All careers

Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing

  • Bright Outlook
  • Rapid Growth

Cut or carve stone according to diagrams and patterns.

What you’d do

  • Shape, trim, or touch up roughed-out designs with appropriate tools to finish carvings.
  • Verify depths and dimensions of cuts or carvings to ensure adherence to specifications, blueprints, or models, using measuring instruments.
  • Move fingers over surfaces of carvings to ensure smoothness of finish.
  • Lay out designs or dimensions from sketches or blueprints on stone surfaces, freehand or by transferring them from tracing paper, using scribes or chalk and measuring instruments.
  • Drill holes and cut or carve moldings and grooves in stone, according to diagrams and patterns.
  • Remove or add stencils during blasting to create differing cut depths, intricate designs, or rough, pitted finishes.
  • Guide nozzles over stone, following stencil outlines, or chip along marks to create designs or to work surfaces down to specified finishes.
  • Carve designs or figures in full or bas relief on stone, employing knowledge of stone carving techniques and sense of artistry to produce carvings consistent with designers' plans.

Skills that matter

  • Active Listening
  • Critical Thinking
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Monitoring
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Speaking

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Carver
  • Polisher
  • Stone Carver
  • Stone Cutter
  • Cutter
  • Granite Cutter

Related careers

See all careers

  • Stonemasons

    Build stone structures, such as piers, walls, and abutments. Lay walks, curbstones, or special types of masonry for vats, tanks, and floors.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Tile and Stone Setters

    • Bright Outlook
    • Rapid Growth

    Apply hard tile, stone, and comparable materials to walls, floors, ceilings, countertops, and roof decks.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic

    • Bright Outlook
    • Rapid Growth

    Mold, shape, form, cast, or carve products such as food products, figurines, tile, pipes, and candles consisting of clay, glass, plaster…

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Terrazzo Workers and Finishers

    Apply a mixture of cement, sand, pigment, or marble chips to floors, stairways, and cabinet fixtures to fashion durable and decorative…

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

    Grind, sand, or polish, using hand tools or hand-held power tools, a variety of metal, wood, stone, clay, plastic, or glass objects.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Furniture Finishers

    Shape, finish, and refinish damaged, worn, or used furniture or new high-grade furniture to specified color or finish.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one