Breaking Giant Bits Of Rock

[Fella]

I'm borrowing one of these in black at the moment, complete with safety specs 8)

My rubber mallet is a bit of a doozy, so I'll look into getting a decent hammer. It's not gonna set me back a fortune is it?

 

[Dubby]

In quarries, large rocks are broken by using heat. Try using a blowtorch and heat along a line, then use a large hammer to break it.

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. Imagine a stack of paper lying on a desk. Say 100 sheets of regular white 8.5" x 11" printer paper. If you took a hammer and a wedge shaped tool and struck the paper on the top of the pile, nothing will happen. If you took the hammer and struck it on one of the ends, or sides, then the wedge would go inbetween the pages. This is similar to how slate breaks or "cleaves." So make sure you get a good heavy hammer and strike the rock on a side where you can see the end grain as mentioned above. If you can give it a good whack on the right side, it should cleave off into nice flat pieces which you can then break into smaller pieces when done. Good luck... and watch your fingers!

 

[Fella]

In quarries, large rocks are broken by using heat. Try using a blowtorch and heat along a line, then use a large hammer to break it.

I really think that heating slate would be a bad idea! I'm wearing safety specs sadly, not a suit of armour.

And yep, I'll go at it again this weekend with some kind of massive boshing hammer and the chisel. Thanks for all your advice.

 

[CroNiC]

Easy way to do it:

Boil some water in a pan or bucket or whatever. Put the end of the rock into, just a small bit of the rock. Then use the hammer and other stuff. It will be "much" easier.
Or
Boil the water in a bukcet or any item something like that ... then pour all of the bukcet on 1 particual area. It will work like that also

 

[smithrc]

Easy way to do it:

Boil some water in a pan or bucket or whatever. Put the end of the rock into, just a small bit of the rock. Then use the hammer and other stuff. It will be "much" easier.

lol - the ones in the piccy i posted are not pan sized.... I hurt my back putting one peice in the boot of the car

if you want thin 'sheets' gently work around the edge following the crack from the last blow.... work all the way round and you'll end up with a nice clean break.

If you need a hand and are in MK let me know
(and I'll come and drive over it )