Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
…The common denomination of these tools is removal of material from a work-
piece, usually by some form of cutting. The presence of a cutting-edge is there-
fore characteristic of most tools…
Close examination of many shaped and enriched bricks on fifteenth- and
sixteenth-century buildings clearly reveals that the majority had been worked
post-fired, as described above. Studying contemporary documentary evidence
can substantiate this, which frequently records the tools used, as described
above and indicated by Moore (1991, 227):
Tools for this must have been among the dozens of axes, chisels and 'other' or
'small' tools frequently sharpened by the Smith. In 1533-34 a brick-axe at 8d.
and three stone hammers at 6d. each were bought for the bricklayers at Windsor
Castle. At Stonor Park there is corbelling with chamfers and simple mouldings on
the chapel tower, cut with the aid of four hand-saws provided in 1416-17.
Hewers would undoubtedly avail of the cutting and finishing tools used by
masons that would be suitable for bricks. These would be as used on soft cal-
careous stones, which was certainly the case with the Flemish craftsmen. It is
important, however, to realise these highly skilled yet pragmatic craftsmen,
having selected tools from the stonemason's wide range, would then adapt the
tools and techniques as necessary to suit brick.
A generally larger mass of stone anchored on the floor, or banker, leaves the
mason's hands free to use his tools on a rigidly fixed material. This would not
be true of a small, lightweight post-fired brick to be cut and worked to shape.
The hewer would be forced to either hold the brick down on the banker or
rest it against something to prevent it sliding whilst cutting and abrading with
the selected tools in his free hand. Alternatively, he might choose to rigidly
secure the brick on the banker to leave both hands free.
The former method would have been the easiest and the most popular
method for the hewer to cut and rub basic shapes and mouldings, the latter
being sensible practice for the production of the more intricate cutting and
abrading of detailed mouldings, requiring two hands to guide the tools. These
methods are not documented (common every-day sights rarely were), but
could have been as simple as a timber batten (or 'stop') nailed to the banker
for the bricks to rest against. Alternatively, a 'sand-tray', which, as the name
suggests, is a tray part-filled with sand for the brick to be bedded into, would
serve to resist some movement.
Peter Hill, consultant stonemason, provides another possible method, which
takes the form of a rudimentary clamp devised by resting a suitable-sized
batten fixed with a twisted cord passed to a bar below through a slot on the
banker. The upper batten rests upon the brick, or small stone, to be worked
