Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Files would have been used for finishing, as little material is removed with each
stroke. They are also suited to smoothing a rough workpiece or altering its
shape in substantial detail.
Rasps
Rasps, or more correctly rasp-cut files, have a series of individual teeth produced
on the abrading surface of the metal by a sharp, narrow punch-like chisel. The
resultant rough-cut is suited to soft substances, such as wood, soft stone, and
brick, and allows the fast removal of waste material and cleaning of small areas.
Rifflers
Rifflers are simply small rasps, of varying degrees of fineness, on a stem shaped
to a variety of configurations used for cleaning and smoothing small and dif-
ficult parts of a worked soft stone or a cut-brick moulding.
Alternatively he might use suitably shaped hand-held stones, or a suitable
piece of wood as an abrasive.
Hand Stones
These various abrading tools would only have been used within the cutting shed
to prepare the cut brick prior to setting. The hand-held stones could, however,
be used in the workshop and where desired, finish the brick surface
in situ
.
Generally sandstone would be preferred and the stones could be square, oblong,
flat or curved, or cut to the reverse profile of a moulding by the mason or brick
hewer, to suit the purpose. Clearly for most medieval and Tudor post-fired brick
dressings, hewers were happy to leave the axing strokes visible. When necessary,
as on the inner window voussoirs to the north circular stairwell of the guardroom
at Kirby Muxloe Castle (Leicestershire, 1483), the brickwork was clearly rubbed
to follow the inner curve of the walling, so leaving a smooth-abraded finish.
It has been frequently suggested that bricklayers may have substituted part
of a brick for hand-held stone to rub over the finished brickwork. Occasionally
this may have taken place, but experience dictates it was not common, as
a brick abrasive wears away relatively quickly, reducing its effect, and creates
double the hazardous dust, all avoided with a proper hand-stone.
Timber
The use of a suitably sized and shaped timber batten may appear to be a
strange abrasive, but practical experience has demonstrated that it can serve
to abrade a surface providing the brick is relatively soft textured and the wood
is sufficiently hard and has a pronounced grain. As the timber is rubbed across
