Still think about that old timer's trick with a butter knife

I was cleaning out my truck yesterday and found a beat up butter knife I kept from a job back in 2008 in Dallas. An old bricklayer named Hank used it to tap brick into place when the face was already set, said it saved him from chipping the corner every time. I tried his method on a tricky archway last week and it worked perfect, no cracks. Has anyone else picked up a weird tool habit from a guy who'd been doing this 40 years?

2 comments

2 Comments

park.wyatt1mo ago

Read an article saying old timers used butter knives to avoid cracking brick too.

jason_stone29d ago

Nope, that's not right at all. I've restored a few old brick buildings in Milwaukee and brick is way too hard for a butter knife to damage. Butter knives are soft metal, they'd just bend or leave a silver streak on the brick face. The real trick from old masons was to use a brick hammer or a bolster chisel, not silverware. Where did you see that article? Sounds like someone mixed up brick with softer materials like drywall or plaster.