How stone masonry I done

Know the difference between a
stonemason and other related
trades. A stonemason is completely
different from a brick layer, block
layer, tile setter, and a
"phonystonemason"; "phonystone"
is exactly what its name implies it
to be - a phony or a fake. Phony
brickwork will mostly consist of
concrete and a fake thin film that's
completely worthless and will flake
off in a matter of 15 years or
slightly longer. Stonemasons
actually work with real stone.
Learn how to do wallrock. Wallrock
is the type of work stonemasons
do the most. Separate the two
words "wall" and "rock", meaning
you're putting rock together with
"mortar" in order to make a wall.
Construct a cutting operation .
Usually this is done with two
scaffolds and an X-brace and
about three planks. Two should be
at about hip level and one at the
top of the scaffold, so that you can
put a bucket full of water up top.
This is so that you can create a
syphon for your wetsaw, should
you need it. It's usually safe to
assume you'll need it every day.
Get your tools and plug them in
and place them where you'll need
them . Sometimes you won't need
all your tools but take out the
ones that you'll need with that
specific job. If you don't know
which tools you'll need, take all of
them.
Consider where your cement is
going to be coming from . If it's not
smart for you to have a
wheelbarrow full of cement, get a
mud board. A MUD BOARD can
usually be found on every job site.
It's just any flat board that you wet
down and place cement on.
Get a good amount of stone and
adorn it all around your cutting
operation. You want a good
selection to work with, but don't
take all the good stones if you
have other stonemasons on the job
that could use some. Just use
those really good ones you might
need and leave it at that.
Before you mix any cement, look at
your wall and think about what you
might need . If it's a pillar or
something that has a corner, then
you're going to have to string a
line or a series of lines. This
means you'll need a tightly strung
string that is strung from above
where you're working and all the
way down to the bottom at a
specific measurement. So suppose
you're wrapping your stone around
a pillar and your distance is two
and a half inches away from the
wall; cut a 2x4 at about a six inch
length. Then get some particle
board and cut it in a long strip.
Drill the six inch long 2x4 to the
particle board with two screws so
that the tension in the line doesn't
cause the 2x4 to pivot. Drill the
particle board to the wall. Measure
from the two walls two and a half
inches and make those
measurement marks on the 2x4.
Extend those marks with a square
to the point to where the
measurement marks intersect. Drill
a screw into that intersection
point, but don't drill it 100% into
the wood. Leave some of the screw
out a little ways. Now, tie a stiff
and durable string to that screw
you just drilled. Make sure that the
string reaches all the way to the
bottom with a little extra
remaining.
Dig all the way down to the
foundation or footing of the
structure you're going to be
working on. If there's not enough
of a footing, then you'll have to dig
about a foot deep and pile in some
stiff cement into that hole in order
to make your own footing.
Lay your first stone at the corner .
Make sure it's at two and a half
inches out on both ends of both
walls. You can do this with a
square and a measuring tape to
make sure the edge of your stone
is at the proper measurement.
When working with corners, you'll
usually need a natural edge or a
chiseled edge. Make sure not to
leave a saw cut edge on the rock,
unless you're told to do that by
your employer... but you're not
likely ever to encounter that
situation.
Get another screw and tie it to the
bottom end of your string . Make
sure it's tight enough so that when
you tuck it underneath your first
cornerstone you'll have tension on
the line, but it won't lift your stone
up off the ground because the
cement is still wet. If this is the
first time you're doing this, you'll
get frustrated with this process.
You'll learn how to do it right in
time.
Try to make sure that the line isn't
off. Measure, measure, measure,
re-measure, and measure again.
When working with corners, this is
the most vital thing. If it's off, then
you might have to tear out two to
three days of work - if not more -
which obviously sucks if you're
paid by the square footage and
sucks even more when you're being
paid the the hour because then
you're in danger of losing your job
for pay that wasn't delivered to
your employer. So make sure you
measure as much of everything
that seems important and even
some of the things you'd usually
not consider. Just measure,
measure, and measure some more.
It's hard to get to the point to
where you're measuring too much.
Keep your joints as tight as can be.
Sometimes this means you need to
undercut some of your stone and
not just cut straight down on your
rock. Don't undercut at a too
dramatic angle but just enough to
fit your stones nice and snugly
together without having one
overlap the other. Make sure every
stone is flush - unless your
employer wants a Rustic look. (The
way to tell if you're a good
stonemason is to see if you're
organized and that your work
meets customers expectations.)
Be aware that there are going to be
points in time when you're working
with rather tight fits and difficult
cuts. For example, you'll be picking
up this big heavy stone and
moving it around and making
marks on the stone and cutting it
a little bit, then repeating this
process in order to finally lay the
stone. The more you play with a
stone, the more likely it's going to
break. So you can either work with
lots and lots of small rock, or you
can use a template. This is a trick
of the trade!
Buy some wire that's not tie
wire. (Tie wire is too stiff, you
need some wire that you can
move and shape easily; usually
this means having a thinner
caliber of wire. However, if it's
too thin it won't hold its shape
and it'll sag and waste your
time.) Find a brand of wire that
you're comfortable with.
Get a good length of wire, cut it,
then wrap the two ends
together. You should have a
circular-looking type of wire.
Put it in those difficult to cut
places and shape it to the
shape the outer portions the
shone should be. Shape it so
that it's not touching any of the
already laid stones. Spend an
extra minute or two just to make
sure it's right. Working a little
longer on a light piece of wire is
much faster and easier than
having to pick up a heavy stone,
mark it a little bit, cut, then
mark again, and cut, and repeat
this process however many
times is necessary to get it
right. Hopefully you've shaped
the wire properly.
Place it atop your stone. If you
have a pencil or Sharpie marker,
place the wire onto the stone
and mark it from the inside of
the wire. (Make sure you don't
invert your template, otherwise
your stone will be worthless.
Sometimes you can salvage it
by flipping the stone, but if you
undercut it probably won't be;
so there are downsides to
undercutting, but it does more
good than bad). Once you've
marked your stone, put your
stone to that shape and it
should fit perfectly into place.
While doing stonemasonry, make
sure your joints are T's or I's . Try
never to make an X joint. Let me
explain. You've seen how bricks
are stacked, right? Each layer is
staggered. Suppose they weren't
staggered. You'd wind up with a
bundle of X joints. If they were a
map they'd be four-way stops
rather than T intersections. These
are bad. They look ugly and
usually cause a running joint. A
running joint is a joint that
extends more than three feet.
Those are bad. Why? Because as
the stonemasonry ages sometimes
cracks form. The first places cracks
form are in X joints and in the
running joints.
Keep in mind that there is more to
this job . There is always a quirky
little thing that you'll have to work
around. Hopefully you can work
around the problems presented to
you with reflection and
perseverance.
Proceed to master flat work .
Flatwork means working on floors.
This is faster, meaning that more
gets done in one day and you get
paid more for it; but you rarely do
it, so worship the employer that
gets it.
Set up your cutting operation . I
suppose you can use scaffolding,
but it's usually smarter to just use
a wheelbarrow. With that
wheelbarrow, get a particle board
that extends the length of the
thinner area of the wheelbarrow
and lay it down. Get your grinder
or wetsaw out and place it there.
That's your workspace.
Find out what pattern you're doing.
Start laying your stones. Obviously
there are going to be some
complicated cuts involved.
Get some plastic transparent
tarp that's inexpensive.
Sometimes it's stuff that's
usually used for masking or
stuff that you'll just find around,
or you can buy . Buy some
Sharpie markers, too. Place the
tarp around the place that
you're going to cut. Be sure to
stretch it out. Mark the shape of
the stone you're going to cut.
Write TOP in the middle of the
plastic template so that you
don't invert the stone. Find the
appropriate stone that's the
right size for the template. Put
some water on your stone and
place the plastic template on
the watery surface so that it
doesn't blow away or move. Cut
the stone to the shape you need
it.
by:wikihow.com