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My Roman coin dig turned into a lesson in rock hardness

Last Saturday I was out near a dried up creek bed in central Texas, digging through what I thought was soft clay from an old flood layer. I got about 8 inches down and hit something that felt like a bottle cap, so I switched to a hand trowel to be careful. Turned out it was a chunk of ironstone about the size of my fist, and my trowel blade snapped clean off at the handle after three hard pries. I tried using a masonry bit on my cordless drill to split it, but the rock was harder than the bit and I just dulled it. Ended up having to walk back to my truck with nothing but a broken tool and a muddy hole. Has anyone else busted gear on unexpected rock layers that looked like easy digging?
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3 Comments
phoenix29
phoenix297d ago
Yeah but that ironstone would wreck any bit, cheap or not.
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skyler_smith85
Dude you just needed a better bit, not the rock's fault your tools were cheap. Maybe stop blaming geology for user error and upgrade your gear before the next trip.
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cameron538
Bought a bit at the dollar store once, learned that lesson the hard way.
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