A rock breaker is only as good as the tool attached to its end. The rock breaker moil looks like a simple chunk of steel, but anyone who has spent hours on a site knows it makes or breaks the job – literally.
Pick the wrong one and you waste fuel, strain your hammer, and frustrate the crew. Pick the right one, and the breaker chews through material with less effort and more control. Let’s go through the different types of moil points, what they are built for, and when each design should be put to work.
The flat moil point looks simple, but it has a very specific role. The flat end spreads force evenly, which keeps the energy under control. That’s why it’s chosen for surface breaking, trenching, and slab work where accuracy matters more than depth.
Picture a machine digging a utility trench in a city street. On either side of the trench sit water pipes and electrical lines. A pointed tip could accidentally punch through and damage them. The flat moil point avoids this by transferring the hammer’s power across a wider section, so the break is steady without cutting too deep.
It’s also common in demolition jobs inside buildings. Operators often need to remove a section of a floor without sending cracks into the walls. The flat moil makes that possible. Another thing is that these moils tend to last longer because the stress is spread out. That means fewer replacements and more predictable performance over time.
The conical moil point is the opposite in design. It has a tapered, sharp end, and its entire purpose is to channel power into one tiny spot. That concentrated force lets it punch into the hardest materials—dense granite, reinforced concrete, or rock formations that blunt other tools.
Think about quarrying. Operators need to fragment big, solid sections of rock quickly. A flat or blunt end would bounce or glance off. The conical tip, on the other hand, bites in. Each hit penetrates deeper, loosening the rock so it breaks apart faster.
Underground tunneling is another example. Excavation teams often deal with unpredictable layers of hard stone. A conical point doesn’t waste energy; it drives straight into the material, which shortens cycle times and reduces machine stress. Contractors like it because it gets results without forcing the breaker to run harder than necessary. Note that less strain means longer machine life as well as better fuel efficiency.
The blunt moil point is about brute force. It has a flat as well as broad end that delivers every ounce of impact straight into the surface. Instead of cutting or splitting, it shocks the rock until it breaks.
Blunt moils are often used in mining when oversized boulders block the crushers. There is no time to carefully slice them apart. The job is to hit them hard and reduce them to manageable chunks. The wide end spreads force over the surface, which causes the rock to fracture quickly.
Another benefit is that blunt points don’t jam into the material. Operators appreciate that in secondary breaking, because a stuck tool wastes time. With a blunt end, the tool bounces back clean after each strike, ready for the next. And since the wear is more even, blunt points often last longer under repetitive impact. They may not be fancy, but they keep production moving.
The chisel moil point is the tool you reach for when the break must follow a line. Its wedge-shaped edge channels energy into a narrow strip. The moil creates cracks that move in a predictable direction. That makes it ideal for splitting blocks of stone or cutting reinforced concrete with control.
Quarry workers trust chisels to separate large stone slabs without damaging them. They place the chisel at the right angle and let the hammer create a clean break.
Demolition crews use chisels when working near structures that must stay intact. For example, removing half of a wall while leaving the rest standing straight is nearly impossible with a blunt or conical point. A chisel gives the control needed to make that happen.
However, there is a learning curve. An experienced operator knows that angle, force, and placement all matter. When used correctly, the chisel moil reduces the need for secondary cutting and saves a lot of cleanup work. Used poorly, it can wander or chip unpredictably. But in the right hands, it is one of the most precise tools available.