Library Research

• The master mason was paid a lot of money. They also traveled from castle to castle to supervise construction
• Free masons could cut freestone into any shape
• the lowest grade of stonemasons are the rough mason they would cut simple shapes and worked for the free mason
• stone masons had their own area with stone and all of the materials they need
• mortar is a mixture of lime sand, and water
• Used pulley to bring stone to high places in the castle
• Master masons were the most highly paid and respected
• before the 14 century they worked in their loges
• they have an apprenticeship for seven years
• masons had their apprentices work at the site itself

Tools

• The heave lump was a tool used for hitting hammer head chisels. The softer the stone the heaver the hammer
• Squared Up was one of the masons most important tools. It was used for making sure corners were straight
• Sinking square: Each stone had to be worked precisely to shape before being hoisted into position. The sinking square was used to measure the depth of holes of groves and to check that the corners were squared
• scoring a curve: The mason had to mark out his stone to show him where to cut or carve. to mark a curved line parallel to the edge he used a box trammel. holding the wooden handle firmly against the edge, he dragged it along.
• Choosing a chisel: an apprentice had to learn how to handle an array of chisels. Each mason owned his own tools. They were usually passed on from generation to generation. The design hasn’t changed much over time.
• Ever single thing in a cathedral would have taken about a day to cut and finish. Because it was heavy and expensive to transport, the stone was cut about to the size of a quarry. At the building site, the mason’s first job was to finish cutting the rough stone with a big curved saw. Then he used a hammer, a heavy, blunt chisel called a pitching tool, and a punch to chip off larger lumps and produce nearly straight edges.
• United by dividers: Dividers, or wing compasses, became the masons special emblem. They were used mainly to measure a distance on a template and then transfer the measurement to a piece of stone.