In the D.C. region, conversations often start with, “What do you do?” WTOP’s series “Working Capital” profiles the people doing the work that makes the region unique.
While you may think you can’t afford to make a mistake in your job, the engravers that work on the local monuments, memorials, churches and museums can’t either, or else it’ll be etched in stone forever.
“One of the biggest questions I get is, ‘what happens when you mess something up?’ And I always say, ‘we don’t,’” said Cameron Hawkins, a stone engraver with Rugo Stone.
He and his colleague, Juan Cabrera, spend several hours prepping equipment and protectively taping stone before they even began the stonework.
Last month, they continued work on an ever-evolving memorial in Downtown D.C., the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. They added over 300 names to the permanent installation — a process they do every year.
While the work takes several weeks of sandblasting to add the names, the job actually starts months earlier when they begin making masks — a type of stencil that allows them to protect the stone.
“Sending it to the client, making sure that everything looks good. They check off on it, and then we check our paperwork, make sure every letter is right. And then once we put it up, measure again. Once it’s in place, check the names again. Always triple checking,” Hawkins said.
Before the sandblasting begins, they prepare protective equipment because sand is flying everywhere as they begin etching. Hundreds of pounds of sand are loaded into their blaster, and when it’s turned on, an air compressor shoots those tiny grains at a high enough speed to chip away at the stone.
“It’s difficult because as you’re blasting, you can’t really see, there’s sand everywhere. So, you have to go slow and check and make sure you’re not going too deep or too shallow,” Hawkins said.
The two have to communicate and work together to make sure their work is uniform, and one is not sandblasting letters deeper into the stone than the other.
“You’ve got to be focused 100% while you’re working,” Cabrera said.
While focus is key, the reward is permanent.
“I have mentors that have told me something they did in their 20s, and now they’re 70, they can go back and still look at it, and that’s really incredible,” Hawkins said.
Rugo Stone has worked everywhere from the National Air and Space Museum to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Holocaust Museum, even completing some recent restoration work at the Lincoln Memorial.
When they are able to work on important projects like adding names of fallen officers to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, they see it is as a certain honor.
“It’s an honor for us to do this thing,” Cabrera said. “We’re not going to forget these people. They give a life for us and keep us safe.”
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