Old raised mortar joints? 1920"s

[Colbyt]

Google failed me this time. Lot's of pictures but no how to do. Actually the 4th picture down on this page illustrates the style but not the width. It also appears to be on block and not stone:

I have to try to duplicate some of the 1920's raised mortar joints on a rock foundation. The ones that if viewed from the left end view of a cross section would look like ]

I actually failed at this once before. I tried making a "rake' in that shape and it just did not do the job because of the unevenness of the stone. If you have done it or know how they did it, I would love to hear from you.

Colbyt

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I've seen it applied using a bag like the cake decorators use for icing. Have you talked to any masonry supply houses? Ed

[Colbyt]

For the benefit of others. I never found any information about how these joints were made. As Ed suggested I had planned and did apply a heavy bead of rich mortar to the existing mortar joints sing a pointer's bag.

I tried making a tool by grinding a U shape in a 3" drywall knife. That did not work either with fresh or "set" mortar. It tended to drag the mortar off the joint.

What did work was to apply a heavy bead of mortar and flatten the face with a small rectangular trowel and allow the mortar to set. Then go back and using a pointing trowel score the straight lines and sweep away the cut away part using the same trowel. The pointers trowel dipped in water smoothed and rounded the cut edges. Work from the top down or you will clean the same area more than once.

I only had a small area to do. This method is labor intensive but it does work. I still want to know how the old guys did it. If this is the way they earned their bucks.

Colbyt