Masonry trowel
Encyclopedia
The Masonry trowel is a hand trowel
used in brickwork
or stonework for leveling, spreading and shaping mortar
or concrete. They come in several shapes and sizes depending on the task. The following is a list of the more common masonry trowels:
Trowel
A trowel is one of several similar hand tools used for digging, smoothing, or otherwise moving around small amounts of viscous or particulate material.-Hand tools:...
used in brickwork
Brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
or stonework for leveling, spreading and shaping mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
or concrete. They come in several shapes and sizes depending on the task. The following is a list of the more common masonry trowels:
- Brick trowel: or mason's trowel is a point-nosed trowel for spreading mortar on bricks or concreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
blocks with a technique called "buttering". The shape of the blade is ideal for smoothing small patches in concrete. - Bucket trowel: a wide-bladed tool for scooping mortar from a bucketBucketA bucket, also called a pail, is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone, with an open top and a flat bottom, usually attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail. A pail can have an open top or can have a lid....
. It is also good for buttering bricks and smoothing mortar. - Concrete finishing trowel (Float): is used to smooth a surface after the concrete has begun to set. It is held nearly level to the surface of the concrete, and moved with a sweeping arc across the surface.
- Corner trowels: used for shaping concrete around internal or external corners; The handle is located at the center of a 90-degree bend in the blade for balance and the ability to apply even pressure to both sides of a corner.
- Gauging trowel: A round-nosed trowel used for mixing mortar and applying small amounts in confined areas. It is also used to replace crumbled mortar and to patch concrete.
- Margin trowel: A flat-nosed trowel used to work mortar in tight spaces and corners where a larger pointed trowel will not fit.
- Pointed trowel: a smaller version of the brick trowel. Useful for filling in small cavities and repairing crumbling mortar joints.
- Pool trowel or round trowel: a variation of the concrete finishing trowel; rounded blade prevents it from digging into wet concrete.
- Step trowel: similar to the corner trowel, it is used for shaping inside angles on concrete steps. The center of the 90-degree bend in the blade allows for rounded edges.
- Tile setter: is a brick trowel with an extra-wide blade to hold more mortar than a standard brick trowel. It is ideal for smoothing mortar on large bricks and blocks.
- Tuck pointer: used for neatly packing mortar between bricks and blocks when repointing and repairing crumbling mortar in masonryMasonryMasonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
walls.