On Rob H's blog he posted a pic of "pins and feathers" used to split
rocks.

I did my disertation on granite, so it caught my eye. IDAGS and found
this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBMcMGBhUVk

The guy splits a 26,000 lb chunk of granite with a 2 lb sledge in an
hour. Amazing.

See more in ABPW.

"Zz Yzx" wrote:

I did my disertation on granite, so it caught my eye. IDAGS and
found
this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBMcMGBhUVk

The guy splits a 26,000 lb chunk of granite with a 2 lb sledge in an
hour. Amazing.

See more in ABPW.
-------------------------------------------
SFWIW, there is/was a granite quarry on the west side of
Kelleys Island, one of the Lake Erie Islands, located in the
western end of Lake Erie.

Every fall they would drill a line of holes in the granite, then fill
the
holes with water and wait for winter to do it's work by freezing
the water in the holes and splitting the granite.

Water expands 1.04% by volume when it freezes and forms ice.

Does sound like much, but it was enough to split the granite to be
quarried during the following season.

Lew

-------------------------------------------
SFWIW, there is/was a granite quarry on the west side of
Kelleys Island, one of the Lake Erie Islands, located in the
western end of Lake Erie.

Every fall they would drill a line of holes in the granite, then fill
the
holes with water and wait for winter to do it's work by freezing
the water in the holes and splitting the granite.

Water expands 1.04% by volume when it freezes and forms ice.

Does sound like much, but it was enough to split the granite to be
quarried during the following season.


Another, similar, technique is to fill the holes with dry, wooden, pegs. Add
water.

On 2/20/2013 9:49 PM, Zz Yzx wrote:
On Rob H's blog he posted a pic of "pins and feathers" used to split
rocks.

I did my disertation on granite, so it caught my eye. IDAGS and found
this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBMcMGBhUVk

The guy splits a 26,000 lb chunk of granite with a 2 lb sledge in an
hour. Amazing.

See more in ABPW.

For the musically inclined - listen to each strike he makes on the
wedges, especially the light "practice" strikes. Each makes a different
"note".

On Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:35:36 -0500, Greg Guarino
wrote:

On 2/20/2013 9:49 PM, Zz Yzx wrote:
On Rob H's blog he posted a pic of "pins and feathers" used to split
rocks.

I did my disertation on granite, so it caught my eye. IDAGS and found
this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBMcMGBhUVk

The guy splits a 26,000 lb chunk of granite with a 2 lb sledge in an
hour. Amazing.

Not quite as straight as he'd have liked, eh? That's probably less of
a problem for foundation rocks than if the stone was being cut for
thin countertops. I wonder if he turned it over and tried to
straighten the left piece...


See more in ABPW.

For the musically inclined - listen to each strike he makes on the
wedges, especially the light "practice" strikes. Each makes a different
"note".

That's how he can tell the pressure, by sound. Similarly, mechanics
judge the flexing of the wrench/extension/socket/bolt to know the
proper torque by "feel".

--
The more you know, the less you need.
-- Aboriginal Saying

On Feb 20, 9:49*pm, Zz Yzx wrote:
On Rob H's blog he posted a pic of "pins and feathers" used to split
rocks.

I did my disertation on granite, so it caught my eye. *IDAGS and found
this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBMcMGBhUVk

The guy splits a 26,000 lb chunk of granite with a 2 lb sledge in an
hour. *Amazing.

See more in ABPW.

The easy way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlDQvgM4pKM