I know I said the next post would be about rebar and string set up but I wanted to squeeze this one in. Back in March I did a two part post about different ways to split stone. The use of feathers and wedges is a common technique which is widely known and has been used for centuries. I am very familiar with it and have done it from the beginning of my career. So other forms of splitting have piqued my interest and that is moving me toward trying other methods if for nothing else, just to say I did.
One such technique which is done in Japanese stone masonry uses a wedge fitted into a wide, carved groove. I have seen pictures in publications of the marks left by splitting with this method before but never saw the actual work being done. This photo led me to the videos below.
By stumbling around cyberspace, finding these videos answered my questions, raised new ones and definitely has given me something to add to the growing list of things I want to try while working with stone…because no video, class or book will ever teach you as much as trying it out and doing it yourself. Enjoy!
First the splitting.
Japanese Stone Splitting
An interview with two master stonemasons which help explain the technique.
Murai Shingo & Atsuo Okamoto
Check out this quarry worker in India using the same method with large stone.
Indian Quarryman
I am adding the website where these videos came from called Stone Project. Many great videos, some that give real insight to the way other cultures work with stone. Thanks to Ryan over at DryStoneGarden for posting it on his blog!
Stone Project
Stone Project vimeo site
Now I have to find some of these wedges or make my own!
MzunguEriki says
Thanks for the posting. Makes it look a bit easy. I like the way the Indian dude hits the chisels.
Matt Sevigny says
So cool how this works. It’s like the wedge is acting like a tracer chisel inside the stone.
Matt Carter says
Very interesting. I like the Japanese man’s philosophy that, regardless of whether it’s a diamond saw or flying wedge, in the end, it’s about results. Love this post! great job!
Matt Sevigny says
Thanks Matt, glad you liked it. That philosophy is something I have always subscribed to. There are so many techniques and methods in stonework that there could never be only one way of achieving great results.
sean says
I agree as well. When i was first in the trade someone was using a saw to remove a bunch of waste material. Someone else commented on how it wasn’t right because it wasn’t “traditional”. The first guy asked how the other had gotten to work. The second answered “in my car”. “Oh not in a horse and buggy huh”.
While i often prefer to use traditional methods I also believe that if a mason 200 years ago had been given a saw with a diamond blade they would have been extatic and wouldn’t have given it up for anything
Matt Sevigny says
Good point with the car. But I am guilty of that mindset sometimes. For example, when I do dry stone work I never chop up the stone with a saw – even on arches – because of that ‘Traditional’ mentality and the idea of ‘cheating’ with saws or something else bothers me and makes me feel like the work loses authenticity. That doesn’t make a lot of sense..but it’s my ethos with dry work.
sean says
Hey Matt, I’m wondering if you’ve ever heard of these 2 techniques which are more for quarrying than splitting. The first only work in cold weather. Drill a series of holes and fill with water, let freeze and the stone splits.
The other is to again drill a series of holes and completely fill with wood, cedar was commonly used. Let a hose pour into the holes, when the wood swells it will split the stone.
Neither method is super portable but fairly low tech
Matt Sevigny says
Yes, I have heard of both of those methods from a couple old masons I knew awhile back in CT. I would guess those techniques were born of necessity and being crafty New Englanders they made use of what they had on hand. Another method of breaking stone ( not for building use) was to build a huge fire around a boulder or outcrop and throw water on it when the fire lowers. The thermal shock of the cold water would shatter or crack the stone. I would imagine that stone with a high quartz content like granite would be most effected by this method.
sean says
A funny story about the water/ice method. A friend had an uncle who owned a cottage and had a huge granite boulder that was interfering with the driveway. My friend said he’d heard of that method and does it work? I said I believed so. Apparently the cottage wasn’t used at all in the winter and his uncle put water in the holes before closing u[p for the winter. Came back in the spring to 1/2 the stone, a couple tons worth, resting a couple feet from a patio door. My friend didn’t mention the stone was uphill from the house
Matt Sevigny says
Uh oh. How did they get rid of the boulder in front of the door?
sean says
I never really asked that question? I would think they tied a chain to it and drug it away but I’m really not sure, i’ll try to remember to ask him next time I see him