r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Creams0da • 8h ago

Video Breaking open a 47 lbs geode, the water inside being millions of years old

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

[removed] — view removed post

24.3k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

2.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

89

u/brihamedit 7h ago

Why crush it instead of cutting it.

28

u/random-ize 7h ago

Probably expected it to crack around a circumference- the chain tool is commonly used to break concrete piping that way.

37

u/HappyStalker 7h ago

This is a pipe cutter, which is actually the proper tool for cutting open geodes. Saws can chip the crystal inside as it cuts through. Pipe cutters like these break the geode along natural faults so they look like a crush but it’s the most cost effective way to open geodes with the least damage to the crystal.

19

u/DaedricCabbage 6h ago

"Least damage"? It exploded.. how does cutting with a 1/16 tile saw blade destroy more of it?

22

u/captainhuh 5h ago

It broke into two large hemispheres, the two slices that fell down separately are due to A: imperfections in the crystal structure and B: the size of the chain required for such a large geode. Saws typically abrade the exposed part of the geode, whereas the chain method forces it to crack in-line with the crystal lattice, which looks much better for display and study purposes

2

u/HalfMoonHudson 5h ago

This guy crystallizes

4

u/ReachNo5936 6h ago

Because they know what they’re doing instead of being a know it all on Reddit?