Splitting granite rocks

[Sigarms]

Miles Supply
P.O.Box 237-143 Boynton St.
Barrie,VT.
05640-0237

Sounds like Barrie, but is spelled Barre

If you want to see some remarkable stonework, the headstones in the cemetary up on the hill in Barre is really amazing.

 

[Egon]

Oh-oh Barre it is.

Sorry about that.

Just ordered 10 more sets of feathers and wedges.

 

[scott_vt]

Scotty; a bunch of the maple is going rotten. It's got some black streaks running through it so it really ain't much good for anything other than weight holding the basement in place!

Afternoon Egon,
Hey thats the spalted maple look, thats worth more $$$

 

[MikeD74T]

Egon, I've split lots of foundation granite. I only drill about 1/2" deeper than the length of the wedge. I think you're spending more time drilling than you need to. My pneumatic drill bits are only 3" long. MikeD74T

 

[Egon]

Mike:

The pictures you saw were the sum extent of my granite splitting expertise.

There is a very long learning curve ahead of me.

Scotty: Are you sure that just ain't rotten Maple??? Hee hee!!

 

[MikeD74T]

Egon, I'm not knocking your work at all, you're just doing more than you need to. The advantage to shallower holes, besides being quicker to drill, is that the 1/2 holes at each edge can be removed with a set leaving a smoother edge. MikeD74T

From the Miles website:

How To Use:​

• Drill holes along your split line at least as deep as your wedges are long ...​

 

[Egon]

Thanks Mike. Next time splitting I will try shorter holes. It will also make it harder to lose the feathers down the hole as I have been doing!

There are many old split rocks around here. They all show short holes.

I was using the long holes as some of the rocks are not even and I was thinking a short hole would spall off thinner pieces rather than getting a clean break.

 

[RobS]

That's pretty cool Egon! The first time I saw that done, I was amazed at the relative simplicity yet the resulting accomplishment is so incredible.

 

[curly]

Egon,

Thanks for the rock splitting primer.

Curly

 

[dsgsr]

Long holes or short holes. It all depends on weather you're splitting quarry granite or conglomerate granite. Quarry Granite can be split with short holes because the grain is uniform, while conglomerate granites' grain is not uniform and should have deeper/longer holes, and you still may not get a uniform/smooth edge.

David