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How to select the correct mortar rake?

How to choose the right mortar rake

Shop for Mortar Rakes
 a b c Remember your A, B, C when choosing a mortar rake tool:

A – Area of mortar you’ll be removing

B – Blend of mortar you’ll be removing

C – Choice of power tools you have and are they suitable for the area / blend of mortar you will be working on

single brick removal Sometimes you will be removing mortar in order to take out a brick and replace it.
Depth of mortar raked Other times you will be removing a larger area of mortar.

Removing an individual brick

If you want to remove an individual brick then a longer mortar rake will be more useful as the length of the mortar rake will allow you to remove mortar to the depth of the brick without damaging the other surrounding brick faces. Therefore if you were looking to remove an individual brick you would want to buy a mortar rake with a working length of 110-150mm. If you want to remove an individual brick, then a longer mortar rake will be more useful, as the length of the mortar rake will allow you to remove mortar to the depth of the brick without damaging the other surrounding brick faces.

As a result, you should look for a mortar rake with a working length of 110 -150mm (4½” – 6″).

brick highlighted This mortar rake is designed to grind a small area of mortar whilst covering a deeper depth.

It is the rake’s length that either cuts or grinds away the mortar as you move the tool sideways. Therefore using a long mortar rake on a shallow depth would be inefficient and could easily fatigue the user.

If you are removing an individual brick you will need to rake out the mortar to the width of the brick. An average brick is a width of 10-11cm. Most long mortar rakes that are designed for the removal of individual bricks have a length of 15cm, commonly measured in millimetres - therefore - 150mm. Measurements for tools tend to be given in millimetres (mm) as lots of tool measurements are really small. When removing an individual brick, you will need to rake out the mortar to the depth of the brick. An average brick has a depth of 100 -110mm (4″ – 4½”).

Most long mortar rakes that are designed for the removal of individual bricks have a length of 150mm (6″).

You would not be able to reach the back of the mortar beds with a shorter mortar rake. You would not be able to reach the back of the mortar beds with a shorter mortar rake.

Removing a larger area of mortar

depth of mortar rake removal If you are removing an area of mortar and leaving the bricks in position, you will not need to rake that deep.
Instead a mortar rake will need to go only twice the height of the mortar between the brickwork—usually a depth of 25mm. Instead, a mortar rake will need to go only twice the height of the mortar between the brickwork (usually a depth of 25mm (1″).
In which case a standard length mortar rake will be sufficient In which case, a standard length mortar rake (with a width of 8mm) would be sufficient.

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