Splitting a large boulder with pegs - GIF

[Jon]

Splitting a large boulder with pegs.



Previously:

Splitting a boulder - GIF
Splitting bamboo - GIF and video
Double-handed wood splitting mayhem - GIF
Reel splitter GIF

[Elizabeth Greene]

I like how the wires catch the pegs when it breaks. This chap has a lot of practice.

[Pa1963]

I wonder how many times he did this before he thought "maybe I should wire up those pegs"?
Even more old school, and maybe less work, was when they'd drill the holes, pound wooden pegs into the holes, then pour water on the pegs, and as the pegs swole up, they would fracture the rock.

[ibdennyak]

anyone have any idea what caused the staining by the pegs?

[Frank S]

anyone have any idea what caused the staining by the pegs?

He may have taken an advantage of a natural flaw in the bolder.
Bolders have calved off of parent rock naturally for millions of years due to a small crack that water gets into and freezes over time the crack will lengthen as well as deepen until the bolder calves off Quarry men would want to use these cracks to their advantage anytime they can by drilling holes along the crack

[ibdennyak]

makes perfect sense.....I'm amazed at the flatness of the break. I would have thought it would be more.....jagged.

[Clockguy]

makes perfect sense.....I'm amazed at the flatness of the break. I would have thought it would be more.....jagged.

What doesn't make perfect sense to me is why an experienced boulder splitter would stand on a multi ton boulder and split it in half wearing leather soled loafers??? That back end could have done a couple of things, jumped up from the release of the overhanging weight, pulled out a foot or so from where it was lying, or worst of all, slid down the precipice right behind its "calf"!!

That's like a hiker wearing flip flops on a hike through the mountains .......

[clavius]

makes perfect sense.....I'm amazed at the flatness of the break. I would have thought it would be more.....jagged.

It is amazing. I have a friend who owns a small granite quarry and have seen them do stuff like this when a customer specified the stone to be cut with wedges to get the look.

He gave me a few pieces of granit for a little garden project I was doing. The pieces were maybe 12"x12"X 5' long. I needed to cut them to some shorter lengths. So he loaned me what he called a "tracer chisel" which was just what looked like an overly fat chisel with a carbide edge about 2" wide. You just take the chisel, and trace a line on 3 sides of the stone by hitting the chisel with a 3LB hammer. It makes only a very shallow score. Then you turn the un-scribed side up and just bang with the hammer on the face of the stone opposite the scribe. Three or so strikes and the stone just breaks off right along the scribe line. The break is quite straight and flat.

I would never have believed it could be that simple had it not been demonstrated to me. It's like magic. Those guys are true artisans.

[Frank S]

Clockguy if you have ever spent much time in developing countries you would have seen things that would scare the bejeevers out of you the way some of them do things

[Jon]