Stone Work: How to Split Rocks

Splitting rocks is a labor-intensive process that can be difficult with even smaller stones and boulders. While the use of explosives can make a quick job of creating a split, this method is not always safe or desirable. When you need an alternative, splitting the stones by hand using a hammer and steel rock-splitting wedges is an effective and time-honored method of getting the split you desire, precisely where you want it.

Safety goggles
Work gloves
Electric drill with masonry bit
Steel stone-splitting wedges
Hammer

Instructions

- 1
  Mark a cutline across the body of the rock where you wish to make the split using a piece of chalk.
- 2
  Put on a pair of safety goggles to protect your eyes from flying stone bits and work gloves to protect your hands.
- 3
  Drill a series of holes in the rock using a masonry drill bit that is the same size as the point of your stone-splitting wedges. Make the holes about two inches apart and about two inches in depth.
- 4
  Place the point of the steel stone-splitting wedge into the drilled hole. Position the wedge so that the flat sides of the wedge that widen with each strike on the wedge head are facing the side of the rock that you wish to split into two pieces.
- 5
  Strike the head of the wedge sharply to drive it into the stone. Continue striking until you have driven it about an inch deep.
- 6
  Place another wedge into the hole adjacent to the first, and then drive that wedge until it is an inch deep as well. Continue with each drilled hole until they have all been filled with wedges an inch deep.
- 7
  Return to the first wedge and strike the head of the wedge once. Repeat the process along the line of wedges, and then return to the first and hit it again, repeating the process up the line. Continue a single strike at a time to keep the split in the stone even across the stone's length.
- 8
  Keep striking at the wedges until the stone separates into two halves.

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