Artisan Max Cody works with massive lava rocks weighing between 2-5 tonnes that were thrown out of Mt Ruapehu up to 70,000 years ago.
The collection of impressive andesite rocks that dot his yard on State Highway 4, north of Raetihi, come from farms in the Waimarino.
It is no small featto collect them, but Mr Cody has a loader and crane truck to haul the rocks back to his yard.
He started working with timber 20 years ago, mostly macrocarpa and Lawson's cypress, then four years ago took the plunge and bought diamond blades and trialled cutting stone.
He said more people were now appreciating the natural beauty of these large rocks and were buying his works of art and standing them in their gardens.
Mr Cody said each rock had its own character, revealed when he grinds away the top layers, and some were more special than others.
He has carved and smoothed a hollow in a 2-tonne andesite rock over which he places a rack, and which now serves as the family's barbecue. The rock retains the heat, which is ideal for cooking. Two women who visited the yard thought it was an ideal bird bath.
In Mr Cody's workshop is another impressive piece of equipment, which he imported from China. The column and ball machine, which he controls from a seat, is micro-computer controlled and pre-programmed from a laptop for certain finishes.
He is working on an andesite/scoria mix stone and another piece that came from the Lake Taupo eruption 2000 years ago. Both will be perfectly rounded columns on which round balls will sit, and then placed in gardens as part of water features.
Mr Cody's stonework is part of the Mountain to the Sea sculpture collaboration with Kerry McDonnell and Mikel Durel Browne on Somme Parade.
Timber and Stone, ph 027 4841974.
