MASONRY v. MACHINERY.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1932, Page 2

MASONRY v. MACHINERY.

(To the Editor). Sir, —Haying served in every capacity in the building and monumental trade, and claiming to have worked on some of the best jobs in the Northern Hemisphere, I read the wonderful account in your journal about what carborundum wheels can do in masonry. Tears ago planers came out and did exactly what those wheels do. But, as all practical masons . know, it. did the trade more good than harm, as those machines fired the face or partly so, and as the skin broke the face weathered and decay set in so fast that the average life of those jobs was greatly reduced. The shorter the life of a building the better it was for the trade as there'was more demand for the machinery.. Machinery can only do straight ashlar face work as seen in granite work to-day or straight moulded work in sandstone or grit stone, and where they leave off is where begins. There is- no machinery, that could complete circle work, internal mitres or Gothic work, or in tact 1 5 per cent, of ecclesiastical masonry. •We live in a young country, and my. one desire is to see handcraft as of old come in again. I jyill mention Nelson Cathedral and Liverpool Cathedral. The architects in both instances did not approve of machinery; in fact, the- class of architecture was beyond the power of machinery, and I can mention many other jobs I have had the. pleasure of working on showing similar results. Masons must be ardent students of geometry, and I am more than positive a straight'moulding or straight fall on a stone never worried a tradesman. I have seen the time when we would have prayed to get this part done so that we could get our lines, which in many instances took us hours to get on, before proceeding with the practical. Stone is one of nature’s best products, and is a most interesting study, and one must serve his trade on. the best of works to appreciate it. Stone as seen in many parts of the Dominion is blamed for many a fault that it is innocent .of, faults which clearly were due to the incompetent craftsman or the employer trying in many instances to get the most out of a piece of rock and ignoring the fact that , all stone has a face and bed. Those points are most important factors to the life of a stone. Stone should.-be set as it lies in the quarry, and it is this point that has been neglected. In most instances of decay I find the stone face bedded; that means to say, the face: work exposed should be the bed of the stone or part fixed, and I am more than convinced no other but -the practical man can tell this before proceeding further.. Architects hold the key of the situation ,and I can mention a few good ones in the Dominion whose whole life is stone work, and it is. in them we look to. produce the design which, when detailed off, will show geometry at its best and go to prove that handcraft will never die out in classics. —I am, etc. A. BORLAND. Stratford, November 4, 1932. I