How Did This Happen? Star Shape Cut into Rock

Nana40 · Mar 18, 2012

Doing a little scouting, hubby came across this really neat rock today. We're in awe of the perfect shaped star...but what is it? What's it for? Wonder how old it is...how did get there? :dontknow:

warsawdaddy · Mar 19, 2012

It must be one of those stars that fell on Alabama.Sure it isn't a large piece of old concrete?

dsty · Mar 19, 2012

Clay Lindsay has a carving that has the same features in Ariz, its a cross if memory serves me Maltese cross , could also be a concealed drill hole. I would work it as a drill hole untill something else came along, because of the dimensions, perhaps inverting the colors would give a clue

Nana40 · Mar 19, 2012

Not concrete, Daddy. It's limestone. Located on the bottom side of a small mountain along with a lot of other large rocks. It's pretty cool, but we have no idea who could have made that or why.
Dsty: I'm not sure what you mean by a 'drill hole'. :P I'll google Clay Lindsay and maybe catch a picture or two of their find.

Thanks!!
Nana :hello:

Shortstack · Mar 19, 2012

Nana40:
Clay Lindsey is a member of this forum who has done some work on drill holes. I see you're a charter member, so just do a site search of him and "drill holes". :coffee2:

Nana40 · Mar 20, 2012

Thanks, SS. :hello:

I did scroll down and saw the pics Clay posted. Neat to know there are others around....but what are they for?

Scouting around in the woods is all but over this time of year here, but I do see where there may be a need to go back there and check out the surrounding area.
Thanks for the pm, dsty.

Nana

Nana40 · Mar 20, 2012

Here's the altered pics for dsty. Also, as far as a Maltese cross..doesn't that have four sides? This one has five. :dontknow:

Keep in mind that know practically nothing in the area of signs, symbols and drops of water.

I did however sleep at the Holiday Inn Express once.

All kidding aside, I do thank you for taking a look at this post.
Nana

Charlie P. (NY) · Mar 20, 2012

You may be over thinking it. When rock was blasted for railroads, road construction, civil projects, or quarrying they placed a rod and smacked it with sledges. The rod eventually drilled a hole - somethimes 10 feet deep or more. Sometimes instead of blasting it was simply filled with water and the freezing shatterred the rock. I note your rock has a nice, crisp line where it was quarried (under the boot heel in the image)

Your example is a star pattern bit.

See the link below.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment...lications/fs_publications/84232602/page01.cfm

Nana40 · Mar 20, 2012

Thanks, Charlie P! That would make more sense. But...that star bit looks to only have four sides. How do we explain away that this rock has five? The freezing of the water in the hole? It just seems too...perfect. That's a very nice link you sent by the way. :icon_thumright:

Nana

Charlie P. (NY) · Mar 20, 2012

Different bit. That is just one example out of thousands. Just as not every hammer head looks alike; but they all function pretty much the same. Every company shop likely have bought the tool steel and then fashioned their own. :dontknow:

When the country was joined by rail one of the huge problems was that there was no standard gauge. If they didn't have that figured out they probably didn't all use the same bit head shapes.

Shortstack · Mar 20, 2012

The star drills didn't leave a hole shaped like this in it's normal use. When used, the drill holder would turn the drill bit SLIGHTLY between each hit from the hammer. That basic technique would leave a ROUND hole, not a hole with many notches. With a hole, like in Nana's photo, the notches are chiseled in specifically and purposefully. Nana has a very good question about WHY it was done that way, here. There are examples of drill holes that have been posted in other threads, that have "pull" notches to indicate a specific direction to look / travel.

If all the notches in Nana's find are equal; could it be the hub of a compass rose indicating the line of travel on specific courses? If one of the notches is longer, is THAT one the "pull" notch? Conversely, if one notch is SHORTER than the rest, is THAT one the "pull" sign?

OR, was this hole drilled to be the anchor point for a vertical shaft, with spines, that was intended to be held in one position and not allowed to turn about it's vertical axis?

Aggravating isn't it??

Charlie P. (NY) · Mar 20, 2012

Ooooo k. Easier to believe someone spent hours to carefully place an aligned hole in a rock with five cardinal compass points instead of four than that it was just a happenstance quarrying relic.

I'm out.

gollum · Mar 20, 2012

Charlie P,

You are exactly correct. It is a star drill hole.

Shortstack,

Star drill holes look rounder when they were made by hand hammering 200 years ago. Modern air/hydraulic/electric hammer drills leave pentagonal shaped holes.

All anybody has to do is Google "Star Drill Hole". On the first page is this picture (see below). The website of the picture is:

http://everypicturetellastorydontit.blogspot.com/2011_11_27_archive.html

Best - Mike

Shortstack · Mar 21, 2012

Good enough, Mike. :coffee2:

gollum · Mar 21, 2012

No worries. Just when hand hammering, the bit can be turned slightly so as to make the hole round. When using a pneumatic hammer drill it shows a more pentagonal
or squarish hole because the bit cuts much deeper faster than by hand.

Mike

Springfield · Mar 22, 2012

Yeah, the hole shown is modern, using some sort of impact (non-rotary) machine. Anyone who has used hand steel to drill a hole in rock knows that the hole has to come out round.

Shortstack · Mar 22, 2012

Yep, Spring. That's what I was going by. A little bit of knowledge I picked up in Combat Engineers School, 1965, but no long time experience.

)) We had the air tools, but had to learn the "manual" way first. LOL

nana40hubby · Mar 24, 2012

Not saying that this is any treasure sign or anything like that but I have never seen any kind of hole that is made via impact driver, be it manual or pneumatic, to leave a hole with the insides this smooth. By the way I understand what Shortstack is saying because I have used a star bit in my job hand drilling and was taught to turn between blows with the hammer and every hole I ever drilled was an awful mess. That is not to say that it can't happen but I have never seen it. When you examine the hole in person (hard to show via pictures taken with a phone) the insides are PERFECT. It does appear on the surface to have some impact signs on it but you would think that a pneumatic drill would have made much larger chips on the surface. I personally think someone went to a lot of trouble to CONFUSE me!

dsty · Mar 24, 2012

nana's husband, are there other things on the rock / in the area / are there any signs of construction in the area like a wal-mart store. Im out

Shortstack · Mar 24, 2012

dsty said:
nana's husband, are there other things on the rock / in the area / are there any signs of construction in the area like a wal-mart store. Im out

If there IS a Wal-Mart in the area, you can bet the star drill was made in China. (I was going to insert a smilie here, but the new crop of smilies sux. They must be Chinese, too)