Tuck pointer

[bsr]

I have several bricks to chop out and replace so was thinking of buying a tuck pointer.

What size? 6mm or 8mm perhaps? I was thinking it should be slightly narrower than the joint so 8mm best but then Screwfix sell 6mm and 12mm.

Is stainless worth the extra?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[opps]

A friend of mine is probably the best pointer in west London.

He tends to do weather struck pointing.

I think he uses the 12mm.

I, as a decorator, often paint the windows on the properties that he is pointing (why pay for scaffolding twice).

I have never noticed any rust on his tuck pointers, so I assume that they must be stainless steel.

Rust aside, I guess they wear down at a slower rate.

As a decorator, I seldom buy stainless steel filling knives because they are less flexible. I guess that isn't a problem with tuck pointers though.

 

[Charlie George]

6mm will be better to push mortar in to fill the beds and perps, you could use the 12mm to finish the joint, no need for stainless(main brands are not stainless) if they rust it only takes a minute to remove.

 

[^woody^]

Do you actually have tuck pointing?

 

[bsr]

Do you actually have tuck pointing?

No standard bucket handle. I want a tool to pack mortar into a joint when I'm replacing individual bricks in a wall, and a tuck pointer seems to be the standard tool to do that?

Other suggestions welcome.

 

[Deleted member 267285]

What about a pointing trowel?

 

[^woody^]

It's more about using the right consistency mortar than the tool. The tuck iron is for finishing , not putting the mortar into the joint, so you'll struggle with that.

Not too sloppy mortar, and use a pointing trowel. Butter the bricks first, including the top on a slight angle thicker towards the back.

 

[bsr]

I use a filling knife to butter the bricks and slide them in, but using a hawk and tuck pointer seems to be a common way to fill the joints?

At about 6:30 in:

 

[Notch7]

I have several bricks to chop out and replace so was thinking of buying a tuck pointer.

What size? 6mm or 8mm perhaps? I was thinking it should be slightly narrower than the joint so 8mm best but then Screwfix sell 6mm and 12mm.

Is stainless worth the extra?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

You need a tuck pointer to push the mortar in and you need something flat to hold the mortar that you can lean against the bricks level to the bottom of the joint then push in the mortar….you can buy a special pointing hawk, but for small jobs I use a cheap plasterers trowel upside down

I’ve found a 6mm tuck pointer is the most useful as it can push mortar into most joints

A plasterers “small tool” is very useful for small pointing jobs.

Minotaur Small Tool

Whether you're grouting, plastering or finishing, make space in your toolbox for this versatile tool, which will enable you to both load and sculpt your materials with great precision. Use it with mortars, plasters and grouts when you're carrying out DIY and construction jobs.The trowel surface...

www.toolstation.com

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I use a filling knife to butter the bricks and slide them in, but using a hawk and tuck pointer seems to be a common way to fill the joints?

At about 6:30 in:

Except - try to avoid debris and bricks, falling down the cavity

 

[^woody^]

I've never used a tuck iron to fill joints, and disagree that it's commonly used for this.

Pointing trowel, flatten the mortar to joint thickness on a brick trowel or hawk, cut it to suitable sections, slide it in. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Charlie George]

I've never used a tuck iron to fill joints, and disagree that it's commonly used for this.

Pointing trowel, flatten the mortar to joint thickness on a brick trowel or hawk, cut it to suitable sections, slide it in. Rinse and repeat.

All the brickies i know use finger/tuck trowels to fill bed joints, it's insisted on where i work, we have had problems with some bricklayers in the past with mortar being washed out on final brick cleaning.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I have one, and sometimes have made good use of one - but I had no idea they had their own name.....

There is just nothing else, apart from the tuck trowel that enable you to pack the mortar into place, when doing a brickwork repair. Before I had a tuck trowel, I used to make do with a large screwdriver, to compact the mortar into place. Then I bought a set of various trowels, floats, and that included the tuck trowel.

 

[^woody^]

All the brickies i know use finger/tuck trowels to fill bed joints, it's insisted on where i work, we have had problems with some bricklayers in the past with mortar being washed out on final brick cleaning.

Then is it a lack of skill thing with today's bricklayers?

Are the site management concerned that the brickies are not able to use a pointing trowel like it's been done for centuries before?

Tuck pointing is rare in my area, but replacing bricks is not, and I'd struggle to remember seeing a tuck iron in anyone's tool bucket. Seen lots of similar irons for smoothing recessed joints, but even those were rarely used for anything else.