I have a new project.
I wanted to ask the guru’s here on what material and bit/settings I should use.
I was thinking of using one of those tiles from home depot and then bonding it to a cement (Red ones) block.
What do you guys think?
maybe make a negative on the cnc and then cast a weather resistant piece instead of just milling the tombstone itself?
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That would be my choice as well.
use granite, super weather resistant. Just carve it slow.
Well, Granite or concrete has a pretty decent disparity in cost. How much did you like this cat? 
I would probably do as suggested above and carve a mold, then use some concrete. It would probably be best to screen some of the aggregate out to make sure you get a good finish product. Nice and cheap, and it would work well.
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Have you carved granite on the XC?
I have, and I believe there are a few threads that have examples you can see.
At our cemetery headstones are not carved but “sand blasted” with an abrasive grit. A a stencil made of rubber with an adhesive backing is attached to the stone and compressed air with the medium is used to actually cut the design into the surface. I guess some could be carved by machine but that is not what I have seen done. I think sand blasting is the norm for cemetery headstones.
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My cousin does gravestones with sandbalsting and stencils. Onsite in the cemetery.
I have visions of all the medium bouncing off the rubber and damaging my shop ! arghhhhh
Best done outside or in a booth.
Yes sandblasting can be messy.
Not sure if it’s an option for you, but I have several times carved marble and found it to be a really easy thing to cut. Each time I’ve done it I’ve used a vbit which has replaceable carbide tips, but despite some lengthy carves, the marble seems to barely affect it. I’ve also found it surprisingly dust free (there’s dust, just not as much as I’d expected).
The stuff I used were pieces sold as cutting boards (white marble).
To be clear, I have not carved either but I do know marble is composed mainly of limestone which makes it softer and easier to cut than granite which contains high amounts of quartz and feldspar. Up into the early 1900s marble was the go to stone for monument work as the tooling of the day would cut it but not granite. As tooling improved granite is often the choice particularly if it is to be used outdoors.