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CNC Stone Carving

In a form of architecture so ancient, CNC machines may seem a little out of place. However, when one considers that the medieval builders were always on the forefront of the technology of their day, it no longer seems so strange. To build Gothic today, it must become a reality, not a romantic idea locked up forever in one’s head.

在一种如此古老的建筑形式中，数控（CNC）机床似乎有些格格不入。然而，考虑到中世纪的建筑师们始终处于当时技术的最前沿，这就不再显得那么奇怪了。要在今天建造哥特式建筑，它必须成为现实，而不是永远锁在脑海中的浪漫构想。

(The Carmelite Monks spend their allotted work time on construction. See their Horarium here.)

（加尔默罗会的修士们将他们分配的工作时间用于建筑施工。点击此处查看他们的作息时间表。）

CNC machines and robots have unlocked the ability to relatively quickly carve the intense details of a Gothic church. Ornate pieces that used to take months for a skilled carver, now can be accomplished in a matter of days. Instead of cutting out the beauty, using the excuse that it takes too long, thus doesn’t fit into the budget, modern technology can be used to make true Gothic in all its beauty a reality again today.

数控机床和机器人开启了相对快速雕刻哥特式教堂复杂细节的能力。过去需要熟练雕刻师花费数月才能完成的华丽构件，现在只需几天即可完成。现代技术不再以耗时太长、超出预算为借口而删减美感，而是可以被用来让真正的哥特式建筑及其所有美感在今天再次成为现实。

The use of modern technologies in stone carving unlock the potential of modern youth. Though they may be untrained in the use of a hammer and chisel, young men and women have grown up in a world of computers. The skills they possess can now be channeled towards a higher end, the building of a church for the glory of God.

在石雕中使用现代技术释放了现代年轻人的潜力。尽管他们可能未受过锤子和凿子的使用训练，但年轻男女是在计算机世界中成长起来的。他们所拥有的技能现在可以被引导向更高的目标，即为荣耀上帝而建造教堂。

CNC stands for “computer numerically controlled”, where a computer, through a series of XYZ coordinates, controls the movements of a machine. The first CNC was invented for the manufacturing of airplane parts. Stone cutting CNC machines are a relatively new invention.

CNC 代表“计算机数字控制”，即计算机通过一系列 XYZ 坐标来控制机器的运动。第一台数控机床是为制造飞机零件而发明的。石材切割数控机床是一项相对较新的发明。

Stone carving CNC machines typically use diamond tipped blades and milling bits, not water or laser, to carve the stone. The diamonds, harder than the stone, grind away at the stone and wear it away. The water is simply to keep the diamond tool from heating up from the friction and to wash away the stone sludge created by the carving process.

石雕数控机床通常使用金刚石刀片和铣刀来雕刻石材，而不是使用水或激光。金刚石比石材更硬，通过研磨将石材磨掉。水的作用仅仅是防止金刚石工具因摩擦而过热，并冲走雕刻过程中产生的石浆。

Normally the stone carving CNC machines used for sculptures and foliage have 5 axes, being able to move left and right, up and down, front and back, and rotate their heads in two different ways. The machines interpolate these multiple axes in order to carve the stone. “Interpolate” means to work together, and an axis is one direction of motion. So, the machines can move left, and down, and rotate their heads all at the same time to reach into a small area or leave a particular finish on the stone. Sometimes they will even have a 6th axis, typically a lathe or a turntable, for carving tall stones such as pinnacles or statues. The lathe interpolates with the other axes, carefully positioning itself to allow the CNC machine to reach each area of the stone. CNC machines can also carve stone unattended, sometimes for long periods at a time and overnight. This means 40 hours, a typical week of work, is less than 2 days for a CNC, a significant time savings!

通常用于雕塑和叶饰雕刻的石雕数控机床具有 5 个轴，能够左右、上下、前后移动，并以两种不同的方式旋转机头。机器通过对这些多轴进行插补来雕刻石材。“插补”意味着协同工作，而轴是一个运动方向。因此，机器可以同时向左、向下移动并旋转机头，以触及狭小区域或在石材上留下特定的饰面。有时它们甚至会有第 6 个轴，通常是车床或转台，用于雕刻尖塔或雕像等高大的石材。车床与其他轴进行插补，仔细定位自身，使数控机床能够触及石材的每个区域。数控机床还可以无人值守地雕刻石材，有时可以长时间连续工作，甚至通宵达旦。这意味着 40 小时（典型的一周工作时间）对于数控机床来说不到 2 天，节省了大量时间！

The Carmelite Monks use CNC machines from Prussiani Engineering, a stone CNC manufacturer based out of Bergamo, Italy. Italians have always been at the forefront of stone carving, and it is no different with modern technology. With Prussiani’s machines the monks can carve levels of detail previously reserved to the hand carving of highly skilled craftsmen. With the mindset “where there’s a will, there’s a way” and careful programming the machines’ capabilities are practically limitless and have the ability to carve unprecedented 3D reliefs.

加尔默罗会的修士们使用来自意大利贝加莫的石材数控机床制造商 Prussiani Engineering 的机器。意大利人一直处于石雕领域的前沿，在现代技术方面也不例外。借助 Prussiani 的机器，修士们可以雕刻出以前只有高技能工匠手工雕刻才能达到的细节水平。秉持“有志者事竟成”的心态，加上精心的编程，这些机器的能力几乎是无限的，并具备雕刻前所未有的 3D 浮雕的能力。

The Prussiani machines also have a reputation of being indestructible, a reputation proven in the battlefield of stone carving. Stone is an incalcitrant material, and it takes robust machines to subdue it; no small task! Here’s a little story to illustrate. For the first time, a few months after we started carving stone, we left our first CNC machine running overnight on several 7 foot long window sills. We woke to a shocking surprise the following morning. The huge stones, weighing several hundred pounds each, had been thrown about as if a tornado had ripped through the machine. Stones were snapped and shattered, the fragments scattered about the inside of the CNC milling area. After the shock settled, we proceeded to analyze what had happened. It turns out there was a mistake in the particular batch of code the machine had read and followed that night. At the very end of each window sill, after it had completely finished carving, the code told the CNC machine to repeatedly pound down into the top of the sill, almost as if it was a giant fist. The stones didn’t stand a chance, but that same machine is still carving stones to this day, almost a decade later.

Prussiani 的机器还以坚不可摧而闻名，这种声誉在石雕的“战场”上得到了验证。石材是一种顽固的材料，需要坚固的机器才能将其征服；这绝非易事！这里有一个小故事来说明这一点。在我们开始石雕几个月后，我们第一次让我们的第一台数控机床通宵加工几块 7 英尺长的窗台石。第二天早上，我们醒来时感到震惊。那些重达数百磅的巨大石块被抛来抛去，仿佛一场龙卷风席卷了机器。石块断裂破碎，碎片散落在数控铣削区域内。震惊过后，我们开始分析发生了什么。原来是机器当晚读取并执行的那批代码出了错。在每块窗台石雕刻完成后，代码指示数控机床反复向下撞击窗台顶部，就像一只巨大的拳头。石块根本无法承受，但那台机器至今仍在雕刻石材，那已经是近十年后的事了。

The process of carving stone with a CNC is a digital workflow. The ornate pieces covered in foliage, the statues, the gargoyles, and many other distinct Gothic elements begin with the artist, the head carver. He sculpts the various flowers and leaves using a 3d modeling program in a process much similar to molding a ball of clay. It still requires a great deal of artistic talent, but there is a major advantage to this work in a computer, the Undo button! The artist can experiment with an almost infinite number of designs to find the one most suited to the space. And with the ability to visualize the pieces in a full model of the church, there is no longer any guesswork as to what the finished building will look like.

使用数控机床雕刻石材是一个数字化的工作流程。那些覆盖着叶饰的华丽构件、雕像、滴水嘴兽以及许多其他独特的哥特式元素，都始于艺术家——首席雕刻师。他使用 3D 建模程序雕刻各种花朵和叶子，这个过程与塑造一团粘土非常相似。这仍然需要极高的艺术天赋，但在计算机上进行这项工作有一个巨大的优势：撤销按钮！艺术家可以尝试近乎无限的设计方案，以找到最适合该空间的设计。而且，由于能够在教堂的完整模型中可视化这些构件，对于最终建筑的样子不再需要任何猜测。

Once the artist has finished a particular sculpture it is passed on to the actual stone carvers, the CNC programmers. The programmers take the 3d model into a CAM program, which stands for computer aided machining, and create the toolpaths that the CNC machine will use to carve the actual stones. Utilizing a large arsenal of tooling and methods they gradually carve the stone down to the finished piece. They do their best to transform the stone block they start with to as close a resemblance of the artist’s model as possible, similar to the way stone carvers have historically used a pointing machine to transfer measurements from a plaster model into stone. At the same time they have to juggle a wide array of concerns, from which tool

一旦艺术家完成了特定的雕塑，它就会被移交给实际的石雕工——数控程序员。程序员将 3D 模型导入 CAM（计算机辅助制造）程序中，并创建数控机床用于雕刻实际石材的刀具路径。利用大量的工具和方法，他们逐渐将石材雕刻成成品。他们尽最大努力将起始的石块转化为尽可能接近艺术家模型的样子，这类似于历史上石雕工使用定点机将石膏模型的测量数据转移到石材上的方式。同时，他们必须兼顾各种各样的问题，从使用哪种工具开始。