Appreciation post: A mason in Duluth showed me my creosote scraper angle was way off

I was cleaning a flue on a 1920s house and the stuff just wasn't coming off clean, leaving a rough, almost polished surface. The mason, who was repointing the brick, watched for a minute and said, 'You're holding it like you're peeling an apple, try shaving it like a carrot.' I dropped the angle from about 45 degrees to maybe 15 and it started coming off in perfect curls. How many other basic tool grips have I been messing up for a decade?

3 comments

3 Comments

max9632mo ago

Guess we're all just out here using tools wrong until some old guy saves us. @reese_chen knows the feeling with that flat bar. At least your flue is clean now.

emma_hart23d ago

Woah, same thing happened to me with my chisel once I adjusted the bevel angle.

reese_chen2mo ago

Ever try to use a flat bar like a crowbar? I was prying trim for years before an old guy told me to roll my wrist. Totally changed the game.