I have a new block of marble coming in next week for a grave monument I will be carving for a local cemetery, Cave Hill. The block will be nearly six feet long and I cannot be over four feet. It is also 20” x 25”, so I will be using feathers and wedges to split off the nearly two feet of stone I don’t need. This process is as old as the ancient masters. The method is a combination of hole drilling and pressure. The feathers are placed in drilled holes. A wedge is then pounded between the feathers. Over time, the pressure of the wedges against the feathers splits the stone. It is a super cool process! Below, I have added a video link from my YouTube page the shows me splitting a block of limestone. Check it out.

https://youtu.be/2wCUbvKy0qs?si=7C7TMQeoVz8CT0aE