Ron Dietman made his hobby into his livelihood and family business, Artistic Hand Etching (AHE). Dietman always enjoyed painting and started out wood burning dried mushrooms for craft shows. “It helped me be a better artist,” he said. Dietman worked for a stained glass company and started engraving granite headstones for Cold Spring Granite on the side. “He’s always looking for ways to use his talent,” said his wife Kate. At the time, their oldest son, Brian, was working for someone who made granite countertops. “He came home and said, ‘We can do this,’” Kate said, and about six years ago they started their own granite business out of the family garage. Now the business is housed in a building next to their home. The whole family is involved: Ron does all the etching, Kate is the receptionist/bookkeeper/ secretary, and their three sons, Brian, Rand, and Trevor, all work in production. The family mostly makes granite countertops for kitchens and bathrooms. People come from all over the state to choose granite from the thick slabs propped behind the workshop. Granite is shipped to AHE from India and Egypt and comes in different colors and patterns. While there may be more than 600 different kinds of granite, the most popular is galaxy black, deep black granite with light star-like speckles. Then, there’s the red granite with different colored spots that nobody seems to want for their kitchen. “I tell everyone that it comes from Mars,” Ron joked. For bigger projects customers go somewhere else, like Cold Spring Granite, to pick their granite. “People think granite is really expensive,” Ron said, “but it’s really a good deal and adds value to your home.” The basic kitchen costs $3,000 to $5,000. The granite must be cut, polished, and the sharp edges blunted. Then, since screws can’t go through granite Randy cuts sinkholes with a big machine called the Wizard. It takes about a day and a half to make the countertops and about a half day to install them. “Installation is tricky because you can chip the granite,” Ron said. “Once we had to carry the stuff up through a spiral staircase.” While many of their projects are for large new houses around the twin cities, like the home theater they’re currently making, you don’t need a mansion to have granite. Randy recently bought a home and is redomodeling his kitchen and bathroom in granite. He’s even building a granite shower stall. “He’s going to have the nicest shower in the county,” Kate said with a laugh. Ron’s job comes in whenever people want etched granite, usually for fireplaces or other special projects. He uses a Dremel etching tool with diamond tips of different shapes and sizes to etch wildlife or nature scenes into the granite. A square-foot scene takes a couple hours and he charges about $100. Ron has completed many projects from etching giant signs or markers for golf courses to etching glass windows on the back of trucks. They design stones for landscaping and make outdoor patio furniture. Granite can be left out all winter in the Minn. cold but they have to bring it inside and wait for it to get to room temperature before working with it. The hardest part about working with granite is the weight, Ron said. Plus, the hours are long and not set in stone. Customers usually come in after work or on the weekends to pick their granite and designs, but the Dietmans don’t mind. “We keep in touch with people and that means a lot,” Kate said. Working long hours with family can have it’s ups and downs, too. “It’s difficult to keep family and business separate,” Kate said, “but it’s rewarding to know that the boys will be able to make a living.” AHE currently has two additional employees outside of the family; one more production worker and a professional stone-cutter. They aren’t sure if they want to expand into a big company, though. While the boys will likely continue the business, Ron may want to switch to something different in a couple years. “I’m thinking about tattooing,” he said. Artistic Hand Etching can be reached at (320) 398-2083. The business is located 18036 88th Avenue off of County Road 8 in Kimball.
