A stempel is a horizontal or inclined piece of timber wedged tightly between the walls of a narrow vein or shaft. Miners traditionally used them to create makeshift platforms for drilling, to support the hanging wall, or to hold back accumulated waste rock. When placed in a series, they can also serve as a primitive ladderway for moving up and down the stope.
Heard on the job
Watch your footing on that third stempel, the wood is starting to rot out.
Insider tip
While traditional timber stempels are less common in mechanized operations, you will still encounter them in narrow-vein underground mines where space is too tight for steel sets.
Also heard as
- stemple
Do not mix it up with
- Stull: A stull is primarily a heavy timber propping up a roof or wall, while a stempel often implies a step or a platform support in a narrower space.