Hi all. I will need to rake out the old mortar on my back yard walls. What is the best power tool solution for this kind of job?
I think I also saw some kind of masonry router bit but can't remember where.
Thanks.
Arthur.
And wishing everyone a 'splinterless' new year.
An 4" wheel angle grinder with a diamond cutter in it will do the trick. Run it along a baton to give you a straight line and a means of gauging the depth. You'll need to wet the mortar, so wear wellies and use a circuit breaker if using mains power.
What he /\ said, though you could use an ordinary masonry grinding wheel in place of the diamond one. With this method you can only do the centre of the verticals, so they will need to be cleaned out with a hammer and chisel.
|And wishing everyone a 'splinterless' new year.
Too late , I picked up a splinter in a finger, yesterday doing some wiring, and had to extract it today :-(
An angle grinder with a carborundum disc, they make them in different thicknesses, get a thick one, around 6mm, you'll also need a pick similar to this:
You'll need goggles, a dustmask and protective clothing, start at the top of the wall and work downwards, do all the vertical joints you can reach without moving, then the horizontal, working methodically like this is the easiest and quickest way with pointing/raking out...don't start repointing until it's *all* raked out, and more importantly, wash each wall down with a hosepipe before starting the pointing, this will remove any dust/debris in each joint and make pointing quicker and easier, in summer you can do this immediately prior to pointing to kill the suction and improve adhesion, in winter it should stay damp for a week or more anyway....you're aiming for between 12-20mm depth on a crumbly existing mortar, and 5-10mm on a hard mortar, the latter is more for decoration than anything else.
If you've never done any pointing before, when you start, you'll soon realie that pointing trowels are manufactured incorrectly, inthat they are pointed, you'll need to grind the point off so that the end of it is rounded, about the contour of a 10p piece....if you are making your own hawk (or handboard), use a thin piece of timber for the handle because a wider one will give you severe cramp, a piece of brush steel is perfect, also a small section of foam rubber or flat foam cushioning where the handle meets the board will make things more comfortable during long boring hours pointing, as will a radio. :-p
HTH
There is a bit that fits a drill
The idea is to cut a slot along the centre of the pointing. Thus frees it to come out, and the vibration makes it loose so it usually comes out easy then. If you're working on an old building you need to be very gentle with the grinder, as old soft bricks are all too easy to damage, and doing so is likely to cause them to deteriorate severely and irreversably.
A cheap grit disc works too, but diamond is so much quicker I wouldnt consider a grit disc now.
NT
Similar tool available from Screwfix is 40mm long instead of 50mm, but=20 =A310 instead of =A357=20
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