Masonry hammers may look simple to an untrained eye when first observing these tools, but upon closer examination, the world of masonry tool is revealed to the dedicated mason. Each jobsite where masonry work is occurring will have those masons utilizing a variety of different hammers for the tasks that they has to perform. Utilizing the wrong hammer for a specific task will lead to the formation of chipped edges on the masonry materials that are to be constructed, as well as will begin to create fatigue within the mason after the middle of the working day.
Therefore, understanding each of the different varieties of masonry hammers that exist is an important skill for any mason who work with masonry materials. By understanding the differences between each of these hammers, each mason can perform their tasks in a much cleaner way, in a faster way, and with much less frustration. Some of the different varieties of mason tools include tools that have a higher weight than others, tools with different shapes of their striking face, different types of striking surfaces, and tools that have different balance to their masonry hammers.
Each of these different features allow those tools to perform certain tasks better than others, and it allows those masons to have the proper tool for each task that they may encounter. For instance, certain hammers will have a higher degree of strength so that they can split some of the more difficult masonry materials, while other tools will have a more delicate touch to those striking faces so that the materials will not crack when they are struck with those tools. Some hammers have the features of both strength and delicacy so that masons can perform both task without needing to utilize different tools.
Common Types of Masonry Hammers to Use
1. Brick Hammer
The most common type of hammer is the brick hammer. These types of hammers has a square striking face on one side of the tool, as well as a chisel edge on the opposite side. Each of these two features allows the brick hammer to perform different tasks; the square side allows for the mason to tap on the bricks that are to be constructed, while the chisel allows for the brick to be scored along the desired line.
This tool has remained essentially the same for the past one hundred years because it fulfills two requirement of the masons who use them: it solves two problems that are experienced with the standard clay bricks that are used as masonry materials. Therefore, masons that work with only these types of bricks will utilize this tool the most due to it’s effectiveness for such tasks. Beyond the brick hammer, another type of hammer is the mason’s hammer.
2. Mason’s Hammer
At first glance, the mason’s hammer may appear to be the same as the brick hammer. However, upon closer inspection of the tool, the mason’s hammer will reveal that its striking face is larger and domed, as well as that its cutting edge is narrower and features a pointed end. The mason’s hammer is used to dress stones and to remove old mortar from bricks.
Because of the pointed end of this hammer, it can perform a function that the standard brick hammer cannot perform. Those professionals who restore historic buildings tend to use these types of hammers because the pointed end performs similar to the irregularities of the bricks that are encountered on these buildings. One of the differences between the tools is the balance of the hammer.
A good mason’s hammer will feel as if it is an extension of the forearm of the mason, which is made possible due to the distribution of the mass of the hammer’s head and handle; it is often made of hickory wood. The reduced vibration that is created by this mason’s hammer allows those masons to work longer without developing numbness in their fingers. However, because the cutting edge of the mason’s hammer is narrower than others, it requires more accuracy from those masons that utilize the tool.
3. Club Hammer
Another of the hammers that are used by masons is the club hammer; it is also known as the lump hammer. Club hammers are among the heavier of the masonry tools, as they can weigh between two and four pound, and each tool has two identical square ends without the cutting edge. These hammers are used to exert brute force, such as driving a chisel into concrete, or splitting stones that are especially stubborn in their ability to be split by other tools.
The club hammer achieves this power without requiring the mason to perform such strong and potentially dangerous swings with the tool. Its short handle allows for excellent control of such a heavy hammer. One of the best uses of the club hammer occurs on demolition days, or when digging into a foundation trench for a construction site.
One club hammer strike can accomplish the same results as six or seven strikes of a lighter mason’s hammer. This saves hundreds of hour of work each year with construction companies that are building large projects. However, as with all other tools, the mason cannot use a club hammer to perform any type of finish work; the force that it creates is too great for such use.
Most professional masons have both a brick hammer and a club hammer in their toolkit; they are needed for different jobs, but both will ensure that each mason can avoid needing to travel to the truck for additional tools. Another of the specialty tools is the stonemason’s hammer. The stonemason’s hammer has one blunt end and one end that is sharpened and slightly curved.
4. Stonemason’s Hammer
This tool is used to perform work with granite, limestone, and marble. Many of the stonemasons in Europe have used the same tools for hundreds of years, and the moddern versions of these hammers still have the same features and logic behind their creation. The cutting face of the stonemason’s hammer is angled in a way that causes the stones to shear from the stonemason’s hammer instead of being crushed; this maintains the structural integrity of the stone while allowing the stonemason to create the desired texture on the stone material.
Though there is a learning curve for mastering the use of this hammer, as there is for each of the other tools, stonemasons will encounter a variety of stone that require different amounts of force or angles of strike with the stonemason’s hammer. For example, limestone is an easy stone to break with a stonemason’s hammer, while granite tends to fight against the hammer when struck. Yet both types of stone can be managed with experience with these tools.
5. Tile Hammer
Another of the tools is the tile hammer, which is rarely used by most masons. These tools are typically much lighter than others, usually weighing around eight ounces. A tile hammer has a narrow chisel that is placed opposite the small square face of the tool.
Because the weight of the tool is much less than others, it will not cause some brittle masonry materials to crack. Furthermore, the narrow chisel end of the tool allows the mason to perform precise scoring of the masonry tiles before they are snapped. These tools are mainly used in specialized projects involving large amounts of imported marble, or those with intricate mosaic designs.
Similar to the mason’s hammer, the handle of a tile hammer is short, and it is shaped so that the mason develops a grip with a pencil instead of the fist of the hand. The reduced fatigue of the hand caused by this grip allows for a full day of work with the tile hammer without developing fatigue in the hand. However, as with all the other tools, the tile hammer has limited power; it is not designed to be used to drive nails or split bricks with the tool.
6. Scutch Hammer
Another of the less-familiar tools to those weekend warriors who would like to learn how to perform some masonry work is the scutch hammer. The scutch hammer does not have the same types of faces as other hammers; instead, it has slots where replaceable blades or replaceable steel combs are inserted. Masons use this tool to remove mortar from bricks before performing repointing on the bricks, as well as removing the render from the concrete blocks so that more masonry work can be performed with the blocks.
The benefits of using a scutch hammer are that the mason does not have to purchase three separate tools for masons to perform three different tasks. Instead, only one hammer head and a few blades are purchased; the blades wear with time, but can be easily replaced. This is especially beneficial on very large commercial projects, since costs are of great concern for the construction companies.
The major con of the scutch hammer is that additional time is required to change the blades. However, time spent on this task is balanced by the versatility that the scutch hammer provides. For each of the skills that are required of a mason, there are specific hammers for those tasks.
For example, a mason may utilize a four pound club hammer when breaking apart an old footing for a building; however, that same four pound club hammer will damage delicate handmade bricks when those are tapped with the club hammer. Likewise, the dainty and light tile hammer will not perform well when used on very durable stones such as granite. Those professionals who can efficiently work through a building site each day have learned of these differences over time; their tool bags contain each of these different types of hammers for a specific reason; each hammer solves a specific problem that may arise during the building of a project.
Once you start to build that collection of tools and more importantly, once you start to understand the personality of each of these types of hammers, interesting things will happen to the work that you create. You will find that your work flows best with the correct tools being utilized in each stage of the process. For instance, you will find that you can reach for the correct hammer without having to think about it, just as a cook reaches for the correct knife.
Using the right tools will allow for your work to rise as a structure with ease, with the stones that are particularly stubborn to work with also yielding to the power of each of these hammers. This is the difference between a weekend warrior that utilizes these tools versus a true craftsman; craftsmen utilize these tools to build structures like chimneys and stone facades, and they know that each tap that was required for the construction of such a structure was accomplished with the right tool.
