Splitting stone with driving wedges

How to proceed:

First, mark the split line. Then drill holes into the stone at regular intervals on the split line with the hammer drill - it is important that the holes have the same direction, i.e. run parallel. The holes must be large enough to fit the springs of the set of plugs and feathers, but not much larger. In addition, the holes must have a depth corresponding to the set of plugs and feathers: For example, if a sabot is 10 cm long, the hole should be about 15 cm deep.

Place the springs in the holes so that they are on the left and right of the split line respectively. Then insert the wedges and drive them evenly into the stone with a suitable hammer or mason's hammer. In order for the stone to break cleanly, the wedges must always be at about the same height. Once all the wedges have been driven in completely, but the stone has not yet separated, wait: the stone is working. If you want to speed up the process, you can help it along with a forged pitcher or a blasting hammer and hit the line between the drill holes. To make the stone jump more precisely, you can also knock out a V-shaped line along the fracture line on all sides of the stone with the point chisel in advance.

For brittle and crystalline stone (e.g. marble) you need fewer wedges as the distance between the drill holes can be larger. For harder limestone (e.g. also springstone (serpentine)) you need more wedges, as this stone is tougher and the distance between the drill holes should be smaller. You also need more wedges for large blocks.