Lapidaryforum.net
Gadgets, Gizmos, and Dohickeys => Tool Talk => Topic started by: lithicbeads on April 06, 2019, 03:36:24 PM
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I have been wanting one of these for a long time and decided to splurge. I first tried it on a piece of metamorphosed granite and it took too long to split it so i will stick to normal crystallized granite cobbles. The intent is to use them on stone walls. The other use I envision for it is to break up huge pieces of lapidary rough .If the rough has an incipient crack it works extremely well.It is a 4 lb hammer with a very sharp carbide edge and is designed to be used by striking the rock or as I prefer, placing the hammer where you envision a split and striking it with a 4 lb hammer. I am back on crutches and can carry very little weight so I need to be able to break rough in the field and break the huge pieces of rough in my yard.The hammer works very well for that leaving a very clean break so I can finally use some of the rough i have been staring at for a few decades.Nice tool.
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Damn! That is a pricey hammer - but good tools are always worth the money. Looks like it works great, too.
For the price on their website it should come with a guy to carry the rocks after you split them.
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I have been working with stone as a masons helper since
I was a kid and I am sorry I did not buy this many years ago.A lot of my rough that would never have been used has good sized pieces split off ready for the saw and much of this is very special rough so it will pay for itself in a few weeks.It could be worse , a friend just bought a diamond chain saw and the hydraulics package alone was about 3 grand.
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I guess I'm just lazier. I use an angle grinder with masonry blade to score around a rock then hit it with a chisel. The biggest one I've split that way was over two hundred pounds. One whack and awayswhe went.