The Kit That Has Not Changed In Centuries

Walk into the workshop of a stonemason who has been at the trade for forty years and you will not find a great deal of equipment. You will find a modest collection of hand tools, most of them worn smooth by use, arranged with the sort of care that only comes from daily dependence. Stone responds to patience and control rather than to machinery, and the tools that deliver that control have barely altered since the medieval mason's lodge. If you are setting yourself up to work stone — whether you are dressing a lintel, cutting a coping for a garden wall, or carving a simple birdbath for a client's border — the basics will carry you a very long way. The trick is buying the right examples of them and understanding what each one actually does.

Chisels, Bolsters And Mallets: The Cutting Kit

Cutting is where the craft begins, and your cutting kit should be chosen around the stone you intend to work. Soft, freshly quarried limestone behaves quite differently from granite, and the tools should reflect that.

• A mason's chisel — for most British limestones and sandstones a 20mm to 25mm tungsten carbide tipped chisel is a sensible starting point. For finer work, a narrow 6mm or 10mm chisel lets you approach an arris without bruising the surrounding face.
• A bolster (or boaster) — a wide, flat chisel of around 100mm, used vertically for splitting and for trimming a bed or joint face. Driving a bolster along a marked line is still the cleanest way to take a lump off a block.
• A point or punch — for roughing out and removing bulk material before you go anywhere near a finished face.
• A mallet — a wooden or nylon-headed mallet of roughly 450g to 700g. Heavier mallets do more damage to your wrist than to the stone; let the chisel do the work.
• A club hammer — a 1kg to 1.5kg hammer for driving bolsters and for plug-and-feather splitting, where a mallet simply will not carry enough weight.

Buy the best chisels you can justify and expect to dress the cutting edges regularly on a bench grinder or with a diamond file. A blunt chisel skids across the surface and ruins a face faster than any other mistake.

Setting Out, Levelling And Pointing

A mason's reputation rests on square work and true lines, and a handful of small tools keeps you honest. A pointing trowel with a narrow blade — typically 150mm to 175mm — is what you will reach for when raking out and repacking mortar joints. Alongside it, a striking or jointing tool gives you a consistent finish, whether you are after a weather-struck joint on a garden wall or a neat bucket handle profile.

• Spirit levels in a couple of lengths, with a 600mm for courses and a 1200mm for checking the run of a wall.
• A string line and pins for setting out and for keeping a long wall in line.
• A square and a sliding bevel for checking corners and setting awkward angles on steps or plinth work.
• A soft brush and a sponge, because cleaning mortar smears off stone before they set saves hours of pointless scrubbing later.

Safety Gear Worth Every Penny

Stone dust is the quiet hazard of this trade, and it deserves more respect than it usually gets. Crystalline silica in sandstone, granite and slate can lead to silicosis after years of exposure, and the damage is cumulative. Safety glasses are not optional; a chip of flint coming off a bolster at speed will find your eye.

• Safety glasses or goggles — worn every time you strike a chisel, without exception.
• A dust mask rated for fine particulates, and ideally water suppression or extraction when you are cutting or grinding.
• Ear defenders whenever a grinder or cut-off saw comes out.
• Steel-toed boots and close-fitting gloves, though be cautious with gloves around rotating tools.

The Workbench And The Working Area

A sturdy workbench is the foundation of safe, accurate work. It needs to be heavy enough that it will not shift when you swing a mallet, and set at a height that lets you work with a relaxed arm rather than a hunched back — around 900mm suits most people, though taller masons often prefer more.

Invest in a sandbag or a stone bank for carving, and a pair of trestles for larger pieces. Timber offcuts, wedges and a couple of thick boards will let you level and pack a block so it sits dead flat before you start. Working on an unstable stone is how fingers get trapped, so take the extra five minutes to set up properly.

Looking After The Kit

Tools last a lifetime if you treat them well. Oil metal surfaces against damp workshop air, keep chisels in a roll rather than loose in a bucket, and never leave a trowel caked in mortar overnight. Keep a small sharpening stone and a file to hand, and dress your chisels before a job rather than during it. Build the kit up gradually as the work demands, spend your money on the tools you actually use, and the rest will follow the way it always has — one well-set stone at a time.