How are curling stones made?

Although knowing how a curling stone is produced is not required knowledge to become a curler, it is a cool thing to know about. This, however, is not required knowledge to become a curler. To give you an idea of curling stone production, we are simplifying the explanation of it. If you want a more detailed explanation, there are plenty of websites and videos that can explain it more technically for you.

As we mentioned earlier, curling stones are made from a specific granite from Ailsa Craig, an island in Scotland that looks like a curling stone.

To extract the granite, miners pull chunks of granite off of the island and use a diamond cutter to divide the chunks into smaller pieces. On these smaller pieces of granite, curling stone templates are traced on the granite, and cut out into cylinders. Then, each cylinder can become a curling stone.

Next, these smaller cylinders are grinded and sanded into curling stones. A hole is cut through the center of the stone, where the handle will be attached later. Industrial sized diamond cutters are used to create half of the curling stone at a time, giving the curling stone its unique shape.

Then, the stone is pitted by shooting glass particles along the circumference of the stone. This will better distribute the impact forces that a curling stone experiences. Lastly, a handle is fit to the stone, and the running band  (the part of the stone that touches the ice) is sanded down a little bit to give the stone traction on the ice.