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CNC Stone Carving

What HN thinks

Monks with CNC routers, and the comments promptly become a seminar on modernist architecture and the meaning of sacrifice.

Automation is historically Gothic
Sculptors and masons always used templates, pointing machines and workshops for repetitive work, so CNC roughing with hand finishing is in keeping with tradition.
Effort was the point
Some argue the decades of human labour gave cathedrals their meaning, so a CNC-built one risks being a facsimile; others reply that for a tiny monastic community it is still a generational effort.
Why no ornate architecture today?
A long tangent debates whether cost, short-term owners, or elite architectural taste explains the lack of ornamented buildings, despite surveys showing people prefer classical styles.

Consensus: Most commenters admire the monks' project and accept CNC roughing plus hand finishing as a pragmatic way to make ornate stonework affordable again.

Recommended in the comments

Monumental Labs ↗ (service): Cited repeatedly as a working example of robot-plus-craftsman stone sculpture.
Shaper Origin (product): Mentioned as an interesting hybrid of human and machine precision for in-place work.
From Bauhaus to Our House ↗ (book): Recommended to explain why modern architecture abandoned ornament.
Guédelon ↗ (other): Offered as proof modern people can still undertake multi-decade hand-built projects.