Shaping Workshop 4/2012. Held in the south.
This is a lovely bucket of plugs/wedges and feathers/shims.
We started out by using this pre drilled metal plate with holes drilled on 6" center. We set the plate down on the stone, used a hammer drill with a drill bit to match the wedge and feathers we placed in the holes. Then we kept a few feet on the metal plate as we dry drilled holes 1" on this 7" stone. Note for production purposes it was advised that tracing the stone with a chisel was not needed before drilling. (to each his own)
This is what the stone after we drilled our 1" holes . Next we turned on the hose at a low trickle to keep the drill bit from wearing out as fast, keeping the dust down, and clearing out the hole. (if you don't have water to work with - thats ok!)
We pre marked the drill bit with yellow tape to match the length of the wedges we are using 4". Then of course drilling down 4" to the tape mark. My drill has a stopping rod which makes it much easer to adjust and no need for tape.
Wedge and feathers then placed in the hole in the direction we wanted the stone to break. Slowly we taped one at a time then to the next giving the stone some time to realize what just hit it... (sorry couldn't help myself)
Before you know it the stone was in two pieces. The stone we used was a limestone from the Kentucky area.
Wala a nice stone face - now on to the next side to make a nice square block.
This was just one of the great things learned at a stone shaping workshop.
Side Note: I had brought down my Cheap $80 1" Harbor Freight Hammer Drill. This was a hug hit. Every one loved it much better then the Bosch. My point? if you want to give this type of work a try you don't need to spend alot of money to get the job done. Read more with my Tool - Drill, Wedge & Shims to understand all the little stuff that makes no sense. Like what size wedge and feather should I buy, or what is SDS..... Shaping stone can be a joy when you take the time to understand the stone.
Other helpful/related links on this topic.
How To - Wedge and Feathers Voodoo Magic
RockinWalls - Mark Jurus Copyright 2012
RockinWalls - Mark Jurus Copyright 2012
