Anyone used one of these?

Hi Dave. It certainly looks simple enough to work, unlike some other Ideal-Home-Exhibition-type "shortcut" gimmicky devices. I loved the method of adjusting the nozzle - bend it with pliers!

Bert

PS: Haven't seen you over on the Other Place lately...

Even if it worked, I'd be put off buying one by that awful background noise on their video!

I don't know what was in their 'mortar' - no mortar that I've ever made would flow like that. As soon a you start to compress it, it goes solid!

Thank you for quantifying this point. As you say, all mortar I have used goes solid when compressed, unless loaded with some plasticiser.

I have and have used one. Without it I was bloody useless at pointing. With it I am bloody useless at pointing but a lot faster and more confident of getting the muck fully to the back of the joint. (The uselessness is that I still can't strike a decent joint - but I am told it is a bit tricky with our cheap Victorian bricks which lack clean, straight edges and are often widely spaced.)

On Roger's point about the mix, in my limited (and probably useless) experience you do need to make the muck really light and fluffy. I've used 6:1:1 and 9:2:1 mixes but still added loads of plasticiser.

PS You know some pretty ambitious maidens given the size of the thing ;)

I might almost be tempted - I've got a patio than desperately needs doing.

They do say that plasticiser should be used.

Owain

Not a new idea, there must be some experience of them?

I think involves use of a similar tool.

Do you have brick jointer or similar?

That's the thought that went through my mind when I saw the tool. The mix would have to be really soft to squidge through the nozzle without having to apply loads of effort to the plunger. So soft that it would probably slump out of the joint. Off a trowel with jointer you can use a nice stiff mix that stays where you put it...

They do work very well. I've used it for pointing blockwork on an extension, and around paving slabs. You need to use a plasticiser to allow it to flow nicely, and spend a little bit of time getting used to it, but once you've got the knack, it's very easy.

dan.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember The Medway Handyman saying something like:

The video is convincing enough, and I assume that it's simple and rugged enough to withstand conditions on a building site and the gentle administrations of thousands of brickies and their assistants.

Wtf is a putlog?

Aye - but it'd not be my tool of choice for pushing muck as it's rounded. In any event, my learning difficulty is with making the muck stand proud of the joint without getting muck all over the face of the brick. So I usually end up with a brushed "flush" finish which looks pretty poor on old bricks with meandering and chipped edges.

I've not had that problem. Bear in mind this tool has a large nozzle - much larger than others I have seen - so "light and fluffy" does not mean "runny as piss water". I've not tried to measure the hardness of the result but it resists my thumbnail so I reckon it'll see me out ;)

No one on a building site would be caught dead with one. If you get the opportunity, get a brickie to show you how to do pointing. It isn't difficult, but like most of the wet trades, being shown is worth thousands of words of explaining.

The gun (similar to a normal silicone gun) is a better applicator.

The mix needs to be light, as in more plasticiser than water, otherwise you end up with a cartridge full of cementy water.

Oh and the last bit in each cartridge needs to be got rid of as it's usually devoid of any moisture and won't go through the nozzle if re-applied.

Once the mortar is in the joint, it has to be left to dry out somewhat before using any kind of smoothing tool, this can take up to 2 hours depending on the weather.

A bit like the difference between those who can apply silicone around a bath, etc., and those who have to resort to Fugenboys.

MBQ

Looks like the right shape but where does the maiden put the batteries? ;-)

In message , Grimly Curmudgeon writes

Thank you. Saves me asking :-)

A putlog is the short piece of scaffold pipe with a flattened end that ties the scaffolding into the newly built wall. The brickie will leave the occasional joint unpointed as a putlog hole, and the scaffolder can stick a putlog in it when he puts up the next lift of scaffolding.

Obviously, when the scaffolding comes down at the end of the job, someone has to fill in all the putlog holes.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Martin Bonner saying something like:

Most informative. Thanks.