Bitch Pick

["George Graham" <georgergraham@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Simon,
I've got got a german stone tool catalog that has many different kinds of
stone picks. Regular steel and carbide tipped. It's at the studio so I'll
send on the name later.
There was a tv show on our public broadcast station, pbs, called Nova, that
did a series about solving ancient mysteries. On the show devoted to solving
the mystery of how the egyptian did their stone work, a crew of egyptian
masons using traditional methods set about cutting limestone into blocks to
make the top of a pyramid. The master mason would layout lines for the men
to cut to. Copper chisels were used to cut the edge and corner drafts. Picks
were used to rapidly level off the area between the edges. The finish was
also done with a 2 handed adze. The old tools worked very well on the
limestone.
It makes a lot of sense to me that large heavy picks were used to make
masonry stones. And that Cutting tool made of soft metal, bronze or iron
would end up on a pick handle. That would allow me to easily manage a
heavier and more effective tool in a more comfortable  position.  The
egyptian crew using these tools were in a row of 3 or 4, and working as a
team, they very rapidly worked their way across a slab. They only raise
their picks a couple of feet and let them fall. Looked to me like they could
go like that all day.
The old tools and methods have always fascinated me. Stone seems to be one
of the few materials that fits all areas. The oldest methods still are
relevant, and newest technology can be applied , as Barry X Ball and the
digital stone project have shown.
I've got go back to my great white box project now.

George Graham