Favorite method to split rocks?

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D4fan

Well-known member
I have taken up a new hobby of rock splitting, mostly granite and limestone. The granite is from boulders that came down in a glacier and landed around our area. The limestone is the basic rock found under our soil, glacial till and boulders.

What is the best way to split stone into useable 4" slabs? The granite is doing pretty well with my drill, wedge, and hammer method, but the limestone is fragile and will break often at the wrong place.

How do you split your rocks?
 
 
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D4fan said:
I have taken up a new hobby of rock splitting, mostly granite and limestone. The granite is from boulders that came down in a glacier and landed around our area. The limestone is the basic rock found under our soil, glacial till and boulders.

What is the best way to split stone into useable 4" slabs? The granite is doing pretty well with my drill, wedge, and hammer method, but the limestone is fragile and will break often at the wrong place.

How do you split your rocks?
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Be careful, I dont believe there is a statue of limitation on prison break Andy.......

IYKYK
 
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D4fan said:
I have taken up a new hobby of rock splitting, mostly granite and limestone. The granite is from boulders that came down in a glacier and landed around our area. The limestone is the basic rock found under our soil, glacial till and boulders.

What is the best way to split stone into useable 4" slabs? The granite is doing pretty well with my drill, wedge, and hammer method, but the limestone is fragile and will break often at the wrong place.

How do you split your rocks?
Click to expand...
I busted up an old sidewalk a couple years ago with wedge and hammer (4lb and 8lb) but, have no desire to do it again.

Would a concrete saw work? Personally, I would be afraid of cutting off something important. Good luck!
 
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EagleGuy said:
I busted up an old sidewalk a couple years ago with wedge and hammer (4lb and 8lb) but, have no desire to do it again.

Would a concrete saw work? Personally, I would be afraid of cutting off something important. Good luck!
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That may work. It should certainly score the stone to create a weak area to snap off from the main rock. My problem has been the limestone wants to fracture more than one direction. I am working off of a 5ft x 3ft stone we unearthed twenty years back while digging a deep hole.

I stopped in to a hardscape store today and they wanted $359 / ton for limestone. Quite pricey to mess up and turn into large gravel.
 
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D4fan said:
I have taken up a new hobby of rock splitting, mostly granite and limestone. The granite is from boulders that came down in a glacier and landed around our area. The limestone is the basic rock found under our soil, glacial till and boulders.

What is the best way to split stone into useable 4" slabs? The granite is doing pretty well with my drill, wedge, and hammer method, but the limestone is fragile and will break often at the wrong place.

How do you split your rocks?
Click to expand...
At my age if I need rocks split I will pay someone to do it.
 
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19AL63 said:
At my age if I need rocks split I will pay someone to do it.
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Wheres the fun in that? Without an aching back, body knuckles, tennis elbow from swinging an oversized hammer and an eye damaged from flying debris, where is the fun in that?

I suppose I could buy my stone pre split, but I really want to look at my hardscape and say " I remember when that was all one big piece".
 
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