Concrete Spades

Concrete spades have flat, perforated blades for facing concrete in formwork. They were developed along with other concrete tools in the early 20th century. Vaughan's patent concrete spade was first manufactured around 1908 by Concrete Spade Manufacturing Co. of Valparaiso, IN.

"By use of Vaughan's Patent Concrete Spade, you can force the coarse aggregates in the concrete back, while the forms are still about the wall, and let the finer cement mortar flow forward, the perforations in the spade allowing it to come to the front. Your wall is thus given a smooth finish, without applying face mortars."

Other early manufacturers included the Ross spade by Harold L. Bond Co., Boston, MA. The Ross and Vaughan spades can be seen in the 1914 catalog of Crerar, Adams & Co. of Chicago, IL. 

Concrete-Cement Age, Vol. 1, Dec. 1912, pg. 18

The Stone Jack

L.J. Kelly stone jacks

The stone jack was used to push and lift heavy loads in stone quarries, stone cutting sheds, construction sites, foundries, machine shops, and mills. They were designed to be used in a vertical, horizontal, or angled position, and to lift from the top or with a "foot lift" on the back.

The name suggests that they were originally used to lift and push blocks of stone. As industrialization progressed and the size of machinery and boilers increased, stone jacks were used to transfer these from rail car to wagon and into buildings. Stone jacks also found use in in textile mills.

Mechanically, some stone jacks are ratchets, and others use a similar design, a crank-operated rack and pinion with reduction gears. The rack and pinion are enclosed with a wood housing reinforced with iron bands. These are the only jacks made in the late 19th and 20th centuries that are part wood.

Stone jack pushing a crated boiler

E.R. Klemm of Chicago, Illinois was a leading U.S. manufacturer of stone jacks in the early 20th century. A native of Magdelburg, Germany, and a prolific inventor, Emil Richard Klemm (1859-1928) patented a steel stone jack housing that he manufactured. Klemm's business merged with Chicago hardware house J.H. Channon Corp. in 1936. Pages from 2 catalogs showing Klemm's stone jacks are on Archive.org. They are also in the 1937 Brunner & Lay catalog.

Another manufacturer of the day was L.J. Kelly of Albany, New York, who advertised his cast iron iron and steel jacks in "Granite" and other stone trade magazines.

     

Stone jacks made by E.R. Klemm of Chicago, IL, 1917

History of Wheelbarrows Used in Masonry Work

Chattanooga contractor's wheelbarrow 1922

Wheelbarrows, or barrows as they were once called, carts, buggies, sleds, and rollers have been used to carry brick, stone, mortar, and concrete for centuries. They were used to move material around construction sites, stone quarries, brickyards, and onto and off wagons, railroad cars, and ships.

While I am not aware of any wheelbarrow collectors, there is an active market for old wheelbarrow manufacturer's catalogs on US eBay. Some US manufacturers include these companies:

Brick or tile barrows 1902

Akron Barrow Co., Akron, Ohio

American Steel Scraper Co., Sidney, Ohio

Bryan Manufacturing Co., Bryan, Ohio

Buckeye Products Co., Cincinnati, Ohio

Bull Frog, made by Toledo Wheelbarrow Co., Toledo, Ohio

Chattanooga Wheelbarrow Co., Chattanooga, Tennessee

The Fairbanks Co., Rome, Georgia

Gar-Bro Manufacturing Co., Los Angeles, California; Heber Springs, Arkansas

General wheelbarrow by Dico Co., Des Moines, Iowa

Jackson Manufacturing Co., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Co., Columbus, Ohio (history)

Lansing Wheelbarrow Co., Lansing, Michigan

McWhinnie Wheelbarrows, Poughkeepsie, New York

Nason Manufacturing Co., New York City, New York

Sidney Steel Scraper Co., Sidney, Ohio

Sterling Wheelbarrow Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Western Iron Works, Sims & Morris, San Francisco, California

Western Wheelbarrow and Manufacturing Co., Kansas City, Missouri

Wood Shovel & Tool Co., Piqua, Ohio

Stone barrow from S.D. Kimbark's Illustrated Catalogue, 1876

Sims & Morris wheelbarrow, 1888

Sterling Wheelbarrow Co., photo credit Daniel Pawlik

Drywall Corner Tools

US Patent 2616285

Some corner tools were designed for specifically for drywall, instead of both drywall and plaster. One example that I came across on US eBay received US Patent 2616285 on 4 Nov 1952.

The inventor was Samuel Tilden Shields (28 Sep 1894 - 3 Mar. 1964), born in Cleveland to John J. Shields and Harriet Van Gorder. Samuel Shields was a salesman, a contractor in Cleveland in the 1920s, and in sales again by 1942. He also received US Patent 2787820 in 1957 with Alfred Knudsen. This was for a window buck, a steel jamb for poured concrete walls.

Shields drywall corner tool 

Line or Corner Blocks

W. Rose patent line block

Line blocks, also called corner blocks, have been made in a variety of shapes and materials including wood, aluminum, steel, iron, and plastic. The cast aluminum line block below was made by United Builders of Muskegon, Michigan. W. Rose made cast iron corner blocks, on page 24 of their 1929 catalog. The Rose tools were invented by Daniel Lee (1880-1944), an Irish-born bricklayer in nearby Chester, PA, who received US Patent 1066926 on 8 July, 1913.

For a short article on line pins with advertising, Collecting Mason's Line Pins.

United Builders line block

Plaster and Stucco Brushes

Flour City Brush Co.

Historically, a variety of brushes have been used in some plaster and stucco finishes, as well as for other purposes in the masonry trades. Here are several from the 1935 Flour City Brush Co. catalog, Minneapolis, MN, and the Goldblatt Tool Co. 1910 catalog.

Flour City Brush Co.

Goldblatt Tool Co. 1910

Goldblatt Tool Co. 1910

Tools for Concrete Formwork and Rebar

Ideal tie wire reel

The Ideal tie wire reel is the most popular tool of its type, and is made by the Ideal Reel Co. of Paducah, KY. It was invented by George E. Beiderwell, who received US Patent 2683000 on 6 July 1954. His application summarized his invention as follows:

This invention relates to reels for dispensing tie wires and it has for its object to provide an improved type of reel adapted for use by either right or left handed persons and from which short sections of tie wire may be dispensed, for the use of workmen employed in fastening together the elongated steel rods or other shapes used as reinforcing for concrete buildings, bridges or other structures.

This YouTube video shows an Ideal reel: Tying Rebar by Kris Charpentier

Old cast iron and steel form tie wedges

The reusable form tie wedge is another tool for concrete formwork. An early form tie wedge was US Patent 1808912, patented 9 June 1931. The wedges can be cast iron or stamped tempered steel.

An early rebar bender is below. All parts were forged steel, it weighed 200 pounds, and it was bolted to a plank or beam.

Acme Bar Bender, 1910

Please contact me with your information and pictures to add to this article.

Hand Powered Masonry Drills

The early hammer drill to the right was sold in the USA by Orr & Lockett Hardware Co. in 1914. The Rawlplug Mechanical Hammer was patented and sold in the UK and manufactured in the UK and Belgium. Another US maker was the Diamond Expansion Bolt Co. of New York City. Their hammer drill was patented by James T. Hoal on 4 August, 1914, U.S. Patent No. 1106306.

Orr & Lockett hammer drill

Rawlplug Mechanical Hammer

Rawlplug Mechanical Hammer

Diamond drill patent

Diamond Expansion Bolt drill, photo by Martin J. Donnelly Auctions

Early Safety Equipment in the Masonry Trades

The Granite Cutters' Journal, 1909

Safety equipment is often an afterthought, but by the late 1800s increasing mechanization in all industries made safety equipment more necessary. Trades which had been performed by households or small groups using hand tools were now done by many people at greater speed with machines. This greatly increased the incidence of injuries and the motivation to reduce them. In the bricklaying, quarrying, stone masonry, tile, and foundry molding trades, common injuries were to eyes, lungs, hands, knees, feet, and from falls. Responding to demand, in the late 1800 businesses began to make safety goggles and dust masks. Later products included knee pads and steel-toed shoes.

A Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences, 1910

The earliest reference I found to stone cutter's safety goggles is 1886. These safety goggles had lenses made of mica (isinglass), which would not shatter like glass, and 360-degree side shields. Lenses had to be replaced frequently because of scratching. Early safety spectacles had thick glass lenses. Walter King of Julius King Optical Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, developed tempered glass lenses in the 1910s. Other early US safety glasses manufacturers included American Optical, Bausch & Lomb, Duralite, NASO, and Willson.

Early protective gear also included bricklayer's finger tape and leather knee pads, both sold by Goldblatt Tool Co.

King safety glasses

Duralite safety goggles

Goldblatt leather knee pads, felt lined

The Sled Runner

Goldblatt Tool 1952 catalog

The sled runner produces straight bed joints, usually for concrete block walls. The tool is made from carbon steel, upturned at one or both ends, with one or 2 forged, welded, riveted or screwed steel posts and a wood handle. Typical lengths range from 14 to 20 inches.

The tool has been made in the USA at least since the 1920s. Goldblatt's 1928 and 1938 catalog have 2 styles of sled runners. The one for V joints has a large wooden handle adapted from a wood float. The one for rodded joints has a rectangular wooden handle supported by 2 steel posts. The 3 jointers in the photo at the bottom have handles like a brick trowel (top), finish trowel (middle), and cement tool (bottom).

Goldblatt Tool 1938 catalog

     

Sled runners, unknown makers

Current US manufacturers include Bon Tool, Hubbard, Kraft, Marshalltown, Stortz, and W. Rose.

Harmon S. Palmer, Concrete Block Machine Inventor

Harmon S. Palmer 1905

Harmon Sylvanus Palmer is the American inventor credited with the concrete block machine. Palmer patented a concrete block mold in 1887, his first block machine in 1899, a concrete block wall with rectangular voids in 1901, another machine in 1903, and other patents followed. However, Palmer lost his technological advantage by being overly controlling with his inventions. He failed to realize that there were many possible designs for block machines and many entrepreneurs ready to make them, some of which predated his patents. He also restricted his customer's sales territories, a tactic that concrete trade publications editorialized against. Another self-inflicted problem was that his blocks were too large and heavy for one man to carry and lay. Palmer blocks were 24 or 32 inches long, 9 inches high, and 4 to 16 inches wide.

An exponential annual increase in cement demand and production after 1890 ensured a ready market for block machines. In response to many competing machines flooding the market, Palmer aggressively protected his patents, suing anyone infringing on them. Many Harmon S. Palmer Hollow Building Block Co. advertisements threatened competing manufacturers, their customers, and even the owners of buildings built with other block machines. It appears that he moved to Washington DC to better prosecute his legal claims. When he won a key lawsuit, he was unprepared to meet anticipated demand and contracted with another machine manufacturer in 1906. Later the same year, he lost on appeal because other designs existed before his. He never regained his initial lead with block machines.

Harmon S. Palmer was born 9 Mar. 1843 in Michigan, and died 1 Mar. 1931 in Washington DC. He and his wife Nellie E. had sons Floyd and Clyde. The sons lived with their parents, didn't marry, and worked for the business. In 1910 Palmer lived at 1450 Girard St., originally named  Binney St. While that house is gone, across the street a stately double house is built with his blocks.

Harmon S. Palmer advertisement, 1904

US cement production 1890-1908 

Early Twentieth Century Concrete Block Molds and Machines

Simple block mold

This site usually includes hand tools and not machinery. However, early concrete block molds and single-block machines were important in popularizing the use of concrete a century ago, and they were also hand-powered and portable. Advertisements for molds and machines to make building blocks, fence posts, silo staves, and other objects were common in trade publications of the day. Some manufacturers of molds and small machines include:

Anchor Concrete Machinery Co., Columbus, OH and Adrian, MI
Ashland Steel Range & Manufacturing Co., Ashland, OH
Australia Concrete Machinery and Engineering Co., Ltd., London, UK
Hercules by Century Cement Machine Co., Rochester, NY
Diamond Block Machine Co., Bristol, VA, sold by Montgomery Ward
W.E. Dunn Manufacturing Co., Chicago, IL
Panama by J. B. Foote Foundry, Fredericktown, OH
Francis Machinery Co., St. Louis, MO
Knox, Triumph, and Wizard, made in Ohio for Sears, Roebuck & Co.
London Concrete Machinery Co., London, Ontario
Multiplex Concrete Machinery Co., Elmore, OH
Miracle Pressed Stone Co., Minneapolis, MN
United Cement Machinery Co., Plain City and Columbus, OH

The primary source today of information about these molds and machines is from Concrete Machinery, catalogs issued in the early 1900s by Sears, Roebuck & Co. of Chicago. I have scanned one of these, and there are 3 more with a lower resolution on Archive.org. Sears sold the 3 machines listed above, all shipped from an undisclosed location in central Ohio. In addition to the machines, they sold many accessories and additional molds for making decorative and structural blocks. The catalogs are well-illustrated and a fascinating look at building technology over 100 years ago. The back cover shows houses, silos, and commercial buildings built with machines sold by Sears. I have located several of those buildings on Google Street View. 

Concrete block mold, cast iron, USA 

Sears Concrete Machinery, high resolution
Sears Block Machine Instructions, Archive.org
Sears Concrete Machinery 1915, Archive.org
Sears Concrete Machinery 1925, Archive.org
Sears Concrete Machinery 1928, Archive.org
Concrete Block Machines in US in 1909
1905 Francis Machinery on YouTube
1906 Sears Roebuck Machine on YouTube

Using the Australia Concrete Block Machine in 1920

The molds and machines are very rare today. This 2013 article describes how Justin Grow of Portland, Oregon borrowed a block machine from a local museum and made his own rock-faced blocks for a restoration project. As of this date there is a rock-faced block mold for sale on US eBay with a $399.00 starting bid.

For more information about early manufactured concrete block and many pictures of its uses, see Straub Cinder Building Blocks on Archive.org.

Concrete block machines in Britain, 1921

Century Cement Machine Co., 1907

W.E. Dunn Manufacturing Co.

Sears Concrete Machinery 

Sears Concrete Machinery

One of 2 houses built by C.W. Ward, Savona, NY

Concrete block house near Eureka, IL

For more information about larger equipment in the United States, see the Historical Construction Equipment Association, of  Bowling Green, Ohio.

Hand Saws for Stone Cutters and Masons

Hand saws have been used to cut stone since antiquity, and were made as recently as 1940 by Joseph Tyzack, Meersbrook Works, Sheffield. The 2-man saw in the bottom picture is French.

J. Tyzack 1940 Catalogue

Étival Clairefontaine, France

Source: tonton84.centerblog.net  sur centerblog.

This YouTube video shows retired stone cutters demonstrating how limestone blocks were cut in the 1950s.

Concrete Chipping Hammers and Bush Chisels

The Vulcan Tool Manufacturing Company's 1933 catalog shows a hammer and handled chisels for chipping concrete. Note that the heads are shown upside down. The complete catalog is here.

Vulcan Tool Mfg. Co. 1933 catalog, page 29

Stucco and Plaster Texturing Tools

The pamphlet, Plaster's Manual, covers a variety of tools for creating textures in portland cement stucco and portland cement plaster. There are additional pictures in the booklet, which is undated but a printer's code suggests 1948. 

Plasterer's Manual by Portland Cement Association