Our Origin Story

For thousands of years, mankind has worked with stone to build and create. Throughout history, masons and stoneworkers around the world have relied on an old-fashioned hammer and chisel to cut and shape raw stone into the desired shapes and sizes. Although nowadays, we have pneumatic air hammers and chisels to make this work easier, they aren’t anything more than a machine-driven version of the tools we have always used.

Professional stone craftsman and inventor Chris Cross thought there had to be a more efficient way to cut stone. He envisioned a tool with a set of “jaws” capable of biting though even the thickest architectural stone. It would be portable so it could be operated right at the job site.

Having worked as a stone craftsman for over 20 years, Chris knew such a tool would save him, and folks like him, a huge amount of time. So, he set out to create it.

Taking Inspiration from the incredible biting power of the piranha fish in the Amazon rainforest, Chris developed a machine which translates the expansion of a hydraulic cylinder into two opposing hardened-steel blades.

After numerous design revision, Chris settled on a design which successfully realized his vision. Named in honor of its Amazonian inspiration, the Piranha Stone Biter was born.