Masonry Magazine January 1998 Page. 15
Masonry Guides
Still Going After All These Years...
By Donald A. Poremski, Director, Product Development & Marketing, Bon Tool Co
We all use automobile references when establishing an object's quality. Terms like "The Cadillac of the Industry" tap into universal rankings by cost and desirability as well as utility. Switch to the masonry construction industry and an example of longevity, economy and quality in tools would be the Masonry Guide or "corner pole." If a Cadillac were to perform like masonry guides have for the last forty years, it would have 500,000 miles on the odometer, yet still run as strong as the day it came off the showroom floor.
Masonry Guides were introduced to contractors by Bon Tool Company as a time saving and quality control device in the '50's. Known as corner poles, speed poles or dead men, they were met with some skepticism from the usually conservative masonry trades. Could they really be trusted over tried and true techniques? Would they really replace a good "lead man"? Were they easy to use even by novices? Was the increase in productivity enough to offset the purchase price? We now know the answer is a resounding "YES" to each of those questions. And, by speeding up the process and improving the quality of work, masonry guides helped keep brick and block competitive with other building materials.
No Need for a Lead
Masonry guides perform the same function as a lead in that they establish constants in three planes, vertical, horizontal and spacing from the wall. The poles are braced or fastened in a plumb position at the corners of a masonry wall. A nylon mason's line is then stretched horizontally between the poles. Once a course is laid, the mason slides the line up the poles to the mark for the next course of masonry. The time previously consumed building the lead, or corner, is eliminated. Once masonry guides are installed, no one waits for leads to be built.
Some poles come from the factory with markings for both modular and standard brick coursing on the same pole. Others are unmarked and the mason pencil marks the guides for the required joint spacing.
Improving Production
There is a simple measure when it comes to productivity regarding block or brick laying. How many units were laid in an hour, a day, a week? If the number goes up without increasing the number of workers or lowering the quality of the job, there has been a productivity improvement, increased profit, for the contractor. The secret is maximizing time "laying to the line" and minimizing aligning and plumbing.
And Still A Good Idea
The uniform bed joints that result from using masonry guides enable masons working on the line to do quality work with better production. Bricklayers can be positioned along the wall at the most desirable spacing. In essence, masonry guides turn a building into one long wall. The length of runs is no longer dictated by the building configuration. You can start and stop a run at any length. A more detailed explanation will help those new to masonry guides understand their usage.
Comer poles... A common sight wherever masons are at work.