On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 15:53:50 -0700, zxcvbob wrote
(in article ):

Joe Bobst wrote:
My brother is a school teacher and wants to get a bunch of geodes (hollow
rocks) for the kids to break open.

Wouldn't a rental tile saw work pretty well for this?

Jow


That's what I thought at first.

A saw is too slow, and it can damage the crystals inside the geode worst
than cracking them open. Pipe-breakers, or homebrewed crackers built
out of hydraulic shop presses seem to be what's used in most rock and
gem shows.

Bob

The cutters are very tough. Hardened steel of some sort. Haven't done any
soil pipe for 10 years but IIRC they're not particularly sharp - made to
break cast iron & clay pipe neatly rather than cut it. I can't image the
geodes would hurt them.

Tell us how it goes ... Not the sort of project you hear about every day!