Science Forums 2

[HydrogenBond]

I can see them using 4 stone cutters professions in an assemble line. The first type of cutter specialized in rough cut to make the basic shape or size stone. These come from the quarry, rough, and are transported to site. The second cutter profession chiseled it into the final shape but would leave rough chisel marks. He didn't have to wait for the stone to reach the site but could work during transport if a fixed size was needed. The third specialty were the polishers who then knocked off the chisel edges. Finally you had the fine tuner who shape to fit. The polishers could also work in transit to get the face smooth, but the fitters were on site.

I have a friend who is a plasterer. He can eyeball a long wall and square it off with only his eye and trowel. So someone making an arc cut could just see the cut and chisel it out. The more you do it the faster it will become. With an assemble line, each step could use basic tools with a good eye to do their job. They may even engineered labor saving improvements, but like a sword, it was custom improvements, and not off the shelf.

If you have one person doing one of the assemble line steps he can get really good at it. The rough cutter would therefore make less and less work for the shaper, who them made less and less work for the polisher-fitter. Before long as fast as the stones arrived they are ready to install.

Transporting stones was another matter and may have also used an assemble line to help keep the labor force fresher. For example, line your guys the entire way from quarry to pyramid. Or at least over a long span of distance. The guys are changing out by staying in their area in the line. If the stones were spaced properly, the labor force will get to rest their arms and shake off the legs. The supply lines brought water and food in a constant stream countercurrent to the stones.