that sit easily with the capitals.

    Of all eight steps, this is the one I’d stay late for.

    TimeA few days at the drawing board for a sign, longer for a memorial

    Read the long version
  5. BRAMBLE COTTAGE FULL SIZE · 450 × 150 MM STAND AT THE GATE AND LOOK

    Step 5: Full-Size Approval

    You see the drawing at exact size, on paper, either taped to the wall by me or posted out for you to tape up yourself. Stand back at the gate, live with it for a day or two. One full redraw is included, and further redraws are €40 each. When you approve it, a 30% deposit books the cutting.

    TimeThe lead time starts on the day you approve

    Approving a drawing
  6. DUMMY MALLET CHISEL V-CUT AT 60°

    Step 6: Setting Out and Cutting

    The drawing is transferred onto the stone and every letter is cut by hand with a 60° V-cut, using tungsten-tipped chisels and a round wooden dummy mallet. Nothing is routed, blasted or etched. It is the light falling across the two walls of each cut that makes a letter read from the road.

    TimeAbout 45 minutes for one 50 mm capital in slate

    At the bench
  7. PLAIN PAINTED GILDED stone only enamel 23.5 carat leaf

    Step 7: Finishing

    A letter can be left plain, painted in an enamel chosen against that particular stone, or gilded in 23.5 carat gold leaf at €4 a letter. Plain suits sandstone and pale limestone. Paint gives a slate sign its crispness from the footpath. Gold is for limestone, and for names that should catch a low winter sun.

    TimePaint and gold size are left to cure before anything is wrapped

    Paint, gold or plain
  8. 25 WALL SLATE SIGN STAINLESS PIN set in resin, nothing on the face

    Step 8: Fixing

    House signs go up on hidden stainless pins set in resin, so nothing shows on the face. Headstones stand on a proper foundation, and go in no sooner than 6 months after a burial so the ground has settled. I fix within 80 km of Kilkenny, and further afield at €0.60 a km. The balance is paid when the stone is in place.

    OrSigns and plaques by courier: €35 anywhere in Ireland, €55 to Northern Ireland and Britain

    What happens on the day
Prices start at

Three Kinds of Work

Every price includes the full-size drawing, one redraw and a painted or plain finish. Sizes, extras and every lead time are listed on the prices page.

Materials

Stones I Cut

Three stones, all quarried, none polished to a mirror. Each takes a chisel differently, and the right one depends on the wall, the light and how many words there are.

  • Sharpest letters

    Blue-Grey Slate

    Dense and fine, so it holds a crisp arris on the smallest numeral. The stone for house numbers and small signs, and the one that stays readable on a damp north-facing wall.

  • The local stone

    Kilkenny Limestone

    Warm, even and quarried a short drive from the workshop. It takes gold leaf better than anything else I cut, and it is what the headstones, ledgers and larger house signs are made from.

  • Big plain letters

    Irish Sandstone

    Soft and open-grained. It won’t hold a fine serif, so it suits large, plain lettering on gate piers and hall walls, left unpainted to weather in with the building.

Turned away

What I Turn Down

Saying no early saves us both a wasted quote. These are the jobs I pass on, and why.

  • Polished black granite, or any mirror polishA V-cut reads by light falling across its two walls. A mirror throws back the sky and the letters disappear.
  • Sandblasted, laser-etched or routed letteringEvery letter here is cut by hand. That is the whole job, not an optional finish.
  • Photographs, portraits or ceramic insertsThey fade and loosen decades before the stone does. A well-cut name carries a person further.
  • A memorial promised in under 8 weeksDrawing, approval and cutting can’t be hurried, and the ground needs 6 months to settle in any case.
  • Copying another carver’s design line for lineTheir alphabet is years of their own work. I’ll draw you one of your own instead.
  • Resin, composite or reconstituted stoneCast material crumbles at the arris. I only cut stone that came out of the ground.
  • Hearts, books or open Bibles cut from a templateThe shape of a stone should come from its words and its place, not from a catalogue page.
  • Re-lettering over another maker’s machine-cut inscriptionA hand-cut letter won’t sit cleanly in a routed groove. Adding a name to a hand-cut stone is a different matter.
The workshop

Hours, Distances and the Winter Break

Open

Tuesday to Friday 09:30-17:00 · Saturday 10:00-13:00 by appointment · Closed Sunday and Monday

Workshop visits are arranged by email first, so there is someone at the bench to meet you.

Where

A converted cart shed outside Kilkenny, Ireland

Memorials fixed within 80 km: Carlow, Laois, Tipperary, Waterford and most of Wexford.

Lead times

Signs 5 to 7 weeks · Plaques 6 to 8 weeks · Memorials 4 to 6 months

Counted from the day you approve the full-size drawing. Autumn memorial bookings often run into the spring.

Paying

30% deposit when the drawing is approved

The balance on collection, delivery or fixing, by bank transfer or cash.

Winter

Closed 20 December to 12 January

“I close the workshop from 20 December to 12 January every year.” Read the rest of Orla’s winter note

Write

hello@ledgervo.com

Send the wording, a rough size and a photo of where the stone will go. A quote comes back within 5 working days.