Don't CHISEL STONE until you see this video! Find the rhythm, listen to the stone, chisel accurately

Chiselling details for hardscape installations. When working with natural stone it's important to know what kind of pressure and force is necessary to get stone to break how you want it to!
For all of your landscaping and construction projects with flagstone, slate, other natural stone, it's important to get to know the material and to make sure you can shape it how you want, without having to cut every single piece with a diamond blade. Hammer and chisel is the best way to keep as many of those natural shapes and textures as possible.
Check out our online courses for flagstone here: hardscapecanada.thinkific.com...
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[@money.making.mitchell]

Wow, skill for life just with that

[@Berlusconio]

Hello. Myself a mason in the whole field of stone work. From generations of Masons. Well. When it comes to granit you have to start with light taps. The harder you hit the more crucked the crack becomes going down. After going back and forth (tracing/making a line) a couple of times you start hitting the granit a tiny bit harder, but you never use full force. Someting than you will learn by time working with stones every day. I myself hit my shizel one time in a fast rythm. Everyone has their own way. Myself beeing a Mason for many yrs. Taught by my family in the old way. By that i mesn there where rules on how small bit are supposed to be, how to cut around wells without smal fradgile pointy ends, when laying cobbles stone only use maximum of 3 taps etc etc.i do pretty much all stone work. Walls, stairs, different cobble stone patherns, larger cobble stones, 1/4 of cobble stones, Shiffer, splitting blocks and carving/building different walls, granit/concret stone slabbs, miles and miles of road/side stones that you step down from when passing over a crossing etc etc. You learn all things possible to learn in the buisness. And that tskes a looooooong time. After 10 yrs i still didnt know it all. The more you work the more meat you get on your bones. Then you pick out what things you like to do and thats mostly what i focus on, my own favourit parts of beeing a mason. 🤙🏻 🤙🏻

[@HardscapeCanada]

Awesome thank you for sharing and great to connect with you!

[@nopenada3449]

I noticed your chisel doesn't seem to be all that sharp, yet you're still making very precise breaks. I know the chisel doesn't need to be sharp enough to shave with, but is there any advantage to keeping it sharper than the one you're using in this video? Your work is impressive. I'm getting on in years (60), but still very excited about some stonework around my home (I've done some in the past, but with less impressive results). I want (need?) to be as efficient as possible. I've seen guys using angle grinders to start their cuts, but I don't like the mechanical precision associated with the final aesthetic. I'd much rather cut them using the technique you demonstrate here (no power tools). Thanks for making these videos. Oddly satisfying to watch. There's something primal about building with stone that is... sort of addictive!

[@marktroddyn3351]

Awesome! Thank you.

[@DenWickP]

Love your video!

[@hensola]

Excellent vid, would love to see more (other than shorts) on similar chiseling.

[@MUHAMMADAMIN-gy5mk]

Good Demontration.. I Have Sherlock Chisel..😀 I will try

[@TeresaTorres-hs8hj]

Cool

[@susanm.8057]

Cool skills. So damn talented. Looks like fun.

[@HardscapeCanada]

Thanks Susan!

[@robhi3518]

Great, learned something new. Wondering if this will work with granite stone too? However , thanks for sharing Mate.

[@HardscapeCanada]

Hey yes absolutely!

[@Automotive-Velocity]

Now you’re just showing off 😂. I’ll give it a try

[@delatroy]

Thank you. Got some flagstone that I want to make a patio out of same thickness as the final one you hit. I think I might split them all first then use the tracer to split them as you did vertically. Is that a 2 inch tracer you use? For thicker rocks, is it better if the tracer is small or big width? Thanks again

[@johngoudie6676]

Is bluestone considered to be slate? I have a flagstone (1-1/2”) walkway and patio to do and I was wondering how to cut and shape it. Is it the same as on this video?Thanks for a great video!

[@HardscapeCanada]

Slate is a common term used incorrectly sometimes, it’s not quite the same as bluestone in that slate typically is quite layered. It will cut and chisel still like in the video, but will act a little bit differently when we do that! When chiselling definitely work your way in from the edges, and you may be cutting it more than chiselling

[@livenhfree]

Very helpful. I'm venturing into my first stone project... just a natural rock wall. I suspect some of these stones will need to be broken up to fit into smaller areas. Couple of questions: how difficult is it to get a round-ish stone/boulder to split where you want it to? A lot of them are granite, but others are softer, like feldspar. I'm a little concerned that I won't be able to get a split where I want it, such as how you're doing it with slabs. Interested in your thoughts. Thank you!

[@HardscapeCanada]

Hey, it is a bit more difficult to split round stones for sure. I always recommend trying to pick the best stones possible to work with from the start, so that you save the most effort in shaping and placing them. You can split large rocks and round stones with some other techniques like Wedge and Feathers as well. It is all hard work that's for sure! Good on you for giving a wall a go!

[@The_One_Cosmos]

Just yesterday I had about a two inch thick slab of stone that I needed to be about 1 inch thick, and attempted to split it in half depth wise. It ended up breaking into a few pieces and didn't split as intended or how I envisioned it.

[@HardscapeCanada]

Yeah some stone has grains that are layered and will split that way, some won’t. Sometimes it all just breaks no matter what!

[@tockc]

What type of stone is that? Granite flag stone seems wildly unpredictable when chiseling.

[@HardscapeCanada]

This is Pennsylvania Bluestone, a sandstone. Yeah each stone type will require it’s own method that’s for sure!

[@doesleapfarm]

I am doing a couple of home projects with blue stone. One chisel recommendation?

[@HardscapeCanada]

Any tracer will do just fine. Even a cold chisel will do the job with a good 2.5-3lb club hammer. A carbide tipped tracer chisel will perform better but will cost a lot more than a standard cold chisel from Home Depot etc

[@paulwilliams7886]

Thanks for the info. What size chisel is that??

[@HardscapeCanada]

Hey it’s a 1-1/2” I believe, you can check them all out here at their website: www.miconproducts.com/pitching_tools.html

[@Automotive-Velocity]

What width hand tracer chisel do you recommend? 1” bluestone

[@HardscapeCanada]

Hey! I like these ones myself! Hand tracer round body 1.5” width: miconproducts.com/pitching_tools.html

[@Automotive-Velocity]

@@HardscapeCanada I went to the Stone Trust in Vermont and got a nice 1.5” hand tracer. Thank you for the great tracing video! I’m looking forward to getting my skill level up. Sometimes the Bluestone is of inferior quality and the stones are shale like. Is there a different method or do you hand select and avoid getting those stones in your purchases?

[@kevinslover100]

@@HardscapeCanadaWhat diameter handle are you using?

[@JoeSmith-sj4uz]

What brand is that tracer?

[@HardscapeCanada]

Hey here’s a link: www.miconproducts.com/pitching_tools.html

[@kshitijpancholi5594]

Where can i order the chisel in your video?

[@HardscapeCanada]

Hey here you go: www.miconproducts.com

[@Locreai]

Nice chisel. Too rich for my blood. How long will cheap steel do?

[@HardscapeCanada]

You will be swinging your hammer many more times than necessary, and it won’t cut into the stone very well. A necessity if you’re doing a lot of this type of work. Price one into your next project!

[@Locreai]

@@HardscapeCanada my only projects for this would be hobby interests and I have no experience so I couldn't justify the chisel price. I'll have to make due with plain steel. Itll suck but it's just as well I get some experience because I want to build a stone shelter on my land... unless you've got old ones kicking around the shop unused a fella could acquire

[@brenthauxwell8435]

Syck skills

[@jimhobbs9296]

The substrate makes a big difference when cutting stone, just saying.

[@HardscapeCanada]

Love it thanks for the comment Jim! Have you been doing this kind of work for some time?

[@jimhobbs9296]

@@HardscapeCanada 40 plus years.

[@HardscapeCanada]

Awesome Jim, would love to see some of your favourite projects

[@jm-um4st]

Does not work