Wooden Beetle. Wedge. Iron Mallet.
Rubber. Mallet. Brush. Chisels.
The tools used for cutting stone are the mallet and chisels of various sizes. The mason’s mallet differs from that used by other workmen, being of a sort of half pear shape, and with a short handle only just long enough to allow it to be firmly grasped in the hand. The rubber is used for smoothing the surface of the stone, after it has been worked by the tools; sand and water are placed on the stone, and the rubber is pushed backwards and forwards for the purpose of grinding the face of the slab to a smooth surface; another block of stone is sometimes applied to the same purpose. In London the tools used to work the faces of the stone are—the point, a very small chisel only about a quarter of an inch broad at the cutting edge; the inch tool, which is a broader chisel; the booster, broader still; and the broad tool, which is three inches and a half wide: beside these, there are tools of the same kind for working mouldings and carvings.
Square. Bevel Square. Straight Edge. Trowel. Point.
Besides these cutting tools, the mason uses a banker or bench, on which he places his stone for convenience of working, and straight edges, squares, and bevels, for marking the shapes into which the blocks are to be cut, and seeing that his edges and surfaces are even by trying them as the work proceeds.
The bevel square is a square the stock, or lower part, of which is moveable, so that it may be set to any angle or level as required. Sometimes a pattern called a templet is used for cutting a block to any particular shape, and when the work is moulded, the templet is called a mould. Moulds are commonly made of sheet zinc, carefully cut to the profile of the mouldings with shears and files.
It often happens that the mason has not only to prepare the stone, but to set it in its place in the building, and this is properly part of his work. He then uses the trowel, for applying the composition for cementing the stones together; lines and pins to show whether his edges are straight and square, the square and level for a similar purpose; and various rules for adjusting the stone faces of upright walls.