A Discussion of Drills and Bits

Brian Post discusses and reviews hammer drills and bits to use when drilling the holes for feathers and wedges (aka wedges and shims) to split stone. This video reviews the types of drills available, what features to pay attention to, and how to avoid prematurely burning up bits. A close look at bits provides information about why they failed and how to diagnose the problem. Watch a side-by-side comparison of drilling speed between two different classes of hammer drills. This video will help you drill holes for splitting with Trow and Holden feathers and wedges without frustration!

Feathers and Wedges are some of our top-selling products. We are still actively shipping tools, so place your order and enjoy shaping some stone while also helping the Stone Trust manage its tight cash flow at this time of COVID-19. (Note: The Stone Trust does not sell hammer drills or bits, which are available from many tool dealers and hardware stores.)

There are many more techniques and tricks to drilling and using feathers and wedges for improving speed and accuracy, and getting yourself (or the wedges) out of a stuck situation. You can try out drilling in our next 2.50 Intro to Stone Shaping Workshop offered on July 18th. Brian Post will be one of the instructors. You can also get an introduction to drilling stone and feathers and wedges in our 1.20 Two -Day Introduction to Dry Stone Walling course.

Thanks to professional member TJ Mora for letting us use his stone for this demonstration as well as taking the video.