The title.
Feel free to ask me stuff. I’m in Scotland, born in Canada. I’ve been a mason for coming on 15 years. And my favourite dinosaur is…not really a dinosaur…the Stenopterygius species. because they’re tubby not quite dolphin looking (apparently) reptiles.
What’s your favourite-size mason jar, and how many stones will it hold?
Shit…uhmmm…let me check? I have the one I usually put the hot sauce I make in the cupboard somewhere. I’ll get back to you!
I appreciate people who commit to the bit. Have an upvote.
Oh so you’re a stone mason? Name 3 stones!
No seriously, what’s your favourite stone to mason?
Right. So most of what I worked with in Canada was granite and basalt. And the style of Random we mostly did back home is a very different kind of Random Rubble than what gets done here in Scotland. Third picture.
Pictures below 👇Can’t really say what’s my favourite stone. I miss doing stuff like what’s in the first and second picture in granite. There’s a lot of sandstone and whinstone(this is kinda a catch-all, includes: basalt and dolerite [igneous] and chert [sedimentary]) used in the part of Scotland I’m in.
I guess my favourite stone to work with is the one that looks really fucking good when I’m done?
Below is not something I built, it’s a maintenance job. Remove the fucked mortar and repointing with new.
Those are some pretty walls.
❤️
Question coming from complete ignorance: are you picking through a big pile of stones to find the ones that fit a gap or are you cutting them to fit (or both)? Also, are you a Mason (like a member of the illuminati group)?
Both, but it also depends on what style of stone is being laid. The examples I’ve put up are all random. For ashlar you’ll have either a set pattern of sizes, or a small selection of sizes. You’ll still end up cutting pieces smaller due to needing a proper bond and keeping the pattern.
I am not a Freemason.
The numbers, mason, what do they mean?
Bro…if you don’t show me the numbers…I can’t help you out…
Oh, sorry.
Echelon 3 24 20 12 19 17 17 22 19 23 19 4 0 7 6 7 19 10 12 16 17 6 14 4 3 17 24 20 13 24 8 16 17 1 24 9 21 15 0 5 15 4 4 23 6 11 25 14 4 20 4 9 14 18 12 8 7 21 6 4 21 7 21 4 2 14 3 14 7 18 13 6 22 16 6 1 21 21 15 3 5 24 9 11 2 10 5 21 4 20 11 19 12 5 12 13 12 5 17 19 3 14 21 12 15 17 7 7 2 2 21 1 10 22 13 5
…yeah…I got nothing fam 🤷
Seeing as Scotland and Canada share a lot of place names, what’s your favourite place that you’ve been to both the Scottish and Canadian versions of? (Nova Scotia does not count)
So. Surprisingly? Canada is quite large! I have yet to be to a place in Canada that shares its name with a place in Scotland, and ALSO the place in Scotland. I’m from Vancouver, so West Coast (bestcoast) of Canada, and there’s a few…
I’ve been to a bit less than half, and not a single one of the Scottish namesake.
Though, every time I go to the Highlands I’m struck by just how very much it looks like BC…just a wee bit more wee…
That’s totally fair! I am Scottish myself and don’t know a lot about Canada’s geography beyond “big”, “often cold”, and “lots of forest”, so I have no idea if those Scottish place names are concentrated in specific areas, not to mention what the chances of both versions being interesting to visit. Banff is probably the first example that comes to mind, but the Canadian one isn’t in BC and the Scottish one is just a pretty little seaside town in Aberdeenshire so not exactly a destination in its own right unless you’re already nearby
Though, every time I go to the Highlands I’m struck by just how very much it looks like BC…just a wee bit more wee…
You may already know this, but the Scottish highlands actually were formed when Canada and Britain collided! The wrong side of Canada, but still
Regardless, I hope you’re enjoying being here
You may already know this, but the Scottish highlands actually were formed when Canada and Britain collided! The wrong side of Canada, but still
I did! It’s one of the tidbits I pull out when I’m feeling socially awkward and think I should probably say something!
Here’s a tidbit in exchange:
There’s a tiny little triangle -ish bit of the centre of Scotland that DOESN’T have windblown rain. This is important to know for choosing the right line for your mortar mix. Lower grades of lime take a lot longer to cure, so for faces of a structure that are exposed to windblown rain should be built or repointed with NHL 3.5 or 5. They give the quickest cure time, and are more resistant to weather sooner.
If I can find the notes from the course I took last year I will update you with where that wee triangle is 👍
We were living in London for the first few years after I moved, and I thought it was quite good. After moving up the way I realised that the only really good bits were the few friends I had, and the selection of food.
No offence, but there’s a distinct lack of decent anything but white people food… often deep fried.I very much miss coming home pissed and being able to order Ghanaian, or sushi, or mexican.
Other than those 2 things? It’s the most home feeling place I’ve lived since I moved from Canada.
Oh, that is quite interesting. I’d hazard a guess it’s somewhere east of the mountains, so probably somewhere around Perth?
Yeah, I totally agree on the food situation unfortunately. There’s a Ghanaian lady that shows up at a farmer’s market near-ish me once a month and I love getting her jollof rice. I mostly just accept that if I want something out of the ordinary for this place, I need to make it myself
You’re probably right about it being near Perth.
Glasgow has some good options, Edinburgh is getting better, but they’re so much smaller than London that it’s a pure numbers issue. There’s just not enough people.
Favorite and least favorite stoner joke?
So, not a joke, but a real lived experience. And then after a Stoned Mason joke.
My best friend at the time, his gf, and myself had eaten…a substantial dose of mushrooms. We’d started at 10 am and were catching the last bus from the city to the town we lived in, was just about 1am.
So it’s the 3 of us, we were all around 20, and a probably 40ish year old grung-punk skater on the bus. We were all sat at the back, having a chat and the following:
Guy:
Hey, you guys wanna smoke a joint?
One of us:
Sure, but uhhh, we live about a 4 hour walk from here. Where you hopping off?
Guy:
Naaaaaahhhhh maaaan! We’ll just open all the windows in the back here and smoke where we’re sitting!
Us:
Uhhhhhhhhh… aren’t you worried about getting kicked off the bus? There’s like…mirrors and shit, the driver can absolutely see us…
Guy:
Don’t worry man! Don’t you know the saying “Smoke in Mirrors”? It’s called Smoke in Mirrors because you CAN’T see smoke **IN** mirrors!
My own thoughts:
Jesus… I’ve eaten enough mushrooms to down a large dog and even I can tell this man has smoked himself within a C-Hair of his last brain cell…
Stoned Mason Joke
This took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out was actually a joke.
So my old work/business partner back home is…a character.
Was a mega rockerboy through the 70s and 80s, plays bass with the same band he’s played with since '78.
He’s got some bits he likes to do. Ozzy, Jagger, what I’m pretty sure is the English guy from the first Wayne’s World.
We’re working away. He picks up a stone to install and inspects it. Then he says, in an absolutely…and I mean horrific, English accent:
And there I was…just…hangin out with the stones!
How do masons feel about Freemasons?
Well. The Freemasons started in Scotland. It’s generally accepted that the first Freemason temple was the Chapel at Stirling Castle. There’s some masons I’ve met here that think the Freemasons have the registry of Mason’s Marks. They may have in the past, but I believe that currently the Worshipful Company of Masons holds most of the UK’s mason’s marks. Could be debatable, the English gonna empire after all.
A mason’s mark was used to show who cut the stone, and who fixed it. It was how masons were paid for what they’d done.
In modern times the Freemasons is…a boy’s club. There’s likely very few actual masons who are members. Where I am in Scotland, most of the lodges are within a short walk from a police station,or what used to be one.
From the few conversations I had back home about them the general consensus is that it’s a bit of a joke that their “secret knowledge” is mostly just masonry best practice.
Don’t forget the super secret handshakes
And pretend acting out the killing of Hiram.
😬 fact check: true
🤦 I had. In my defence I was tired AF when I was answering questions, and something like super secret handshakes isn’t something I think about very often.
Haha I was just playing, I just think the handshakes are hilarious, especially how serious they take them
Fair enough 🤣
They are pretty silly aren’t they?
As the fifth of five people… How did you know?
There were pretty obvious signs
Well shoot. We were aiming to create an impression of a big group of us - like if there were 40 or more of us.
Better luck next time 🤞💪
What are the major hazards involved in stone masonry? How did you get involved in the field?
Silicosis is one of the biggest hazards. It happens when ultra-fine particles of silica dust get breathed in and cause scarring on the lungs. It’s spooky shit.
Other than that there’s the usual dangers of working with large heavy materials and power tools. There’s a high risk of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome and arthritis from swinging a hammer at a chisel for hours on end.
Honestly just kinda fell into it. Was working in a warehouse and hated it. Just walked off one day, called a friend just to complain about it and the firm he was working for happened to be hiring. I was 18, I’m now a few months away from 40.
‘Stenopterygius’ is an anagram of ‘I get stone syrup’ or ‘Gutsy Stone pier’
I didn’t know that, but now I’m telling everyone I came up with it!
what do you think happens when we die?
Hmmm…I think it’d be nice if there was something after, not convinced there is. I’m perfectly happy with returning my substance back to the earth. I asked my wife to arrange a sky burial…turns out that’s not exactly legal here in the UK…
i love sky burials! but yeah, short of dying IN tibet it’s hard to swing.
after a little searching i found out there aren’t any human body farms in the uk either, but y’all do have a fascinating history of open air pyres. apparently they’re tentatively legal!
Doooooope! I was going to settle for cremation, so why not go out like a boss on a pyre!
Do you mean on c/AskMeAnything? or lemmy.ca in general? I’m new here.
Community c/AskMeAnything is hosted on Lemmy.ca and most of Fediverse (Lemmy and similar software) can connect to Lemmy.ca to interact with this post. Anyone who can see it should be welcome to interact. (With the community rules in mind)
I hope you enjoy your time here. You can always ask in !nostupidquestions@lemmy.world if you don’t understand something.
On AskMeAnything.
I found out my fieldstone foundation mortar turned to dust. I removed everything from my basement and have been tuck pointing for the last several months. It is a hard slog and slow going. I am not a mason but am doing this by necessity (i.e., I’m a fixed pension senior). It is amazing what I have learned from my “practice” wall and YouTube videos. I imagine if a real mason had a look they’d shake their head but it looks good to me and I am over halfway through. Changing out the windows was a learning experience as well. I never did anything like this before but as I am getting closer to the finish line, pride from hard work that pays off is starting to appear.
I’d actually love to see it! It’s quite a pain in the process, but the satisfaction of the job done is beyond compare.
Happy to give some pointers.Thank you for your offer of advice. If I have any questions I’ll most certainly take you up on that! All the best.
No trouble at all 👍 always happy to help.
I salute you for the informative responses here, and for bringing some variety to the community by talking about a topic that isn’t carried by sensationalism.
Do you have a mason’s mark?
Thanks! This has been really fun!
Life’s interesting enough without having to revolve around drama, too many people watching too much daytime TV…smfh
I do have a mason’s mark, I haven’t registered it though.
What’s the biggest thing you ever made? Which work are you the most proud of?
And how are you received as a Canadian in Scotland? Do they treat you alright?
Do you have midges in Canada?
Biggest:
This is one wall on a 7 tower site. If I remember right it was close to 75000m²(800ksq.ft-ish). Myself and 4 other masons rocked it.
Proudest:
The customer had to be talked out of going with 1mm joints. They settled for 5-10mm. This is cladding, pin and bracket mechanical. If it had been full depth stone, 200+mm, we probably could have done it. The stone was more in the range of 75mm+/- and we needed the room to accommodate the brackets.
Dude, these are SO fucking cool!
Name one of your favorite lunches for stone masoning. Why is that one in the list of faves?
I don’t really have one. I’m fond of sandwiches, because they’re easy and quick to make in the morning. Today I had a salad with leftover smoked salmon from my Canada day BBQ and feta on top with a vinaigrette I made.
