Limestone Peace Poles
Since the beginning of time people have set stones
upright as monuments
There is more than one way to count the number of continents on the earth. The
Olympic Committee considers there to be five, the number that is accepted in the
west, and so I make metal peace poles with five sides, one for each continent by
the western count. But the way the continents are counted in Europe and China
produces the number seven. For one thing they consider Europe and Asia to be two
separate continents even though they are one contiguous landmass. There are
historical and cultural reasons for their way of counting continents. So I have
designed this limestone peace pole to defer peacefully to the way half of the
people on earth count the number of continents.
There are aesthetic and structural reasons for seven sides as well. It works better visually than six sides.
Size and Cost The seven-sided peace pole is 7.5 inches in diameter. The faces are roughly 3.5 inches wide. Its height is 10 feet. It comes with 7 translations (more can be added for a charge) and has a cap carved into it. Its cost is $2500.
Planting When planting it 3 feet belong underground. There is no need to meet the frost line since it is not load bearing. And it is not necessary to set it in cement if you use a posthole digger to dig a narrow hole and then tamp the earth around it (see installation). Since it will settle some in the beginning, the hole should be a little shallower than you want it to be five years from now (add gravel to raise the bottom of the hole if you dig too deep). It is not just the earth beneath it that keeps a post from sliding deeper. Once the earth has compacted around it, the friction on the sides of the pole becomes as important as the footing under it, but it takes a few years to get compacted that well.
If you prefer setting it in cement, if you'd like to see a drawing for the cement foundation for a much larger stone pole, click here. That is the plan we used for installing a multi-ton stone peace pole.
Click this image to see a cross section
Hauling These
can be shipped to you, but most
people pick these up themselves since this peace pole can be hauled in any pickup truck. It is okay for it to hang over the end of the bed a few feet.
It also will fit in many vans or trailers.
On
arrival it is not necessary to have a crane to move it from the truck to the hole. These seven-sided poles weigh 650 pounds and that might seem like a lot to move by hand, but
4 sturdy people can do it. I'd recommend more (possibly
even 10), but if the pickup truck or trailer is backed up to the hole,
the pole
needs to be lifted only for brief moments. If carpet or other cushion protects
it from the edge of the bed on which it rests, it can be gently slid till its bottom end meets the hole. Then it is just a
matter of standing it up and sliding it into the hole.
It you would like to have someone haul it for you, click here for information on that.
Printout If you would like to print a photo of this peace pole to show to other people, click the photo at right for the means to do that. I also will be happy to mail prints to you if you need.
Commemorations and Dedications If this peace pole is to be in commemoration of someone or dedicated to someone, rather than applying a plaque to the pole I can carve the dedication into the pole as in the photo below (shot in the rain as it laid on my trailer).
The quarry cuts these limestone peace poles to shape for me. Then I take them to a stone engraver with whom I have worked at getting good at creating the delicate languages common on peace poles. This is the one peace pole on which I function more as a contractor and designer than as the person holding the hammer.
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Testimonial | Dedication Ceremonies for Peace Poles
Planting (installing) Peace Poles
History of Peace Poles | Why Peace Poles
Underwater Peace Pole | Invisible Peace Pole
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