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I've always just used a regular hammer for my rock samples, but my professor lent me a proper geological hammer for a field trip to the Badlands.
The difference in clean, controlled breaks was night and day, especially on the brittle shale layers. Anyone have a favorite brand or style of rock hammer they swear by?
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mason_foster686mo ago
Yeah, @taylorhunt has a point about the shale. It's like that with so many things, the right tool just WORKS with the material instead of fighting it. Makes me wonder how many other daily jobs we're doing the hard way.
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taylorhunt6mo ago
You mentioned the brittle shale layers. I'd be careful calling shale brittle. It's more like it splits along those flat planes. That's the cleavage, not really brittleness like you get in something like chert. The hammer's chisel end is perfect for prying those layers apart along that natural break. A regular hammer just smashes it.
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