Brick Hammer

[8ntruck 6,998]

I'm sure that there are some brick masons out there who could tell me how sharp the chisel end of my brick hammer should be.

[Mickwhitt 4,617]

I have the impression that even brand new brick hammers have a fairly dull chisel edge on them. They have a single grind to the business end, not like the double ground tip of a cold chisel.

They "cut" brick by the shock imparted from the small impact area.

I was always impressed watching skilled brickies who would "cut" solid house bricks with their mortar trowels, striking a few blows to fracture a brick in two. They weren't cutting the brick in the accepted sense of the word but setting up a stress fracture with a focused impact. For instance they couldn't accurately cut a brick like one would with a stone saw.

Just my two penneth....

[JCM 9,130]

2 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

I have the impression that even brand new brick hammers have a fairly dull chisel edge on them. They have a single grind to the business end, not like the double ground tip of a cold chisel.

They "cut" brick by the shock imparted from the small impact area.

 

     I have an Estwing brick hammer I bought 30 +  years ago, never have sharpened it.

[953 nut 55,188]

If you put an edge on a brick hammer it will shatter.

[formariz 11,987]

If used extensively one can maintain it by slightly grinding a very short bevel on the inside surface. Does not have to be sharp since it works by fracturing the brick or stone trough impact stress at the struck area. A normally maintained hammer will be more accurate when doing that. It is also used frequently scraping with that end so maintaining a relatively narrow edge helps. 
 

 Not using a brick hammer but the same principle accurately and quickly “cutting” granite on video below.

 

[Mickwhitt 4,617]

Now that us one skilful craftsman, absolutely mesmerising. 

[Beap52 809]

In the late 1980's or early '90's, we were in Kenya, Africa.  Men made a living turning rocks into gravel and sold the gravel.  They were hand crushing rock with hammers. 

 

Last fall my wife and I toured a closed granite quarry that's now a state park.  Got me to thinking I needed an abandoned granite quarry on my train set.  It's not complete yet (model train is my winter project) but I'm happy with the way it's going.  The crane and the dilapidated building are made of card stock.  I took photos of the quarry when it was in operation to help me stage some of the components my diorama.