Chisel

["George Graham" <georgergraham@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Emily,

As with most stone questions, the answer starts with, it
depends. It depends on the type of stock you are working
with. If you are dealing with natural boulders, 2 or 3
feet around, then drilling and splitting with feathers
and wedges would be best.

If, for example, you have some flagstone slabs 6" thick
and you want to split it in half to get two 3" slabs
then a hammer and chisel will do. Look in your local
hardware store for stonemason chisels. Here in NY
Goldblatt tools are a good brand . Building supply
stores that take care of brick masons usually have what
you need.Get a 2" and 3" flat chisel and a 3lb hammer.
The main thing is to find the grain of the stone, and
work you chisel on that line so it will cleave on that
layer. Work on the line, all around the stone until it
starts to open up. Its important not to pound away on
one spot.

Don't let the heavy hammer wear you out. Just get in
aposition to let it swing freely . Some stone will open
up partially, but not fall apart cleanly, so you can
drive your chisels into the crack, using them as a wedge
to pressure the stone apart. When doing this do not try
to force the tool deep into the crack, just tighten the
chisel up into the crack and let the pressure work for a
minute. You will often hear the stone tearing apart,
hopefully along the line you wanted!  Extra wedges made
 from truck leaf springs are cheap , tough and very handy
to help open up a stone. A good crowbar is usefull. One
word of warning, never drive your chisels and wedges so
deep into the stone that you can't get them out.

Finally, its easier to split a stone in half. Its takes
a bit more skill to split a thin layer off a much
thicker layer.

Sacrifice some of your stone to the learning experience,
and in no time you'll be an expert. If you get into
trouble, give a shout.

george graham