Met history writes did it also have the characteristic (in NYC) face of feathery layers of spalling stone, like sand dollars, sort of? If so, did you hammer the hell out of them (as Ralph would)? Or did you somehow keep them? Excellent query ; Our goal was to keep character of Dracula's castle (salem Witch Museum) using the original fabric stone of the building ; the Portland stone spalling that didn't come off with the hard scrape of a margin trowel ;was considered stout enough to keep in place so as to add to the historical character of the building . Since the spalls were part of this “ruined patina “ we decided that all spalls whose faces faced down (like a frown ) were left alone ;as they were not susceptible to catching water The spalls however that curved up (like a smile ) could catch water we finger filled in and made smooth with the Edison . patching material . So from the ground they all look like open spalls . We also did this with any and all stone that was “sunken” at its face so as its bottom joint had receded ¼ “ or more to the inside of the stone below it Here we filled in this joint and thus gave it a “wash “ matching the stone in color so as there could be no water collection Masonry specialists who evaluate and restore monuments know that one hat dosen’t fit all when it comes to means and methods and especially materials Now Just for the record other top named patching materials were tried ;but Edison gave us the best results ; We also added a small % of the crushed portland stone in fines to the surface of the patch for additional texture . And mica reflection The combined effort of patching ; pinning and recreating the missing tooling in half patches has preserved both the original stone and the historic character of the building that the public knows as the Salem Witch Museum The invite is still good; come share the dust ,or see you at RUDADS PTN in Kentuckey where the Beer is dark The wood is old And the stone is dry /PY -- **Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service** To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>