This man is a true living, wallking library...the info he passes on is simply invaluable and plenty. I especially loved the part where he mentions this is pretty much straight forward even though a very basic setup, but some ways of working seem to get lost through time. Any way that you can get him back on to impart more tips & tricks or tackle more technical stuff? I'm a French leandscaper and advocate of continued learning and self-teaching. Watched every parts of your vids on how to build a wall yesterday and it got me so confident that I could do it that I searched for stones the very same night, can you imagine? Thought it'd be difficult to proccur, but it's stunning the amount of people who are willing to give out piles of stone - worthless to them -, and I came accross that guy who turns out to have 18 cube meters for free on his property no more than 3 miles away from where I live! Gonna go and fetch the stones soon as I can and get down to work! :)
"Bonjour !" (Oh alreight then..."Ey up !"). As a West Riding of Yorkshire-man, of some seventy Summers, sitting here in Central France, on a cold December night, whilst suppin' a brew, I thought I'd watch a couple of videos of proper stonemasonry, and I wasn't disappointed !!! Not only was it a very informative presentation of technique, from a man who so obviously knows his trade, but knows how to express himself fluently (of course, with those "warm" rounded vowels of a dialect that is, and will remain, dear to my heart). Good on thee lad, and Thank you! In the 1960s I did my 3-year art studies (1-year of sculpture, which included stone carving, I continued with it for a while afterwards), then a couple of jobs of stone-cutting/masonry, until "Life" changed direction, but the feel of holding a stone "punch" and a well-balanced hammer still rings in my memories. Even my family name has its origins in the "trade" ! You can probably guess it. Thank you again. Best Wishes to you and to those following in your stone chippings.
I admire true craftsmanship passed down through the generations. When I was a teenager, I worked with my uncle, who was a true craftsman. I hated that we arrived earlier (often working in the dark) than anyone else and stayed late to fix any imperfections. Of course, later in life, the pride he took in all his work is what I most admire about him. I am thankful he passed down the value of a solid work ethic and to take pride in any work I do. Thanks for the video.
thank you so much for making these videos! I am now 67 and retired from teaching carpentry after I was a carpenter. I have always liked stone masonry and am going to try my hand at it. Years ago, I helped a mason build a beautiful bbq and have sat in front of many beautiful stone fireplaces. thank you thank you thank you.
Thank you for your comment, I love to hear people getting into stone work and glad that my videos can be of help. I'd love to learn more about carpentry but find it quite intimidating! I'd love the chance to do some timber framing so hopefully can find time next year to do a course. Thanks for watching!
Great to see a true old school mason,beautiful job and thank you for sharing your know how, money cant buy what you have. All the best to you mate from Aussie.
Masonry’s brought a lot of joy to my life. There’s something almost divine about stone work, laying bricks and block are enjoyable, but nothing quite compares to working with stone.
I guess the turning to find out the way it "wants to be down" has to do with which position the stone has more mass near the down face, which makes it more stable, since the mass of a stone is not smoothly distributed on it's volume. It probably wobbles a lot more when it has the heavier side up, that's why throwing it around is a good way to feel the right side.
This is an excellent video. Does anyone have more information about the "pinning" that he talks about at 4:55? edit: I found a comment already discussing this so I'll just copy and paste. >the pin is pushed into the mortar bed until it binds with both stones. >Also as you build the wall up during the day, more and more weight, the wet mortar can squeeze out, throwing the stone out of true and creating sliders, kicks in the wall etc. The pin stops this happening, as the mortar sets.
good job fella. liked and subscribed. i'm a bricklayer myself. done a bit of stonework in my time. takes a bit more thinking about.always looks good though
Good video! My problem is different: stones were not in raws with fixed hight in my old stone house which had collapsed same 10 years ago is not all lost though as bits of walls still standing and now got to raise it up as before. Job no 1 need finds an old stone master and possibly learn along the old trade and restore the crumbled house once again. ...
This knowledge is treasure and thanks for sharing it. Can I make a suggestion?-- after editing the video, export the audio as a file, bring it into Audacity (free audio editing software), and raise the volume of the speech parts using the envelope tool. I bet it would take 5 minutes to learn, and 20 minutes to do. Then import it back into the video and mute the original audio tracks. If you work in WAV files, you won't lose any quality. There might be a better way, but I'm only a hobbyist. [edit, the audio is much better in this video. I think it's only in the left speaker though?]
Son replying here! That was a great competition! Shame there's not much happening in the cotswolds anymore . Hopefully they get that comp going again one day.
I loved watching this (even though I often do the same but with a different stone!). I might try shaping a trowel to your style & see how I get on with it. Every day is a learning day! Interested to see that you do not fill as you go .. is there a reason that you prefer that? I assume that you fill with stone?
So this wall is being build with a cavity so there won't be any fill, the stone will be attached to the block with stainless steel building ties - common practice here in Yorkshire to combat damp. If we were building a solid wall we would definitely fill as we go. Glad to hear you enjoyed the video! Cheers.
Also as you build the wall up during the day, more and more weight, the wet mortar can squeeze out, throwing the stone out of true and creating sliders, kicks in the wall etc. The pin stops this happening, as the mortar sets.
I have a question: I am going to build a small log "shed" on my grass lawn 3 meters x 2 meters... I want to make a dry wall underneath... how far down do you think i need to dig to make it stable and not "sink into the lawn"? :)
You'll have to take all the top soil off for a start , so about 20cm . Then the depth of your footing depends on the type of ground under the soil. If it is sandy or clay you'll want to dig deeper than if it is good subsoil or rocky. If you're on good ground and there aren't any problems with frost in your area then a trench 20cm deep in your lawn should suffice for a foundation.
This man is a true living, wallking library...the info he passes on is simply invaluable and plenty. I especially loved the part where he mentions this is pretty much straight forward even though a very basic setup, but some ways of working seem to get lost through time.
Any way that you can get him back on to impart more tips & tricks or tackle more technical stuff?
I'm a French leandscaper and advocate of continued learning and self-teaching. Watched every parts of your vids on how to build a wall yesterday and it got me so confident that I could do it that I searched for stones the very same night, can you imagine? Thought it'd be difficult to proccur, but it's stunning the amount of people who are willing to give out piles of stone - worthless to them -, and I came accross that guy who turns out to have 18 cube meters for free on his property no more than 3 miles away from where I live!
Gonna go and fetch the stones soon as I can and get down to work! :)
"Bonjour !" (Oh alreight then..."Ey up !"). As a West Riding of Yorkshire-man, of some seventy Summers, sitting here in Central France, on a cold December night, whilst suppin' a brew, I thought I'd watch a couple of videos of proper stonemasonry, and I wasn't disappointed !!! Not only was it a very informative presentation of technique, from a man who so obviously knows his trade, but knows how to express himself fluently (of course, with those "warm" rounded vowels of a dialect that is, and will remain, dear to my heart). Good on thee lad, and Thank you!
In the 1960s I did my 3-year art studies (1-year of sculpture, which included stone carving, I continued with it for a while afterwards), then a couple of jobs of stone-cutting/masonry, until "Life" changed direction, but the feel of holding a stone "punch" and a well-balanced hammer still rings in my memories. Even my family name has its origins in the "trade" ! You can probably guess it.
Thank you again. Best Wishes to you and to those following in your stone chippings.
Absolutely fantastic Cuthbert. Brilliant to see your Dad at work here passing on hints and tips.
You’re a true craftsman, keep up the grand work
Thank you! It's fun putting this work out there, thanks for the nice comment.
I admire true craftsmanship passed down through the generations. When I was a teenager, I worked with my uncle, who was a true craftsman. I hated that we arrived earlier (often working in the dark) than anyone else and stayed late to fix any imperfections. Of course, later in life, the pride he took in all his work is what I most admire about him. I am thankful he passed down the value of a solid work ethic and to take pride in any work I do. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for sharing, we are lucky to learn from diligent craftsmen and the best we can do is try to pass on that work ethic.
Soo much to learn from these old masters…..thank you for uploading this, it’s invaluable!
Glad it was helpful!
thank you so much for making these videos! I am now 67 and retired from teaching carpentry after I was a carpenter. I have always liked stone masonry and am going to try my hand at it. Years ago, I helped a mason build a beautiful bbq and have sat in front of many beautiful stone fireplaces. thank you thank you thank you.
Thank you for your comment, I love to hear people getting into stone work and glad that my videos can be of help. I'd love to learn more about carpentry but find it quite intimidating! I'd love the chance to do some timber framing so hopefully can find time next year to do a course. Thanks for watching!
Great to see a true old school mason,beautiful job and thank you for sharing your know how,
money cant buy what you have. All the best to you mate from Aussie.
I'll pass on your comment to my dad! Thanks for watching. We'll get some more videos out soon of some old school masonry tips. cheers
I’m a stonemason from north wales Id love to come up your way to do some stonework keep up the great videos
Masonry’s brought a lot of joy to my life. There’s something almost divine about stone work, laying bricks and block are enjoyable, but nothing quite compares to working with stone.
What a legend and a craftsman. Love the accent. Thanks for the video.
We are so thankful for this content!
Really enjoyed this video! Great stuff!
Cheers!
Great video, thanks for sharing! Always fun to watch a skilled worker doing what they do best.
Excellent video, thank you.
I guess the turning to find out the way it "wants to be down" has to do with which position the stone has more mass near the down face, which makes it more stable, since the mass of a stone is not smoothly distributed on it's volume. It probably wobbles a lot more when it has the heavier side up, that's why throwing it around is a good way to feel the right side.
This is an excellent video. Does anyone have more information about the "pinning" that he talks about at 4:55?
edit: I found a comment already discussing this so I'll just copy and paste.
>the pin is pushed into the mortar bed until it binds with both stones.
>Also as you build the wall up during the day, more and more weight, the wet mortar can squeeze out, throwing the stone out of true and creating sliders, kicks in the wall etc. The pin stops this happening, as the mortar sets.
Nice one, my first two trowels were WHS, the good old ones before they went flimsy, now I use W Rose, lovely work fella!
Thanks for the comment! Cant beat old tools, there's just no comparison now.
good job fella. liked and subscribed. i'm a bricklayer myself. done a bit of stonework in my time. takes a bit more thinking about.always looks good though
Good video! My problem is different: stones were not in raws with fixed hight in my old stone house which had collapsed same 10 years ago is not all lost though as bits of walls still standing and now got to raise it up as before. Job no 1 need finds an old stone master and possibly learn along the old trade and restore the crumbled house once again. ...
Great video.
Excellent, very informative
This knowledge is treasure and thanks for sharing it. Can I make a suggestion?-- after editing the video, export the audio as a file, bring it into Audacity (free audio editing software), and raise the volume of the speech parts using the envelope tool. I bet it would take 5 minutes to learn, and 20 minutes to do. Then import it back into the video and mute the original audio tracks. If you work in WAV files, you won't lose any quality. There might be a better way, but I'm only a hobbyist. [edit, the audio is much better in this video. I think it's only in the left speaker though?]
Thanks for the advice! Very much a beginner here and figuring it out video by video.!
nice one cuthbert! will be using some tips here up on the house today. thanks to your dad too. Can also only hear this through the left channel.
Think I met you at Adam Henson's Cotswold farm about 13 years ago doing a Drystone wall competition with your son and daughter,,,
Son replying here! That was a great competition! Shame there's not much happening in the cotswolds anymore . Hopefully they get that comp going again one day.
I like that mortar Bag 👍
Impressive!
I loved watching this (even though I often do the same but with a different stone!). I might try shaping a trowel to your style & see how I get on with it. Every day is a learning day! Interested to see that you do not fill as you go .. is there a reason that you prefer that? I assume that you fill with stone?
So this wall is being build with a cavity so there won't be any fill, the stone will be attached to the block with stainless steel building ties - common practice here in Yorkshire to combat damp. If we were building a solid wall we would definitely fill as we go. Glad to hear you enjoyed the video! Cheers.
So a pin is a piece in the back that bridges the gap between the stone below and the stone above that normally would be filled with mortar?
Yes , kind of, the pin is pushed into the mortar bed until it binds with both stones.
Also as you build the wall up during the day, more and more weight, the wet mortar can squeeze out, throwing the stone out of true and creating sliders, kicks in the wall etc. The pin stops this happening, as the mortar sets.
Good stuff !
Whereabouts are you working? The views look lovely.
We're in West Yorkshire near the Peak District National Park. Lovely part of the world!
Very therapeutic
I have a question: I am going to build a small log "shed" on my grass lawn 3 meters x 2 meters... I want to make a dry wall underneath... how far down do you think i need to dig to make it stable and not "sink into the lawn"? :)
You'll have to take all the top soil off for a start , so about 20cm . Then the depth of your footing depends on the type of ground under the soil. If it is sandy or clay you'll want to dig deeper than if it is good subsoil or rocky. If you're on good ground and there aren't any problems with frost in your area then a trench 20cm deep in your lawn should suffice for a foundation.
Good informasiont thanks.
Plenty of old vintage WHS for sale on eBay, fetch top money these days.
Huddersfield Market occasionally has cheap ones. 👍
@@drystone-tv 👍
Generations of Masonry tried and true.
Thank you I have wanted to find a real mason since I was an apprentice back when moby dick was a minnow.
So what are we building here?
Rebuilding a ruined barn to use as a cattle shed.
PLEASE figure out how to export stereo audio for us headphones fans. It's awful...
@B-Chillz this is useful advice! I had absolutely no idea there was an issue, apologies
What language is that?
English.
For the love of god buy the poor boy a new coat!!😂
Ted Elwood walls in this one
th-cam.com/video/eVFUXlbVsdg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=3liTX4KkS1GV40Q8
Thanks for sharing that!! I know a couple of the other wallers in the video too! Alan Rhodes and Steve bostock. Ace!