Unpopular opinion: I think we rely too much on the frogging technique in modern brickwork

I was reading an old masonry manual from 1978 and found a stat that said traditional hammer-and-chisel cutting was 40% faster than frogging for certain hard bricks, which kind of blew my mind. Do you guys think we've lost something by switching almost entirely to mechanical frogging, or is it just progress plain and simple?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_campbell24d ago

Man, I can barely get through a weekend project without my frogging tool jamming up and me just standing there like a dummy holding a broken brick and a bruised ego. The idea of going full hammer and chisel on purpose sounds like a good way for me to end up with a thumb that's more flat than round. But hey, maybe that's just my lack of coordination talking, not the technique itself. I guess progress is fine, but sometimes I wonder if we lost a little bit of the quiet, methodical skill that came from really having to read a brick before you hit it. Still, I'll take my electric frogger over a chisel any day, just so I don't have to explain to my neighbors why I'm cussing at a pile of clay on a Saturday morning.

terry_thomas24d ago

Electric froggers are fine until they ain't. Then you're just holding expensive scrap metal while the brick still needs splitting. The quiet skill thing is real though - I've watched old timers read a brick's grain like a butcher reads a pork chop, one tap and it's done. Meanwhile I'm out here burning through extension cords and cussing at my own reflection.

terry_thomas24d ago

Man, I feel you on that bruised ego thing, happened to me just last week with a wire brush.

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