Introduction to splitting stone

This video describes the process of using feathers and wedges to split stone, a granite block in this case. Feathers and wedges are also commonly called "plugs and feathers".

Пікірлер: 227

  • @GoldShawFarm
    @GoldShawFarm Жыл бұрын

    🔥 🔥🔥

  • @samtheman3633

    @samtheman3633

    Жыл бұрын

    Well hello there

  • @ladydragon3648

    @ladydragon3648

    Жыл бұрын

    seen you on Gold Shaw Farm's a lot.

  • @aidanf1654

    @aidanf1654

    Жыл бұрын

    Morgan help him with a song something like "My buddy Morgan" he lives just down the road. He`s a wizard with the ducks, He just hates hound hunting fucks, And we make the world a beeeeetter place.

  • @SSDD_NYC

    @SSDD_NYC

    Жыл бұрын

    @@aidanf1654 🤣

  • @IbelongtoJesus.

    @IbelongtoJesus.

    Жыл бұрын

    Hi Morgan.

  • @lisapressey7361
    @lisapressey7361 Жыл бұрын

    Those wedges were a lot smaller than I thought they would be. That was very educational.

  • @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    Жыл бұрын

    These are 1/2" wedges, this material splits pretty easily so the smaller wedges work well. I will be getting bigger wedges for bigger blocks eventually.

  • @myzacky96
    @myzacky96 Жыл бұрын

    You seem like such a good hearted person, God Bless

  • @tinasachs8688
    @tinasachs8688 Жыл бұрын

    That was a very distinct change in tone, once it was about to split. Quite interesting! Love seeing this kind of work. Greeting from Germany and good luck with your new channel!

  • @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    Жыл бұрын

    Danke schön!

  • @pat_mueller

    @pat_mueller

    Жыл бұрын

    Ihr Leute aus Deutschland nervt echt, überall liest man von euch

  • @cCiIcCo

    @cCiIcCo

    7 ай бұрын

    ​@@pat_muellerOooohhh😢

  • @reneedemers8218
    @reneedemers8218 Жыл бұрын

    When I took a rock and wood sculpting art course when I went to Castleton College they actively taught the double-tapping as a good practice for helping line up the chisels and increasing the bite of them. That said, that was down in West Rutland where it's mostly Marble - they had some Granite cuts around, but they didn't let students work them for that course specifically because of how bad the silica dust can get.

  • @dagmarsigridmanondenijs-bl7156
    @dagmarsigridmanondenijs-bl7156 Жыл бұрын

    Watched this a month ago. I didn’t know it’s YOU Alfred!

  • @smoggy2126
    @smoggy2126 Жыл бұрын

    Morgan sent me but this an amazing video its indepth

  • @maureen8930
    @maureen8930 Жыл бұрын

    Hello Alfred ; you actually got time for yourself , this is great I’m gonna really enjoy watching your videos Morgan send us all over thank you ♥️👍

  • @simudia
    @simudia Жыл бұрын

    watching this vid was not only educational, but also sooo meditative. the sounds were so soothing and relaxing and I think it really must be such a satisfaction, when you start to hear those subtle cracks before finally the split opens up. and it is just so amazing to see, what one guy with a drill and a hammer can do - without any heavy machinery, destroying all the area around. Really looking forward to many more videos from you 😊

  • @johngrasing1715
    @johngrasing1715 Жыл бұрын

    They way Alfred is so matter of fact and understated and the way Morgan blabs on and on! You guys must be hysterical working together! Loving the video!

  • @Libbathegreat
    @Libbathegreat Жыл бұрын

    Great to see these artisan techniques in action. I saw a 6th cent. BC marble quarry on Naxos years ago with marks in the stone just like the ones left by your feathers and wedges. Now I know how they did it!

  • @rhensontollhouse

    @rhensontollhouse

    4 ай бұрын

    In Machu Picchu the same marks left by chisels. The Inca had bronze chisels too.

  • @emmiep9459
    @emmiep9459 Жыл бұрын

    This is just so cool. You're a good teacher Alfred. I learned a lot by watching this video. Looking forward to more!

  • @RedHotFiat
    @RedHotFiat Жыл бұрын

    Great Video! Thanks for the demonstration. My grandfather was a stone mason from Germany. In the 30's he worked on the Payne Whitney Gymnasium at Yale. I have a 20" round stone that is full of red garnet. I was thinking of using a diamond saw to cut around the circumference to try to split it. I'm thinking now to get a set of feathers and wedges and trying that instead.

  • @dirtywaterfab1695
    @dirtywaterfab1695 Жыл бұрын

    i wish i could have seen these vids a year ago - together with a contractor buddy of mine with an excavator we installed 100 linear feet of salvaged granite curbstone in my front landscape, and some of this stone dressing action would have been great to know.

  • @vts5618
    @vts5618 Жыл бұрын

    Hello, came over from Gold Shaw Farm live video. Pretty cool stuff.

  • @waylonk2453
    @waylonk2453 Жыл бұрын

    When that stone split, I let out a "wow!" Cool to see the subtle techniques you use, such as placing a small stone to act as a fulcrum when prying the two halves apart to retrieve your feathers and wedges.

  • @garycrockett4477
    @garycrockett4477 Жыл бұрын

    Alfred, thanks for the intro and the explanation. You made "magic" seem so understandable and easy! Thanks for the video.

  • @tommielourogers4327
    @tommielourogers4327 Жыл бұрын

    The double tapping provides a perfect rhythm with the music you chose. Listening to you strike the fetters and wedges was so soothing and I could actually hear the changes in the sounds as the stone got closer to breaking the final sound was magical. I have always loved the end products of stone work, but I have never seen and heard it done before. To be honest I thought it took tremendous brute strength and ugly sounds. But seeing you work, I see nothing but artistry and music. There seems to be almost the need to feel a oneness with the stone. It was very inspiring. I wish that I was young and healthy, I would love to cut the stones for my own raised garden beds myself. I do some wood carvings and turning and it requires the same meditative approach. Sometimes as I am working, it feels like my hands are smarter than my head. As if my hands became one with the wood and knew how to bring the final desired shape out of the wood without forcing the wood. I know that that sounds crazy, but it’s just what I experience when I am working. When I look at the final product I feel such awe, because I know that I have just created something far beyond my own skills. I feel a relationship with the finished product that is worth more than any amount of money and so am I never willing to sell my work. It would be like selling my children. Thank you so much. This video was both very enlightening and very very satisfying. May God always bless the work of your hands Alfred.

  • @Tsuchimursu
    @Tsuchimursu Жыл бұрын

    Leave the sounds of steel and stone ringing as much as you can! It's a lovely sound, especially when it rings in a rhythm. :)

  • @bellepfeiffer3630
    @bellepfeiffer3630 Жыл бұрын

    That was so interesting. Hello from Essex VT. Now, back to the Gold Shaw chat...

  • @derpydog1008
    @derpydog1008 Жыл бұрын

    That was awesome thanks for showing. Your buddy Morgan sent us.

  • @KarTheWanderer
    @KarTheWanderer Жыл бұрын

    You can really tell that Alfred got more comfortable with the camera around the 3 minute mark, which was cool to see. By the end he was a natural! I gasped when the stone split. It was super interesting to learn how to hear when that was going to happen, but I was expecting the split to be less dramatic than that. It was so cool!

  • @jeffffro7674
    @jeffffro7674 Жыл бұрын

    Incredible. Such minimal effort, such accuracy, such a beautiful split. Very nice. Very informative! Thank you sir, a genius in blue jeans indeed!

  • @wallyshedd3157
    @wallyshedd3157 Жыл бұрын

    My impression is that part of the hammer drills advantage is it’s rotation which helps clear the face of the hole of cuttings, leading to a cleaner strike. By hand, your chisel is often striking cuttings within the hole. In my business we typically use water or mud (a slurry really) to clean cuttings from the hole and cool the bit.

  • @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    Жыл бұрын

    I'm pretty sure you're correct, after rotating the bit it would take a couple strikes to get through the resulting dust before I was hitting stone again. I need to get compressed air up there for a variety of reasons, but in this case it would have been helpful to clear the hole. I assume you drill wells of some type?

  • @ladydragon3648
    @ladydragon3648 Жыл бұрын

    Hello Alfred. Hope all goes great for you in your new Stone business.

  • @BaByDiva
    @BaByDiva Жыл бұрын

    Love it Alfred! Keep it up, can’t wait to see you build the Vermont hobbit hideaway….. I have always wondered how they built castles and those stone walls!! I mean pretty much anything stone

  • @vs-iw6rc
    @vs-iw6rc Жыл бұрын

    Last step had mesmerising melody, truly a wizard with machines calling it about to go before it's visible!

  • @lunarsma8446
    @lunarsma8446 Жыл бұрын

    Every effort supporting the next. So satisfying. Very cool. Thanks for showing us your process!

  • @margaretannfrank5480
    @margaretannfrank5480 Жыл бұрын

    Good luck Alfred with your new quarry. I look forward to watching you do your thing! This may sound weird but I do stained glass and your splitting the granite seemed as satisfying as scoring and breaking a piece of glass. When it goes just right there is relief and gets the creative juices flowing. Is that sort of how you feel in your work?

  • @barbarahouk1983

    @barbarahouk1983

    Жыл бұрын

    That was a great comparison. I also enjoyed hearing the sound change just before the split. 😃

  • @lynneshawe9714
    @lynneshawe9714 Жыл бұрын

    Morgan sent me. Glad to see how many subscribers you have!

  • @watchmeimflying
    @watchmeimflying Жыл бұрын

    welcome to the goldshaw fam alfred!

  • @honestoutlaw8877
    @honestoutlaw8877 Жыл бұрын

    My Buddy Alfred! Loving the channel man!

  • @lorhayes7
    @lorhayes7 Жыл бұрын

    Hi Alfred....good job!

  • @karyadam
    @karyadam Жыл бұрын

    Alfred, Very cool video. I like the way you teach the process and describe the steps. Thank you for sharing your craft with the world. Well done!

  • @RichardSmith-ms6hh
    @RichardSmith-ms6hh3 ай бұрын

    Thanks for taking me/us through a beautiful demonstration

  • @sarahh5704
    @sarahh5704 Жыл бұрын

    Heya Alfred! Thanks for the video and also from all of us in the gold Shaw farm youtube family we wish you they best of luck on all your future endeavors and also those bucket list things you wanna get too!

  • @VermisTerrae
    @VermisTerrae Жыл бұрын

    That was delightful to watch! The crunchy sound the stone made just before falling open was awesome. I was worried the side closest to you was going to fall onto your feet, so I was surprised to see how little any of it moved. Is there a way to predict how pieces will settle once they come free? I could listen to all these sounds for a long time. Very cool to hear how they change.

  • @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    Жыл бұрын

    You get a sense of what they will do once they split. You can also generally hear the stone get ready to go, when it starts sounding hollow it's time to inventory your fingers and toes, then make sure that they are in a safe place

  • @rogiste1
    @rogiste1 Жыл бұрын

    Morgan sent me, I knew nothing about stone -- but you got me believing that I can split any stone -- going to cut the property line stone!!!

  • @frederickmoller

    @frederickmoller

    Жыл бұрын

    I only knew about breaking stone underground in the mines of the Porcupine Mining Camp (Ontario Canada) using all sizes and types of hydraulic rock breakers...stone masonery is something that that I was always interested me.

  • @blakenelson8385
    @blakenelson8385 Жыл бұрын

    This is an excellent channel. Looking forward to more.

  • @sandycox245
    @sandycox245 Жыл бұрын

    Morgan sent me. Nice video

  • @creative227
    @creative227 Жыл бұрын

    Fascinating! Thanks for sharing your art with us! Looking forward to more!

  • @NoeCruzjr-pc5jt
    @NoeCruzjr-pc5jt3 күн бұрын

    This video was very calming.

  • @blueapples6215
    @blueapples6215 Жыл бұрын

    Hi! Gold Shaw sent me! ❤️

  • @BornFreeStayFree
    @BornFreeStayFree Жыл бұрын

    Fascinating Alford ! Very artistic. Never knew what and how a piece of granite turned into a beautiful piece of work and what all would be involved in starting it.

  • @cherylhuot4436
    @cherylhuot4436 Жыл бұрын

    That was fascinating. Thanks for showing us how splitting by hand is done. Amazing one man can do that to such a large piece of stone.

  • @daisykennedy2564
    @daisykennedy2564 Жыл бұрын

    Just came over from gold shaw farm. This is so interesting. That was so cool listening and watching you crack apart that huge rock. The littlest things in life could be so peaceful to watch and hear. It's pretty neat for me to listen to it because I'm supposed to wear hearing aids , and I don't lol but when I'm watching this I wear my earbuds and I can hear the rock and everything crack and it's so cool to hear those sounds . The littlest things in life huh lol Thank you for sharing your video, I'm looking forward to watching more.🤗

  • @GabrielBadwolf
    @GabrielBadwolf Жыл бұрын

    Hi Alfred, yet another person who was sent by Morgan

  • @maureen8930
    @maureen8930 Жыл бұрын

    Wow that was Very Cool 😎 ALFRED 👍👍

  • @anitraahrens905
    @anitraahrens905 Жыл бұрын

    I'm sure with your engineering and masonry skills it will be a success.

  • @jamesmehigan2407
    @jamesmehigan2407 Жыл бұрын

    Fellow Vermonter here...was intrigued by your occaisional appearances on Morgan's channel. Glad to see you with your own. Wicked pissah, Alfred! :D

  • @TrentCastanaveras
    @TrentCastanaveras Жыл бұрын

    This looks so cool!

  • @piperleelee
    @piperleelee Жыл бұрын

    Setting your videos to music definitely enhances viewing enjoyment. Love the country and western music genre.

  • @janekeleher3090
    @janekeleher3090 Жыл бұрын

    it was so obvious when it sounded hollow just befor the split- that was really interesting!

  • @noelaniross305
    @noelaniross305 Жыл бұрын

    Love the sound of the rock breaking, you're right, there is a change of tune when you strike as things progress!

  • @patriciaadducci6549
    @patriciaadducci6549 Жыл бұрын

    I love work. I can sit and watch it for hours.

  • @hopefulhope9123
    @hopefulhope9123 Жыл бұрын

    That was incredible to watch you're very wise man with a lot of knowledge I enjoy your videos

  • @somethingcats
    @somethingcats Жыл бұрын

    Came from gold shaw, super excited to see you get more confident on camera!

  • @garryspencer2019
    @garryspencer2019 Жыл бұрын

    Hi. What a fantastic adventure is ahead of you. Glad to be aboard. Found you from Goldshaw.

  • @samtheman3633
    @samtheman3633 Жыл бұрын

    Who's coming from the Livestream 👇

  • @lyndon5478
    @lyndon5478 Жыл бұрын

    That’s amazing never realized that that’s the way to get it done. And not a lot of efforts

  • @mercy92399
    @mercy92399 Жыл бұрын

    I know nothing about stone masonery....but this was amazing...love seeing you at Gold Shaw Farm too.

  • @rosefrazer6652
    @rosefrazer6652 Жыл бұрын

    Wow, You could hear when it was going to split. Amazing.

  • @g.cosper8306
    @g.cosper8306 Жыл бұрын

    Alfred! I'm only 8 minutes in and I'm fascinated. Glad you cared to share your knowledge; thank you!

  • @circesgrandmainomaha580
    @circesgrandmainomaha580 Жыл бұрын

    I cannot tell you how much I appreciated your video today. I live a bit west of Vermont (Nebraska), but north of us is a stone called Sioux Quartzite, or the old name is jasper. It's a beautiful red color with flecks of red in it, a beautiful stone, and like the granite you're working with, a granular igneous stone. In the older parts of Midwestern towns you would often come across a house using stone blocks just slightly thicker than bricks and otherwise similar dimensions to construct the house, or the garden wall, or the curb, etc, and I always wondered how the blocks were constructed, since they didn't have a sawn surface, but had a more natural face. I'm pretty confident that those stones, from the 1890's-1930's, were probably created using a similar technique to the one you demonstrated today. Thank you for answering a 50ish year old curious question. :)

  • @galba2715
    @galba2715 Жыл бұрын

    Ive seen feathering from other youtube videos and still amazed that a few drill holes and a feather can split large boulders

  • @flautalee3090
    @flautalee309011 ай бұрын

    Glad you are protecting your eyes and ears as much as possible.❤ Beautiful work, Alfred.

  • @SSDD_NYC
    @SSDD_NYC Жыл бұрын

    That was the most gratifying 20 minutes of my entire day. P.S...: SELVEDGE DENIM GANG!!

  • @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    Жыл бұрын

    Soso Brothers Custom Denim! 25 oz Taishoku

  • @SSDD_NYC

    @SSDD_NYC

    Жыл бұрын

    @@vermontheritagegranitecomp2062 I’ve never owned a pair of Sosos… yet.

  • @lydias2012
    @lydias2012 Жыл бұрын

    Morgan says hi.

  • @langdons2848
    @langdons2848 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for sharing that Alfred. I've seen this sort of thing before, but it was great to get a "start to finish" demonstration.

  • @lynnpasteris4362
    @lynnpasteris4362 Жыл бұрын

    That is really cool to watch!

  • @jeffkey3158
    @jeffkey3158 Жыл бұрын

    Wow your skills are amazing 😄 you’ve def got a skill most people do not and alot of those skills as we know are being lost. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, now go far and dream big and I cannot wait to watch this quarry unfold😍

  • @rohkwaho
    @rohkwaho Жыл бұрын

    My dad needed to fragment a huge flat bolder so he could move it to make way for a new garden. He had watched his father split a large stone with a half stick of dynamite. They used a chisel to bore a hole and packed the dynamite with clay. My grandfather lit the fuse and casually stepped back a few steps while my grandmother freaked out. They barely heard the thud and the stone split nicely. So my father resolved to do the same to split his boulder. After we finished boring the hole with a chisel, my dad was unable to procure any dynamite. Times change. I still have the boulder with the bore hole and I'm going to keep it. All this came to mind while I watched you split that stone. I wondered if you ever work with low explosives in your stone work?

  • @bonnieplastow7018
    @bonnieplastow7018 Жыл бұрын

    That was awesome to see!

  • @paoemantega8793
    @paoemantega879320 күн бұрын

    A great presentation, thankyou for sharing.

  • @robanddonna25
    @robanddonna25 Жыл бұрын

    Very nicely done video. We are looking forward to many more. That was very informative and so interesting. We are located in the flint hills of Kansas. We have so many beautiful rocks here too. Thank You! We are subscribers now.

  • @mikesampson9269
    @mikesampson9269 Жыл бұрын

    cathartic. I want to see you more confident! You know what you're doing. WOOT!

  • @MsTeddyeddy
    @MsTeddyeddy Жыл бұрын

    Very cool and informative!!

  • @JoeSmithpwns
    @JoeSmithpwns Жыл бұрын

    Toby made me do it

  • @barbarahouk1983

    @barbarahouk1983

    Жыл бұрын

    Lol

  • @tmlawson751
    @tmlawson751 Жыл бұрын

    Love you Alfred!!!!!

  • @pennybentley5125
    @pennybentley5125 Жыл бұрын

    Wow i actually rewound to watch that split again so good 😊

  • @mcmanon5696
    @mcmanon5696 Жыл бұрын

    I'm always afraid to hit my hand when I use a hammer. Thanks for the double tap trick. I'll try it! :)

  • @Angela-xz6mn
    @Angela-xz6mn Жыл бұрын

    So interesting Alfred!

  • @etshArk87
    @etshArk87 Жыл бұрын

    Very nice splitting, so clean

  • @mathiasmartin8194
    @mathiasmartin819410 ай бұрын

    Excellent video and explanation, please create a video demonstrating how to cut the round stone for use in a millstone.

  • @cwarts5461
    @cwarts5461 Жыл бұрын

    Beautiful!

  • @na195097
    @na195097 Жыл бұрын

    Wow. Amazing how it split. Could you retrieve the feathers and wedges with a super strong magnet (like those used for magnet fishing)?

  • @journeybrook9357
    @journeybrook9357 Жыл бұрын

    Wow I found a old tin with 7 wedges like those. I really thought they were old ship/ home building nails. Seen such used as nails.. Being by a river that use to have ships. But there also was logging and quarries.

  • @austingriffith1118
    @austingriffith11189 ай бұрын

    Thank you for sharing you knowledge and skill

  • @beckyoneill8687
    @beckyoneill8687 Жыл бұрын

    This is very interesting and informative.

  • @ncubesays
    @ncubesays Жыл бұрын

    That was impressive!!

  • @chilldogs1881
    @chilldogs1881 Жыл бұрын

    Ur amazing

  • @kramikam9005
    @kramikam9005 Жыл бұрын

    glad you are wearing glasses…safety first! good video!

  • @az55544
    @az55544 Жыл бұрын

    Eyes, ears, lungs, Alfred. Protect yourself and your future health.

  • @joegosselin2888
    @joegosselin2888 Жыл бұрын

    I was a mason tender for a quarry out of New Hampshire we did a lot of walls with sedimentary sandstone

  • @mr.skipper4544
    @mr.skipper4544 Жыл бұрын

    It'll be interesting to see what you can build, stone is an amazing material to work with, I did concentrate work for 30 years and it to is a cool building material to work with

  • @InspiredJJ
    @InspiredJJ Жыл бұрын

    T That was awesome!

  • @dennisreeves632
    @dennisreeves632 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent video bro and the music was off the hook.

  • @bedwards1000
    @bedwards1000 Жыл бұрын

    I find that a magnetic retrieval tool that fits in whatever hole size you are using is good to have on hand when doing this. If a feather or wedge drops in a hole it makes it really easy to get it back out. It would have been handy to get all the pieces out of the crack at the end.

  • @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    @vermontheritagegranitecomp2062

    Жыл бұрын

    That's a good idea, I reach for my multi tool pretty often, but that's only helpful if it's not too late

  • @scottleft3672
    @scottleft367211 ай бұрын

    Sounds are an important part of choosing safe pieces of stone.

  • @adrianlangford5577
    @adrianlangford5577 Жыл бұрын

    love the background music!