Fechino Files: Masonry Square

Words: Steven Fechino

I hope this article finds you finally cooled down from this hot summer. Everywhere I went felt hot and sticky, well, except for Bozeman, MT. When you are in Bozeman, everything is cool.

I have been working as a laborer, sawman, brick washer, and bricklayer on my daughter’s home. I am about three full days from completion. We all know how good it feels to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Anyways, the north and south walls were finished and toothed. All I had to do was connect the two walls.

Here is the thing: in 28 feet of wall, I had a four-foot difference in grade with a footing that was poured about as badly as one could be poured. (Not saying I poured it, but it sounds like something I would do.) Nothing was flat, and there were no steps. I spoke with Bryan Light and Alonzo Lewis (two of the world’s best craftsmen) to see if either of my mentors had a bit of wisdom they could share. Their answers were useful but unexpected.

Bryan and I discussed laying uphill from the low part of the grade to the bottom toothed brick. I would use the first course of the lowest brick on the low toothed side and just lay level until the brick ran out of height. Alonzo instructed me to lay from the top down. He basically said to do the same thing, though I had a hard time making his method work with such a rough footing. I tried to lay both ways and found it was easier to stay on bond for me going uphill. As the course died into the slope, I had to set a pin so I could easily fill in the coursing from a lead I had built on the low side.

I was slow, but once a few courses went in, I picked up speed and it went well. I will never brag about my skill as a bricklayer; I am a student of the trade. When I decided to set pins, I had to go into my shop and find a few. I ended up finding pins from companies that were in business in the '80s. Lonestar was one of the more popular companies whose pins I found. Pins were hard to come by for many years. It is good to see a few companies handing them out again. We all know pins and twigs only hit you in one of three places when they fly off the wall: eyes, knuckles, and, um, well, I should have quit typing a second ago.

The Masonry Square
When I was talking to the folks at MASONRY Magazine, a question about an article I wrote last year came up, and it was approved that I provide more detail about a tool I discussed. The tool in question was the Masonry Square made by Kapro Tools and retailed by Bon Tool. The Masonry Square is the only tri-square designed for both residential and commercial masons in one tool. The square will still fit in the toolbox or tool bag as it is larger than a framing square at nine inches.



The tool was designed for uncomfortable layout situations where you may need to get down into a hole or between two large objects. It will simplify the coursing coming out of the ground because it is made from anodized aluminum and will not flex like a stick rule and frustrate you. The square has many other features, such as a rigid pencil guide on ¼-inch increments to mark blocks and other pieces of material before going to the saw table.

The sides of the square have portions of the modular spacing rule, oversize spacing rule, and the spacing rule on three different sides of the square to simplify layout when you may only have one of the rules handy that you need for layout.

Another benefit of this tool is that it has material and equipment conversions for both residential and commercial work based on old-school methods for modular and oversized brick. The conversions are close and work to calculate specific items needed to support a project. The square is set up where one side is based on commercial materials and the opposite side is based on residential materials.

The Mason Square is really handy for an apprentice, a young foreman, or a journeyman as the conversions offer information for figuring scaffolding, layout of corners, mortar and sand amounts, and even wall ties and wall wire. They cover almost everything needed to calculate a small change order or assist with getting enough material to wrap up the week. The tool can be used to calculate cutting rakes, finding plumb, and turning radius for arch templates.
The Mason Square will be part of the Mortar Net Solutions Masonry Apprentice Scholarship, and each student that receives a scholarship will have one in the bag and the opportunity to show it off in the field.

Give Bon Tool a call and order one. You may not use it for everything, but after you get used to it, you may find you use it more than you thought you might. I did and I am glad I did.


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