Many many years ago I worked with an old stone mason for a summer job while in high school. He was in high demand to build stone walls, floors, fireplaces, and so forth. He was old school using real rock, not the fake stuff. It was incredible how he could read the grain of a stone, crack it exactly as he wanted it and then lay it perfectly in place. I worked my ass off carrying stone and trying to learn how to cut the rock. I did get pretty good at it by the end of the summer. I asked him how long it took him to learn his trade. He said, I'm still learning! He was in his 70's at the time. As hard as the work was, I looked forward to working with him the following summer. Sadly he passed away during the winter in the middle of a job. No one else around would do stone work. I was asked if I would complete his last job on weekends. I made sure that they knew it would take me twice as long and wouldn't be as perfect as his work. They were happy to just get their massive fireplace done in their great room. So, I did. Finished it just before summer break. Made enough to buy a new car! The customer was thrilled (it did look really good, but the hard part was already done when I started). Never set stone after that...really really hard work.
@@dilipanthonypinto1620 Pretty much. He was damn good. He could crack 'em right on 98% of the time. My average was something quite a bit less...It took me > 4 months to do what he would have had done in 3 weeks.
There are trades that, either due to the introduction of new technologies, or ceased to have economic utility, are being lost over the years. They are so lost in memory that there are those who assure that, for example, the pyramids could not have been built by man with the technology of the moment and want to search for the authorship of these and other titanic works in less earthly theories. I think it is more than proven that the ingenuity and possibilities of humanity in ancient times have been greatly underestimated.
You nailed it @FernandoRodríguez. The interwwwebs was Intended for videos like this to Share Knowledge of Trial & Error with the World. The Electronic version of the Library of Alexandria. Sad it appears the interwwwebs seems to be Dumbing down, sowing Division & Chaos in the world Instead of Bettering the World for our Elders, Children, Disabled & ourselves. Butt butt the 👽awiens👽did it. Ugghhhhh
@@sgvincent100 Да согласен.Но всё же...,сколько усилий и вычислений,для строительства древних строений...которые стоят тысячилетия!!!Которые невозможно создать при современных технологиях,ощущается...как невозможность. Как , запретная археология!🤷♂️
Tens of thousands of people paying their taxes by corvee labour during the wet season when the Nile is flooded. Paid a wage of bread and beer. The currency of Ancient Egypt. Coinage was for the upper classes and for transactions between entire kingdoms
That kind of work relieves your worries at bed time,and makes your supper taste good. You have to respect a man who works like this to keep his family.
I know this probably isn't what you intended, and I mean this with less offense than what it will probably be seen as, but damn. That's boomer as hell.
About 20 years ago, I visited India and, walking with a guide to a very old quarry, saw where they had broken off vast sheets of stone. Similar to the above technique,they created deep holes to start. Then they filled those holes with balsa wood and added water over time. The wood expanded in the holes and broke the stone slabs cleanly.
In colder climes, they could make a row of pits in the stone, fill them with water, let the water freeze and the expanding water/ice would split the rock.
That was the one thing I could not accept about the democrats. And I have been a Democrat before that. They did not create job programs for the common person. There was no creativity with the 2008 recession to employ people. Hundreds of thousands became homeless and died on the streets.
I'm impressed that the older gentleman was swinging a sledge hammer around like it was nothing. Most people half his age would be worn out after a few swings.
Confirming that, trying to install some 1m long zinc coated rods to the ground at contruction site, I was destroyed after third of them. Then old guy tells me to use my brain instead force... Looks very simple but sometimes you need to know how to do job properly, in my case how to hit with heavy hammer without damaging your arms. Good advice from him and we was able to finish the job.
@@ivansemanco6976 yes you lift the sledge hammer and you let the weight of it do the work on the way down maybe put a bit of swing on the way down but not much.
Back years ago us fitters were unsuccessful at trying to start the column nuts on a turbine cover with a 14lb hammer. They would just not start. Our 63 yr old charge hand appears & asks what’s up with us. Always remember ol Taff (ex desert rat), getting astride each one & with perfect timing starting each nut with the first blow effortlessly. No ringing just a thud!! After he’d done all 40 of them ( swinging left & right handed due to restricted access) without raising a sweat, he got down off the turbine & just asked why we couldn’t do that?🤔 We learnt a lot that day, our pride was crushed! It’s all about using the hammer to strike not force! A smashing boss he was, who always looked out for us & could still March at 120 paces a minute!! 🙂
That 86 year old never missed. His stamina and accuracy show a lifetime of hard work. As I'm mid 50s myself it makes me feel good when the younger guys ask for advice and admit the old ways are sometimes better
The earliest trades people were not afraid to do the best that they could, and on the next job they remembered what went wrong, and how those faults could be improved upon. It is difficult to understand how many centuries and dedicated workers past on in the process of improving the methods of a trade. I have been working as a machinist/ toolmaker since 1966, and I am constantly working on “Better, Faster, Cheaper” in that order. After retirement I continued to design and build “things” to satisfy my needs and wants.
The earliest trades people were not afraid to do the best that they could, and on the next job they remembered what went wrong, and how those faults could be improved upon. It is difficult to understand how many centuries and dedicated workers past on in the process of improving the methods of a trade. I have been working as a machinist/ toolmaker since 1966, and I am constantly working on “Better, Faster, Cheaper” in that order. After retirement I continued to design and build “things” to satisfy my needs and wants.
@@robertqueberg4612 Exactly people today are under, some assumption that stuff was built in less time. In reality it literally took a hundreds of years or more time to build things back in Ancient Times, like the Pyramids in Giza for example.
That old man has done this a time or two before. He never misses contact with the chisels. Takes a good eye and a lot of muscle memory to do that consistently.
@@faizullakhan1556 It was just the camera angle. Being on the other side of the stone, we have no view of how much distance is actually between him and the rock on his side. Based on his hammer length and arms it's was around 5-6ft. There is no possible way that stone is going to defy physics and propel itself out from the point of the crack. It can only fall straight down and the stone is flat so it can't roll.
This is how Malay Cham and Javaness cut stone to built Prambanan, the red brick using different techniques by grinding together both brick until join together without mortar, Champa, Peninsular Malay, Sumatra, Java and Bali
The trick is knowing the crystal cleavage plane, which comes through experience as each boulder is formed differently. The cleavage plane lies along the grain boundaries along which the fat nails are laid. The rocks and boulders are giant crystals which have specific cleavage planes along which they can cleave neatly into flat faced pieces
Um no buddy, rocks are made up of many minerals, in most cases with granitic rock, it's about generating week points that then cause a crack to propagate, the crystal sizes of most granitic rocks are 1cm or less. With sedimentary rocks your dealing with layers that can be used as stress planes.
@@davidhobbs5679 nice job correcting him, and he's pretty wrong in so many ways, the crystal structure would work for small Boulders of gemstone minerals like quartz, but never for rocks like these.
The guy splitting the dolerite at 6:09 was the most impressive for me, knowing from experience how much harder that rock is than any other here. You can see how little material each strike removes. I gave up when I tried shaping dolerite, too hard on tools and body, I couldn't do what he does. The tile maker towards the end was most satisfying to watch, those thin slabs coming away so cleanly. Much respect to all these skilled workers.
@Jesus has given you all. Repent or die. Try make sense of this. Adam was created from dirt. Eve was created from Adam rip. They have children's who love to impregnate each other while God knocked up a virgin who already had a husband. -The Bible 🤪
In the last one I make it about nineteen regular blocks produced from one big block with about forty six hammer blows. And some of those were just light taps. Amazing speed, skill and efficiency. These are the people that build the world and seldom take any credit.
Taking credit would be "toxic masculinity" though. Women can do this too...apparently. The skill that man had with that hammer took decades to acquire.
@@SalemikTUBE Man! You really have it bad don't you? You don't think that equally ingenious, hard working and skilled women played any part in what built the world? Don't fixate on the manly stuff man. If nothing else "Man" would have built fuck all if he'd had to bear, deliver and bring up the kids as well as feed and clothe everyone, collect all the fire wood and water, tend the sick etc. etc. Presumably all the while being nice and subservient to their "better" halves. You do have a mother? A grandmother? Go and tell them you're sorry for being such a prick.
I've cut stone with a chisel before. It's an amazing skill. I find it humorous that we "modern" people think we know better. Thousands of years of knowledge should NOT be discarded. They did it for a reason, and most times it's the best way possible.
you can split just about any stone using the pin and hammer but you are correct with the more accurate cuts. most granites like the rock we have in my part of the US will not break that clean. the stone at the end of the video looks like alabaster and sandstone which is much softer and easier to work with.
i work in a rock quarry. in the winter with subzero temps you can fill those holes with water and the ice expansion will do the same. They still do this for specialty sized rock. this is probably for building/foundations or a wall of some sort. Mostly we just drill 6" wide holes then fill with explosives.
I worked for a masonry company, decades ago, building the seawall around Stanley Park in Vancouver. This was an annual project that got sections built each year. My section ran under the Lion's Gate Bridge ....and I think it is still standing, ...even after the recent storm surges. Splitting of big rocks to "fit" for the masons was one part of the job. Not at all difficult, but the holes were "drilled" ....not "chiseled" as this old gent is doing. So what he is doing, is indeed very impressive ....FOR HIS AGE ....and I can tell he is enjoying this particular task. You can hear the "break" occur around 1:30 of the first clip.
The ice expansion method, was how the first farmers in the northern U.S. split the huge glacial erratics that were pushed south by the glaciers. I saw a couple as big as the guy’s house. He showed me the holes. Too much rock and not enough ice. The first guy may have backed off the rock.
Yeah, I saw my father do this kind of stuff when I was little. He died 10 years ago of old age at age 96 but still insisted on doing stuff around my house at 80 carrying stuff around I could hardly lift ... As someone mentioned before, these old coots (respectfully) had their workouts in work! A lot of respect not only for them as a person but also for their craftmanship! Hats off from me!
It's sad people compare rudimentary stone masonry to the megalithic masterpieces in Peru and other parts of the world. People are literally amazed someone can split stone with wedge and hammer.
Wow I thought only aliens could split rocks without modern tools. 😄 Actually it is a great treat to watch skilled craftsmen at work. Totally have my respect.
@@K40005 You'll need to do some research on material hardness. The quality of the material certainly matters. Once again, Bronze Age does not equal Iron Age tools.
@@russellinator "The mainstream archaeological view is that it was done with copper, bronze, and wooden tools used by Egyptian masons today to cut granite. Others, however, have suggested that it was done with more advanced equipment that is yet to be discovered. For the time being, the balance of evidence seems to suggest the mainstream view that primitive metal and wooden tools used by common stone masons were sufficient for cutting through granite." direct copy and paste A metal spike is a metal spike yes they are more likely to bend or break with weaker materials but it will still break through rock
I’m impressed that old man still had the strength to swing the hammer very well, and this dude was wearing a jacket, hat, nice shoes and didn’t take off or change anything. That’s a legend.
What's so impressive about this? It's more impressive how weak humans nowadays are because all they do is sit in offices all day and waste away in every sense of being.
My grandpa used to do that around 1950, mainly with basalt, to turn the big rocks into paving stones, in the form of an almost perfect cube approximately 15x15x15 cm or 6x6x6 inches. It was a widespread job here in southern Brazil, at a time when there was no machines, only men working hard. Basalt rock is abundant here, and this stones were used for paving streets and roads. There are still plenty of streets made this way.
@@Fernando_S it's a joke. Bath Salts are salts you put in baths, but some people have used them to get high. He's joking about the way "Bath Salts" and "basalt" sound similar. At least here in the states.
My father was a stonemason and so are my brothers, we are a family of stone masons and it's a great thrill to see these videos! Frim Casentino, Tuscany, with love.... and this is a music for my ears!
I admire the work. An old stonemason, who would drink home made wine at 10 in the morning, built a retaining wall for my family many years ago. What a craftsman! He got my younger brother to assist him and he was very precise.
Дедушка моего знакомого из Москвы во время Второй мировой войны был угнан на работу в Германию. Работал он в каменоломне. Многие не выдерживали такой работы. Немолодой Немец часто отдавал свой обед голодному Русскому мальчишке. Он же научил его как находить слабые места в камне. Что бы раскалывать камень не расходуя последних сил. И мы видим такую работу, результат достигается умением находить в камне слабое место. В камне есть трещины и разломы. По ним мастер и бьёт. Став отцом большого семейства тот мальчишка рассказывал как спас от смерти его тот пожилой каменотес. До последнего дня своего сохранил он память о нём.
I had a boulder once where I wanted to smooth out for a grass covered passage. Shaped like fat almond, 4 ft long tapered 2x2 to 3x3 ft wide and deep. I bet one of these guys could make nice manageble stones out of it within an hour. Took me a good 8hrs with a pneumatic powered water cooled drill and three wedges to slice it up and move it. (I was also hand digging around it to find out just how large it really was). What a work out, but I experienced the nice effect when sledge hammering: each blow the 'ping' kept raising in frequency, brighter and brighter, until you heard a subtle muted grumble. Then when you hit the wedge it was just a dampened 'pock' noise and you see the hair line crack form/widen. Looking at these videos I can deduce I over drilled the fkkk out of that boulder, but on other hand each piece came out exactly as planned... Each peice unerestimated in weight! 😂 Bloody hell Rocks quickly become heavy with size as the eye isn't really comprehending volume (hence weight) is increasing at a cubed rate. Good times...
They guy with "trying" to do the arch was hitting way to Hard @Terry Winderweedle . Could tell as soon as little chunks were popping loose. Patience is virtue & lack of Patience ruined that one.
I split wood in my backyard every fall and I really like the sound the wood makes when you hit it just right and it begins to make this long crackling sound within the wood. It's such a satisfying sound.
@@NobodyNewsNetwork yes there were. That's a myth. Egyptians and Ancient Romans both cut and chipped the stones down further to smoothen the surfaces. It took actual structural and Mechanical Engineers to redefine and correct what historians and archaeologist once believed. There's many finishing techniques they used to lose the worked edges. I learned about This while taking Mechanical Science course while on my way to becoming an engineer and they got a lot of stuff wrong. This one of them. They were also wrong about how they got stones that large to build the pyramids. Just simple physics. Sometimes we don't give these ancient civilizations like that enough respect to their ingenuity
@@susanmyers1899 Yeah, it not a hard process. Just very time consuming. So it was common for that to be a job of smaller or older men because all they had to do was sit or stand there and tap on chisels with a hammer..moving and setting the stones is was the real feat
I'd like to point out how he isn't gripping the sledgehammer too tightly, and when he strikes the spikes his top hand slides toward the top allowing him to draw back up again in a quick and efficient way.
My Dad was a stone mason. He used to have me split fieldstone. He would study the stone, place it on the ground, and give it a whack with a sledgehammer. Split perfectly in two. Now my 14 year old turn. Put it on the ground, wail on it with a sledgehammer 20 times. I am worn out and the result is a stone with a bunch of shards taken out. There definitely is an art to understanding stone grains and such.
God bless their hearts...and all who are doing what they can in our own little corner of the world...to make it a little better. I love to watch people. Everyone is special.
Save the feathers.....he was listening for the crack..... could have used corn and wooden bung....slower.... but just as effective... thanks for sharing his skill.
I like the fact that the first guy is doing masonry work and he's better dressed than most people in the US. Like he's in a fancy cocktail party and just say "hey everyone, watch this". The hat is perfect.
Congratulations to him for this really good performance! God bless the old lord for a very long time in strength, health, peace! Have a nice day, a weekend to everyone also in strength, health, peace! I wish you good luck! 👍🍀🇭🇺🌞☝️
Watch his hand as soon as he hit the chisel@@bradleylefika9209. Each hit he turns the chisel just a little bit then would pull chisel out a bit to remove fragments.
86 and still swinging a sledgehammer! Way to stay fit and young. HAVE to know when that huge stone is ready to fall and get out of the way! Kicking it!
That level of control over a sledgehammer. He has been doing this long enough to know to let the hammer do the work and all he has to do is guide it. Too many youngins today would try to slam the hammer down.
I’m from Elberton Georgia and work in the monument industry we still break granite blocks like this to make headstones I spent of my day swinging a 8 pound sledgehammer
Great. This is how our ancestors built everything without the help of electrical equipments. They were not got any Engineering certificate from anywhere. In my village, I found 10-20 feet high stone walls built by my illiterate father on the slopes of the small hill in the farmland. Some stones of the wall weighed about 200-500 kg and we all wondered how my father pulled up such stones ( till a mystery). After his death, we used jeletine sticks to demolish such huge stones, so our modern Mason can work for a new wall. Hats off to our old people who knew the nature well.
Its so novel to me to see a person doing one job role and producing a viable minimum product. I do 20-30 job roles everyday in my career probably don't live 1/2 has good as this fella, life is hella funny sometimes. All I can do is tip my hat.
Maybe, then again the old fellows also doing the objectively easiest part... & holes where already drilled so I'm sure he had alot of help setting up that was edited out not to mention whoever is shooting/editing; things aren't always simple as they seem, on second look it was probably quite the undertaking to make it look like this guy actually did the work. Either way no small undertaking.
Glad I'm not the only one that noticed that. Seems most people are thinking they are using as much force as they can. Like the Elder in the first clip, just little taps & one can hear the difference as he moved along & ended up with a smooth surface all the way through.
Pretty sure it started off throwing a rock at an animal for food & seeing the rock split. Person picks up split rock, hits rocks again & cuts self with sharp edge. Invention of flint knapping happens. Evolution of making tools begins.
I googled "how the pyramids we're made" this video came up... And now I believe that human really made the pyramids. If one man can do this imagine what thousands all working together could do.... ( Pyramids )
Don't forget the Aztecs & Mayans. Same thing same way. Can even still see nobs on a lot of the giant stones where ropes were able to be tied to move them into place.
Unfortunately this amazing skill is dieing out along with a lot of other skills that have been handed down through the years of father son trades and apprenticeships
@@abel3557 knowing it's basic physics is one thing but implementing it at the level you see here is another. I used to heavy labor and the guys doing stone work were always the most impressive to me
@@doransshield9176 I'm implying that people are forgetting basic physics now. A wedge is simple to use yet some don't know how which is why the technique is being forgotten
Because a single machine can cut the amount of rocks any single person can cut in an entire year in just a single day. It's dying out in a lot of the world because it's obsolete; which is something to celebrate, not mourn. Be glad you're in a world where you can sit and watch youtube videos on your phone instead of having to hunt for your food every day, build your own shelters, and weave your own clothing.
![What We Discovered Buried Shocked The Whole World❌ [ Strange Treasure Hunt By Metal Detector ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ks_rPaCsezE/mqdefault.jpg)
Many many years ago I worked with an old stone mason for a summer job while in high school. He was in high demand to build stone walls, floors, fireplaces, and so forth. He was old school using real rock, not the fake stuff. It was incredible how he could read the grain of a stone, crack it exactly as he wanted it and then lay it perfectly in place. I worked my ass off carrying stone and trying to learn how to cut the rock. I did get pretty good at it by the end of the summer. I asked him how long it took him to learn his trade. He said, I'm still learning! He was in his 70's at the time. As hard as the work was, I looked forward to working with him the following summer. Sadly he passed away during the winter in the middle of a job. No one else around would do stone work. I was asked if I would complete his last job on weekends. I made sure that they knew it would take me twice as long and wouldn't be as perfect as his work. They were happy to just get their massive fireplace done in their great room. So, I did. Finished it just before summer break. Made enough to buy a new car! The customer was thrilled (it did look really good, but the hard part was already done when I started). Never set stone after that...really really hard work.
@@richardg1426 with precision accuracy to 1/50” and no punch marks to boot as well I take it…?
That's dope, man.
This made me burst 😭😭😭 i love stories like these. He was watching out for you.
Great story 👍👍👍
@@dilipanthonypinto1620 Pretty much. He was damn good. He could crack 'em right on 98% of the time. My average was something quite a bit less...It took me > 4 months to do what he would have had done in 3 weeks.
There are trades that, either due to the introduction of new technologies, or ceased to have economic utility, are being lost over the years. They are so lost in memory that there are those who assure that, for example, the pyramids could not have been built by man with the technology of the moment and want to search for the authorship of these and other titanic works in less earthly theories. I think it is more than proven that the ingenuity and possibilities of humanity in ancient times have been greatly underestimated.
You nailed it @FernandoRodríguez.
The interwwwebs was Intended for videos like this to Share Knowledge of Trial & Error with the World. The Electronic version of the Library of Alexandria. Sad it appears the interwwwebs seems to be Dumbing down, sowing Division & Chaos in the world Instead of Bettering the World for our Elders, Children, Disabled & ourselves.
Butt butt the 👽awiens👽did it. Ugghhhhh
@@sgvincent100 Да согласен.Но всё же...,сколько усилий и вычислений,для строительства древних строений...которые стоят тысячилетия!!!Которые невозможно создать при современных технологиях,ощущается...как невозможность. Как , запретная археология!🤷♂️
Well said!
Tens of thousands of people paying their taxes by corvee labour during the wet season when the Nile is flooded. Paid a wage of bread and beer. The currency of Ancient Egypt. Coinage was for the upper classes and for transactions between entire kingdoms
@@sgvincent100 s1
That kind of work relieves your worries at bed time,and makes your supper taste good. You have to respect a man who works like this to keep his family.
This is really well said.
I know this probably isn't what you intended, and I mean this with less offense than what it will probably be seen as, but damn. That's boomer as hell.
What if he's got no family, or never had one? Does that make him less of a man because he didn't senselessly breed?
@@ModMokkaMatti If he didn't have a family, he rests easy after a job well done by his hand.
About 20 years ago, I visited India and, walking with a guide to a very old quarry, saw where they had broken off vast sheets of stone. Similar to the above technique,they created deep holes to start. Then they filled those holes with balsa wood and added water over time. The wood expanded in the holes and broke the stone slabs cleanly.
I learned about that in a book about how the pyramids were made.
That's interesting.
In colder climes, they could make a row of pits in the stone, fill them with water, let the water freeze and the expanding water/ice would split the rock.
Simple and brilliant. You know the dude who first came up with that was the town hero when it actually worked to plan lol
My grandfather could cut and trim stone. He learned this as a teenager working with the WPA during the depression years. Woodrow 1916-2001 RIP.
That’s really cool He is a true part of American history, I would be proud of Him too.
Now u Teach me!!!
That was the one thing I could not accept about the democrats. And I have been a Democrat before that. They did not create job programs for the common person. There was no creativity with the 2008 recession to employ people. Hundreds of thousands became homeless and died on the streets.
I'm impressed that the older gentleman was swinging a sledge hammer around like it was nothing. Most people half his age would be worn out after a few swings.
Confirming that, trying to install some 1m long zinc coated rods to the ground at contruction site, I was destroyed after third of them. Then old guy tells me to use my brain instead force... Looks very simple but sometimes you need to know how to do job properly, in my case how to hit with heavy hammer without damaging your arms. Good advice from him and we was able to finish the job.
@@ivansemanco6976 yes you lift the sledge hammer and you let the weight of it do the work on the way down maybe put a bit of swing on the way down but not much.
@@MattersNot Exactly.
Back years ago us fitters were unsuccessful at trying to start the column nuts on a turbine cover with a 14lb hammer.
They would just not start.
Our 63 yr old charge hand appears & asks what’s up with us. Always remember ol Taff (ex desert rat), getting astride each one & with perfect timing starting each nut with the first blow effortlessly. No ringing just a thud!!
After he’d done all 40 of them ( swinging left & right handed due to restricted access) without raising a sweat, he got down off the turbine & just asked why we couldn’t do that?🤔
We learnt a lot that day, our pride was crushed!
It’s all about using the hammer to strike not force!
A smashing boss he was, who always looked out for us & could still March at 120 paces a minute!! 🙂
That 86 year old never missed.
His stamina and accuracy show a lifetime of hard work.
As I'm mid 50s myself it makes me feel good when the younger guys ask for advice and admit the old ways are sometimes better
"If aliens didnt build this how did ancient people make such perfectly straight cuts out of such huge stones"
Ancient people:
Probably because people were more resourceful, and improvised with what they had. That's definitely something modern technology doesn't provide.
The earliest trades people were not afraid to do the best that they could, and on the next job they remembered what went wrong, and how those faults could be improved upon. It is difficult to understand how many centuries and dedicated workers past on in the process of improving the methods of a trade. I have been working as a machinist/ toolmaker since 1966, and I am constantly working on “Better, Faster, Cheaper” in that order. After retirement I continued to design and build “things” to satisfy my needs and wants.
The earliest trades people were not afraid to do the best that they could, and on the next job they remembered what went wrong, and how those faults could be improved upon. It is difficult to understand how many centuries and dedicated workers past on in the process of improving the methods of a trade. I have been working as a machinist/ toolmaker since 1966, and I am constantly working on “Better, Faster, Cheaper” in that order. After retirement I continued to design and build “things” to satisfy my needs and wants.
@@robertqueberg4612 Exactly people today are under, some assumption that stuff was built in less time. In reality it literally took a hundreds of years or more time to build things back in Ancient Times, like the Pyramids in Giza for example.
These tools are not made of bronze lol
That old man has done this a time or two before. He never misses contact with the chisels. Takes a good eye and a lot of muscle memory to do that consistently.
He missed twice actually but yes very impressive physical labor for his age. I just couldn't get over how he stood in the danger zone the whole time
@@cptnbustanut I was worried about that too. He was in the fall off zone.
@@faizullakhan1556 It was just the camera angle. Being on the other side of the stone, we have no view of how much distance is actually between him and the rock on his side. Based on his hammer length and arms it's was around 5-6ft. There is no possible way that stone is going to defy physics and propel itself out from the point of the crack. It can only fall straight down and the stone is flat so it can't roll.
*He is very healthy and has a strong passion*
This is how Malay Cham and Javaness cut stone to built Prambanan, the red brick using different techniques by grinding together both brick until join together without mortar, Champa, Peninsular Malay, Sumatra, Java and Bali
lol who
And yet as amazing as this trade is, humans have had this skill nearly as long as we have existed.
@@jellyfishi_ Relax
"have had", how many do now though? that's what makes it impressive. This isnt inovative in any way, it's just skillfull labor
The trick is knowing the crystal cleavage plane, which comes through experience as each boulder is formed differently. The cleavage plane lies along the grain boundaries along which the fat nails are laid. The rocks and boulders are giant crystals which have specific cleavage planes along which they can cleave neatly into flat faced pieces
Ha you said cleavage
That's really really cool, thank you for sharing.
Also, haha, you said cleavage!
Sorry, I am immature.
Um no buddy, rocks are made up of many minerals, in most cases with granitic rock, it's about generating week points that then cause a crack to propagate, the crystal sizes of most granitic rocks are 1cm or less. With sedimentary rocks your dealing with layers that can be used as stress planes.
@@davidhobbs5679 nice job correcting him, and he's pretty wrong in so many ways, the crystal structure would work for small Boulders of gemstone minerals like quartz, but never for rocks like these.
Ah yes the cleavage! What we are all looking for so diligently.
The guy splitting the dolerite at 6:09 was the most impressive for me, knowing from experience how much harder that rock is than any other here. You can see how little material each strike removes. I gave up when I tried shaping dolerite, too hard on tools and body, I couldn't do what he does. The tile maker towards the end was most satisfying to watch, those thin slabs coming away so cleanly. Much respect to all these skilled workers.
10:43? That’s the end of the video
@@joshl90 ya a
@@joshl90 oops, my bad. Edited.
Nice perspective.
@Jesus has given you all. Repent or die. Try make sense of this.
Adam was created from dirt.
Eve was created from Adam rip.
They have children's who love to impregnate each other while God knocked up a virgin who already had a husband.
-The Bible
🤪
In the last one I make it about nineteen regular blocks produced from one big block with about forty six hammer blows. And some of those were just light taps.
Amazing speed, skill and efficiency.
These are the people that build the world and seldom take any credit.
Taking credit would be "toxic masculinity" though. Women can do this too...apparently.
The skill that man had with that hammer took decades to acquire.
@@SalemikTUBE Man! You really have it bad don't you?
You don't think that equally ingenious, hard working and skilled women played any part in what built the world?
Don't fixate on the manly stuff man.
If nothing else "Man" would have built fuck all if he'd had to bear, deliver and bring up the kids as well as feed and clothe everyone, collect all the fire wood and water, tend the sick etc. etc.
Presumably all the while being nice and subservient to their "better" halves.
You do have a mother? A grandmother?
Go and tell them you're sorry for being such a prick.
@@SalemikTUBE And stop wanking as much and get out once in a while.
Eat fruit!
@@SalemikTUBE did anyone ask my guy or are you randomly spazzing out?
@@sibit1 to sound like a virtual rock quarry boss all ready with cutting remarks
What a bunch of absolute legends. This really gives me an appreciation for power tools too.
I've cut stone with a chisel before. It's an amazing skill. I find it humorous that we "modern" people think we know better. Thousands of years of knowledge should NOT be discarded. They did it for a reason, and most times it's the best way possible.
I understand that it is a very particular stone which breaks so cleanly, but it makes these examples no less amazing!
Nope , that can be done virtually any stone.
В самом начале дед колол гранит а это очень твердый камень
Áaaáaaaáááaáaáaáaaáaáaááá
Áaaaáaaáaaa
you can split just about any stone using the pin and hammer but you are correct with the more accurate cuts. most granites like the rock we have in my part of the US will not break that clean. the stone at the end of the video looks like alabaster and sandstone which is much softer and easier to work with.
its nice that the old man taught the younger generation a skill he learned so long ago
Yup. About 50 years ago...
Experience is everything. Know your tools, know your materials . . . Know your job.
i work in a rock quarry. in the winter with subzero temps you can fill those holes with water and the ice expansion will do the same. They still do this for specialty sized rock. this is probably for building/foundations or a wall of some sort. Mostly we just drill 6" wide holes then fill with explosives.
I worked for a masonry company, decades ago, building the seawall around Stanley Park in Vancouver. This was an annual project that got sections built each year. My section ran under the Lion's Gate Bridge ....and I think it is still standing, ...even after the recent storm surges. Splitting of big rocks to "fit" for the masons was one part of the job. Not at all difficult, but the holes were "drilled" ....not "chiseled" as this old gent is doing. So what he is doing, is indeed very impressive ....FOR HIS AGE ....and I can tell he is enjoying this particular task.
You can hear the "break" occur around 1:30 of the first clip.
The ice expansion method, was how the first farmers in the northern U.S. split the huge glacial erratics that were pushed south by the glaciers. I saw a couple as big as the guy’s house. He showed me the holes. Too much rock and not enough ice. The first guy may have backed off the rock.
i think they making tombstones
Yeah, I saw my father do this kind of stuff when I was little. He died 10 years ago of old age at age 96 but still insisted on doing stuff around my house at 80 carrying stuff around I could hardly lift ... As someone mentioned before, these old coots (respectfully) had their workouts in work! A lot of respect not only for them as a person but also for their craftmanship! Hats off from me!
"There's no way the ancients could have made stone like this"
It's sad people compare rudimentary stone masonry to the megalithic masterpieces in Peru and other parts of the world. People are literally amazed someone can split stone with wedge and hammer.
Wow I thought only aliens could split rocks without modern tools. 😄
Actually it is a great treat to watch skilled craftsmen at work. Totally have my respect.
These people are using modern metal tools, lol. Bronze Age is not Iron Age.
@@russellinator just because the material changes doesn't mean the method does it may however be less efficient with lower quality materials
@@K40005 You'll need to do some research on material hardness. The quality of the material certainly matters. Once again, Bronze Age does not equal Iron Age tools.
@@russellinator "The mainstream archaeological view is that it was done with copper, bronze, and wooden tools used by Egyptian masons today to cut granite. Others, however, have suggested that it was done with more advanced equipment that is yet to be discovered. For the time being, the balance of evidence seems to suggest the mainstream view that primitive metal and wooden tools used by common stone masons were sufficient for cutting through granite." direct copy and paste
A metal spike is a metal spike yes they are more likely to bend or break with weaker materials but it will still break through rock
@@K40005 You really don't understand material hardness. You can't cut steak with butter...you can't cut granite with bronze. lol
This is amazing to watch and possibly could be very useful. All of them were very impressive, but the guy making the tiles was really awesome.
This was impressive, nice to know that these skills still exist.
Not for long
@@CephlonMayngrum went to bet? i've done it, it's not that hard just take's time.
This is not that hard to do. The tensile strength of stone is quite weak.
I’m impressed that old man still had the strength to swing the hammer very well, and this dude was wearing a jacket, hat, nice shoes and didn’t take off or change anything. That’s a legend.
What's so impressive about this? It's more impressive how weak humans nowadays are because all they do is sit in offices all day and waste away in every sense of being.
Boss splitting the thin slabs was pretty damn efficient. Guy could brew up a serious patio worth in a day if he had all the right stone ready.
I think the more amazing thing was that he was wearing flip flops while doing that. That is confidence that nothing will go wrong there
@@SilvrSavior good call I had to rewatch that and no shit fuckin sandals!
Very impressed by the one at 9:00 and even more impressed by the precision of the worker at 9:38!
My grandpa used to do that around 1950, mainly with basalt, to turn the big rocks into paving stones, in the form of an almost perfect cube approximately 15x15x15 cm or 6x6x6 inches. It was a widespread job here in southern Brazil, at a time when there was no machines, only men working hard. Basalt rock is abundant here, and this stones were used for paving streets and roads. There are still plenty of streets made this way.
Why did he use bathsalts? Probably needed to stay up huh?
അത് ശെരി
@@jonholmes6551 It's not bathsalt, it's basalt, a kind of volcanic rock made from lava.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basalt?wprov=sfla1
@@travelwithme3680 Sorry, I can't understand that writing.
@@Fernando_S it's a joke. Bath Salts are salts you put in baths, but some people have used them to get high. He's joking about the way "Bath Salts" and "basalt" sound similar. At least here in the states.
In a hat and jacket. So wonderful to see.
My father was a stonemason and so are my brothers, we are a family of stone masons and it's a great thrill to see these videos! Frim Casentino, Tuscany, with love.... and this is a music for my ears!
I admire the work. An old stonemason, who would drink home made wine at 10 in the morning, built a retaining wall for my family many years ago. What a craftsman! He got my younger brother to assist him and he was very precise.
What’s amazing is whoever first figured this out. Awesome 👏
I’ve done this before on our farm. I couldn’t believe how straight it split.
Old style, man ,old style!
Respect!
First guy is brazilian, and I hear about this technique, used a lot here in our days.
These are the true stone masons, we think the stone is unpredictable, while they have learned how it breaks and what it truly forms, amazing
These are cobble stones for roads. Imagine making millions of these. These old guys did it.
Дедушка моего знакомого из Москвы во время Второй мировой войны был угнан на работу в Германию. Работал он в каменоломне. Многие не выдерживали такой работы. Немолодой Немец часто отдавал свой обед голодному Русскому мальчишке. Он же научил его как находить слабые места в камне. Что бы раскалывать камень не расходуя последних сил. И мы видим такую работу, результат достигается умением находить в камне слабое место. В камне есть трещины и разломы. По ним мастер и бьёт. Став отцом большого семейства тот мальчишка рассказывал как спас от смерти его тот пожилой каменотес. До последнего дня своего сохранил он память о нём.
Don't let anyone from "History Channel" watch this. They'll immediately make another series on these skilled sculptors calling them Aliens.
My shoulder hurts just by watching this dude. Tougher than nails
If you notice, the tone of the strikes changes once the rock is started to fracture....it's a combo of feeling and hearing what's going on. Nice work.
I had a boulder once where I wanted to smooth out for a grass covered passage. Shaped like fat almond, 4 ft long tapered 2x2 to 3x3 ft wide and deep. I bet one of these guys could make nice manageble stones out of it within an hour. Took me a good 8hrs with a pneumatic powered water cooled drill and three wedges to slice it up and move it. (I was also hand digging around it to find out just how large it really was). What a work out, but I experienced the nice effect when sledge hammering: each blow the 'ping' kept raising in frequency, brighter and brighter, until you heard a subtle muted grumble. Then when you hit the wedge it was just a dampened 'pock' noise and you see the hair line crack form/widen. Looking at these videos I can deduce I over drilled the fkkk out of that boulder, but on other hand each piece came out exactly as planned... Each peice unerestimated in weight! 😂 Bloody hell Rocks quickly become heavy with size as the eye isn't really comprehending volume (hence weight) is increasing at a cubed rate. Good times...
They guy with "trying" to do the arch was hitting way to Hard @Terry Winderweedle . Could tell as soon as little chunks were popping loose. Patience is virtue & lack of Patience ruined that one.
I split wood in my backyard every fall and I really like the sound the wood makes when you hit it just right and it begins to make this long crackling sound within the wood. It's such a satisfying sound.
Brilliant,now I can see how past civilazations built such amazing structures.
There are no such markings on the ancient stones.
@@NobodyNewsNetwork yes there were. That's a myth. Egyptians and Ancient Romans both cut and chipped the stones down further to smoothen the surfaces. It took actual structural and Mechanical Engineers to redefine and correct what historians and archaeologist once believed. There's many finishing techniques they used to lose the worked edges. I learned about This while taking Mechanical Science course while on my way to becoming an engineer and they got a lot of stuff wrong. This one of them. They were also wrong about how they got stones that large to build the pyramids. Just simple physics. Sometimes we don't give these ancient civilizations like that enough respect to their ingenuity
@@theglassmaster3140 Totally,even older people seem to have split stone,like the neolithic structures in the Scottish Islands and Turkey.
@@susanmyers1899 Yeah, it not a hard process. Just very time consuming. So it was common for that to be a job of smaller or older men because all they had to do was sit or stand there and tap on chisels with a hammer..moving and setting the stones is was the real feat
What a remarkable man. The old lifestyle keep them fit and healthy
There is nothing stronger than man in the world.
A tiger or bear wolfs gorilla , chimpanzee ripped a woman’s face off etc pretty strong
I'd like to point out how he isn't gripping the sledgehammer too tightly, and when he strikes the spikes his top hand slides toward the top allowing him to draw back up again in a quick and efficient way.
It also helps reduce the recoil pressure from the hit
@@bradleylefika9209 more like recoil impact, shock
That guy making tiles is insane. Crazy how skilled these people are
Wow, If I make it to his age, I hope that I'm in half the shape he is. Well done sir.
I am 68 and surely could not swing that hammer in a frequency and as often as he does. Respect.
A hundred whacks a day with a sledge hammer will do it. Get whacking...!
My Dad was a stone mason. He used to have me split fieldstone. He would study the stone, place it on the ground, and give it a whack with a sledgehammer. Split perfectly in two. Now my 14 year old turn. Put it on the ground, wail on it with a sledgehammer 20 times. I am worn out and the result is a stone with a bunch of shards taken out. There definitely is an art to understanding stone grains and such.
God bless their hearts...and all who are doing what they can in our own little corner of the world...to make it a little better. I love to watch people. Everyone is special.
I have seen this done in person but never by a man of his age...he is WONDERFUL!
Wow, 86 and swinging that sledge hammer like Thor, impressive.
One of the most satisfying videos I've ever seen.
Two guys working together... "When I nod my head, you hit it."
It's truly crazy watching these folks use this extraterrestrial technology. Highly compelling.
Save the feathers.....he was listening for the crack..... could have used corn and wooden bung....slower.... but just as effective... thanks for sharing his skill.
I like the fact that the first guy is doing masonry work and he's better dressed than most people in the US. Like he's in a fancy cocktail party and just say "hey everyone, watch this". The hat is perfect.
I cant even split wood that fast !
Pride in craftmanship
Meu Deus como vocês trabalham, tem ter força sabedoria na onde bater para sair certinho o tamanho da pedra, parabéns que Deus abençoe vocês todos!!
This line of work always had a rocky future.
Congratulations to him for this really good performance! God bless the old lord for a very long time in strength, health, peace! Have a nice day, a weekend to everyone also in strength, health, peace! I wish you good luck!
👍🍀🇭🇺🌞☝️
Some pray for an easy job. He prayed for a strong back.
@@rayhensley9537
Thank you very much for your comment! Have a nice day and everyone's strength, health and peace! I wish you good luck!
👍🍀🇭🇺🌞☝️
I like the guy having a smoke like it's break time and still hammering away
Did you see how consistent he was hitting the name and never hit a finger
Watch his hand as soon as he hit the chisel@@bradleylefika9209. Each hit he turns the chisel just a little bit then would pull chisel out a bit to remove fragments.
Amazing technique and skill by these men!
86 and still swinging a sledgehammer! Way to stay fit and young. HAVE to know when that huge stone is ready to fall and get out of the way! Kicking it!
9:35 omg jaki miękki kamień. Granit nigdy by się tak nie poddał
That level of control over a sledgehammer. He has been doing this long enough to know to let the hammer do the work and all he has to do is guide it.
Too many youngins today would try to slam the hammer down.
TOTALLY OLD MAN MOTIVATION WITH HARDWORKING SO VERY HAPPY
I’m from Elberton Georgia and work in the monument industry we still break granite blocks like this to make headstones I spent of my day swinging a 8 pound sledgehammer
Guys, crude stone cutting is very difficult job. Al lot of skill is needed, too.
Great. This is how our ancestors built everything without the help of electrical equipments. They were not got any Engineering certificate from anywhere. In my village, I found 10-20 feet high stone walls built by my illiterate father on the slopes of the small hill in the farmland. Some stones of the wall weighed about 200-500 kg and we all wondered how my father pulled up such stones ( till a mystery). After his death, we used jeletine sticks to demolish such huge stones, so our modern Mason can work for a new wall. Hats off to our old people who knew the nature well.
They’d all make great baseball players, I’d bet. Great hand-eye coordination.
This idea was around over thousands of years but a time to honor tradition
Its so novel to me to see a person doing one job role and producing a viable minimum product.
I do 20-30 job roles everyday in my career probably don't live 1/2 has good as this fella, life is hella funny sometimes.
All I can do is tip my hat.
Doing one thing exceptionally is usually better than doing 2 things decently. Just how life goes
Maybe, then again the old fellows also doing the objectively easiest part... & holes where already drilled so I'm sure he had alot of help setting up that was edited out not to mention whoever is shooting/editing; things aren't always simple as they seem, on second look it was probably quite the undertaking to make it look like this guy actually did the work. Either way no small undertaking.
Вот как пирамиды строили низкий вам поклон мастера дай вам бог здоровья и многих лет жизни
But wait!? The Ancient aliens guy said that only the aliens had the technology to split rocks this well!?
No they never said that.
a lifetime of turning big rocks into little rocks. Humans are amazing.
Note: after the butterfly wedges are seated give it some time , the pressure crack will go straighter to the bottom
Glad I'm not the only one that noticed that. Seems most people are thinking they are using as much force as they can. Like the Elder in the first clip, just little taps & one can hear the difference as he moved along & ended up with a smooth surface all the way through.
💯Respect!!👍
Wow the slow steady precision of skill and patience, of hand and mind... 😯👍💯
Simply awesome 👌
That old man would whoop the majority of these viewers ass. Guaranteed.
These men must be the aliens that built all the ancient structures.
Последний Индус, прям реально высокий уровень, владения кувалдой...))
Excellent👍
The Indian guy was insane. He was putting so much power into those swings.
and to think it has been done this way for thousands of years you wondered how they cut the blocks for the pyramids here you go
Yup no need for aliens.
Very efficient. Classic good ol' ingenuity and a lil know how.
Wow amazing skill 🙏
You can say that an old profession is outdated but you can never say its effortless.
Impressive skills I've tried it personally and failed miserably but I know it's possible to achieve
My Dad used to do this - he called the long chisel a Jumper.
Me: has 2 essays due in an hour
RUclips: Do you want to see old man breaking rocks?
Me: Ok, one more video, the essays can wait.
lmaoo of course man, the old man is a chad
I have to do this alot in the woods with really big tree rounds. this old man has incredible strength and endurance
Proper skill👏👏👏
damn that last dude was skilled, and pretty much a beast.. such precision!
I imagine ihe first guy to ever try this thousands of years ago. All his pals laughing at him as he whacks away then suddenly; "Clunk!" It worked!
Pretty sure it started off throwing a rock at an animal for food & seeing the rock split. Person picks up split rock, hits rocks again & cuts self with sharp edge. Invention of flint knapping happens. Evolution of making tools begins.
wow.....that guy must have been a beast when he was younger!!
nossa quanto que fiz isso , quanta saudades , meus aplausos a vcs canteiro . parabéns 👏😅😅😅
Também cortei muita pedra hoje trabalho só com assentamento de pedras decorativas
Some things are just ancestral when it comes to experience, I don't care what people say.
I googled "how the pyramids we're made" this video came up... And now I believe that human really made the pyramids. If one man can do this imagine what thousands all working together could do.... ( Pyramids )
Don't forget the Aztecs & Mayans. Same thing same way. Can even still see nobs on a lot of the giant stones where ropes were able to be tied to move them into place.
This was beautiful. So calming.
Unfortunately this amazing skill is dieing out along with a lot of other skills that have been handed down through the years of father son trades and apprenticeships
It's not dying out. It's basic physics. It's called a wedge but with a weirder design.
@@abel3557 knowing it's basic physics is one thing but implementing it at the level you see here is another. I used to heavy labor and the guys doing stone work were always the most impressive to me
@@doransshield9176 I'm implying that people are forgetting basic physics now. A wedge is simple to use yet some don't know how which is why the technique is being forgotten
@@doransshield9176 I just meant basic physics is dying out not his technique
Because a single machine can cut the amount of rocks any single person can cut in an entire year in just a single day. It's dying out in a lot of the world because it's obsolete; which is something to celebrate, not mourn. Be glad you're in a world where you can sit and watch youtube videos on your phone instead of having to hunt for your food every day, build your own shelters, and weave your own clothing.