How to Cut Stone with Hand Tools | Ask This Old House

Ask This Old House mason Mark McCullough demonstrates various techniques for cutting stone with hand tools. #ThisOldHouse #AskTOH SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: http://bit.ly/SubscribeThisOldHouse Cost: $10 and up Skill Level: Moderate Tools: Masonry drill [https://amzn.to/33EIibP] Masonry hammer [https://amzn.to/2UfeIqq] Feather and wedges [https://amzn.to/33HMAit] Hand tracer [https://amzn.to/2UzYrLo] Hand point [https://amzn.to/2WCwvcp] Shopping List: Stones Steps: 1. Mark first demonstrated how to cut stone using a feather and wedge system: a. Start by drilling holes in the stone along the line you want to cut. b. Place the feathers on the outside of the hole and the wedge in between them. c. Gently tap on the wedges using a hammer. Listen carefully and pay close attention to the vibrations in the hammer to ensure the rock is splitting slowly and carefully. This step should take some time. d. Keep tapping on the wedges as needed until the stone splits. 2. Mark then demonstrated how to cut stone using a hand tracer: a. Identify the line for the desired cut. b. Place the hand tracer straight down on the line and tap the end of it with the hammer. c. Slide the hand tracer along the line, tapping it with the hammer as you go. The goal is to create a channel for the tracer to eventually slide into. d. Continue to slide the tracer and hit it with the hammer along this line until the stone splits. 3. Finally, Mark explained how to smooth out edges and cuts using a hand point: a. Point the hand point along the bottom edge of any bumps. b. Gently tap the hand point with a hammer and try to get underneath the bump. c. Continue this process slowly and carefully until the bump separates from the stone. Resources: Mark demonstrated a variety of stone cutting tools, including feather and wedges, a hand tracer, and a hand point. These can all be found at home centers and masonry supply stores. About Ask This Old House TV: Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we're ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O'Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook. Follow This Old House and Ask This Old House: Facebook: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseFB Twitter: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTwitter http://bit.ly/AskTOHTwitter Pinterest: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHousePinterest Instagram: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseIG Tumblr: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTumblr Keywords: Renovation Ideas, How To Fix, How To Install, How To Build Watch the full episode: https://ift.tt/2GJYwpo How to Cut Stone with Hand Tools | Ask This Old House https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/