tdmidget said:
janvanruth, that was interesting. Does it reflect architectural differences or just local training and tradition?
When I was a kid I would watch any craftsman intently. Down the street was a seventh day adventist church that had been built of blocks. The preacher was a mason by trade and during the week if he was not on a job he was at the church, laying a brick veneer outside the blocks. I was fascinated. I remember him trimming bricks as Modelman described. it was amazingly fast, just WHACK WHACK CLANG and it was done. The trowel never had a mark from it as near as I could see. Pretty sure the shit from the big boxes can't do that.
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I think both.
Architecture has a role in the differences.
The building materails used commonly vary widely over europe.
Holland( The Netherlands) had no natural rock to quarry for building other than one "mountain"of sandstone in the utmost southern part.
The sandstone blocks were cut out in an underground quarry consisting of one ever increasing mine,
the mosasaurus was found by workers quarrying sandstone
The expensinve sandstone was only used for covering the outside of monumental buildings like churches and palasts
The common material was fired clay brick.
Holland is a country built up by depositions by the main rivers consisting of sand, gravel and clay
Fireable clay is found all over Holland and there were many brick killns.
Wood is not a traditional wall building material, as it was banned several hundreds of years ago for buildings in the cities because of the risks of fire.
So dutch bricklayers have worked with fairly hard bricks for centuries and their outensils are adapted to that fact.
The same goes for the dutch speaking part of Belgium, although there is more quarried stone to be found in buildings in Belgium the nearer one gets to the eastern part of Belgium and the nearer to the Ardennes where Belgian Hardstone was and is quarried.
The trowels in Holland are rather short and small but have a thick blade and are rounded on the right side and around the top. Left handed ones the other way around.
They are made to be used to cut the dutch type of bricks beeing the solid hard type.
The same goes to an extend for some german models that originate form regions in the northern part and along the river Rhine where building from bricks was predominant.
The square and triangal models are usually bigger and made of lighter steel.
They are not quite suited for cutting solid hard bricks.
Training and tradition will surely play a role.
The apprentice will likely buy the same tools the master has.
Above that the predominant type will be readily available on a local level.
Germany has a very wide variety of local styles in trowels.
Tradition must play a major role in keeping the variety.
Germany had, even after the war, a system in which an apprentice ( Lehrling), after having finished his apprenticeship, becoming a skilled worker ( Geselle) with a local recognised member of the guild ( Meister), was supposed to go out and work for a couple of years in other parts of the country ( Wandergeselle).
Although the Wandergeselle came into contact with different styles during his tour (Wanderschaft) he would still keep his original style of tooling.
I think both.Architecture has a role in the differences.The building materails used commonly vary widely over europe.Holland( The Netherlands) had no natural rock to quarry for building other than one "mountain"of sandstone in the utmost southern part.The sandstone blocks were cut out in an underground quarry consisting of one ever increasing mine,the mosasaurus was found by workers quarrying sandstone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosasaurus The expensinve sandstone was only used for covering the outside of monumental buildings like churches and palastsThe common material was fired clay brick.Holland is a country built up by depositions by the main rivers consisting of sand, gravel and clayFireable clay is found all over Holland and there were many brick killns.Wood is not a traditional wall building material, as it was banned several hundreds of years ago for buildings in the cities because of the risks of fire.So dutch bricklayers have worked with fairly hard bricks for centuries and their outensils are adapted to that fact.The same goes for the dutch speaking part of Belgium, although there is more quarried stone to be found in buildings in Belgium the nearer one gets to the eastern part of Belgium and the nearer to the Ardennes where Belgian Hardstone was and is quarried.The trowels in Holland are rather short and small but have a thick blade and are rounded on the right side and around the top. Left handed ones the other way around.They are made to be used to cut the dutch type of bricks beeing the solid hard type.The same goes to an extend for some german models that originate form regions in the northern part and along the river Rhine where building from bricks was predominant.The square and triangal models are usually bigger and made of lighter steel.They are not quite suited for cutting solid hard bricks.Training and tradition will surely play a role.The apprentice will likely buy the same tools the master has.Above that the predominant type will be readily available on a local level.Germany has a very wide variety of local styles in trowels.Tradition must play a major role in keeping the variety.Germany had, even after the war, a system in which an apprentice ( Lehrling), after having finished his apprenticeship, becoming a skilled worker ( Geselle) with a local recognised member of the guild ( Meister), was supposed to go out and work for a couple of years in other parts of the country ( Wandergeselle).Although the Wandergeselle came into contact with different styles during his tour (Wanderschaft) he would still keep his original style of tooling.