I think it could be used for laying stone steps. The end flat part would rest on lower step and the adjustable part would be set to the height of the step. Then it would be laid on top of the step with adjustable part standing up and the end flat piece against the front edge. To measure the depth of the step by using the marks on the strait edge for the next step.
Robert
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If so -- the steps would be rather shallow. 100mm is only 3.937 inches. Not serious steps if that small -- but perhaps ones which one can flow up without breaking stride for some ceremonial purpose. But a tool like that would certainly be made to have a range more suitable to the extremes of step sizes.
Enjoy, DoN.
How about masonry? You could check each brick as you placed it.
Just today, on "Ask This Old House," they used a string for that. (each course would line up with the string, etc...)
Cheers! Rich
If you use a string, normally you measure for your end bricks first. A typical brick with mortar is 75mm, but they can run up to about 100, like this gage.
I haven't laid brick on my own, but I know I don't like chalk lines for shingling. It takes time and energy, makes holes in roofing felt, and is a potential source for error. If you mark a good chalk line, you still have to eyeball as you place your shingles. The feel of a gage is easier and surer. If you've put your felt on straight, those lines can be used to double check.
In bricklaying, a string would have to be properly adjusted for each course. If you're looking down at it, it won't be a precise guide.
Besides measuring end bricks, the gage could make it easy to lay every
9th brick, for example, then fill in the other 8. If your level were 2m, your bricks 200mm, and you wanted mortar 10mm wide between them, you would cut a gage board to 1690mm, lay that along the wall with one end against the corner brick, set a brick at the other end, and put the board aside. Use the gage as you tap the brick to the right height, then check the level against the corner. Then slap the other 8 into place and use the level as a straightedge to check by feel as you tap the bricks down to level. It sounds quick, and people will worship you for having courses straight and level to the mm.
It looks as if my reply several hours ago did not propagate.
I think when one uses a string, he starts by measuring to set the end bricks. With mortar, a typical brick is about 75mm high. Some are up around 100mm, the limit of this gage.
Because the gage is adjustable in mm, it could be useful if a mason found he was building on a course that wasn't level. He could add a mm or so to each course at one end and subtract a little at the other end until the ends were level.
Youtube shows a several masons not using strings, which would have to be reset for each course and could be hard to eyeball. If a mason buttered the wall for five bricks, then used the gage to set the height of the fifth brick, he could use his level as a straightedge as he tapped the others down into line. That could be quicker and straighter than using a string.
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