"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
news:YqEZd.1009$Ue6.999@trndny04...

(snip)
Not overly difficult. I've seen a few brick yards where they paid people
by
the brick to clean them. Mostly, they sat on a low bench or on the gund
next tot he pile anc chipped away. I think it is one of those things that
by the time you'd done 20 or 50, you know just how and where to hit the
mortar to free it.

Well, not quite that quick, but by the end of the first hour at least. They
sell hammers sized and shaped for the purpose. On the occasional big clump
of brick, a big wide cold chisel helps split the clump like a diamond.
3. Will I still be chipping mortar from old bricks in 2050?

Nah, 2030 at best.

Nah, it'll just feel like it.

No, I didn't do it for a living, but on a couple seperate occasions as a
kid, my old man paid me piecework rather than the usual hourly when stuff
like this came up. In hindsight, I think he was trying to teach me
something. Probably did 10,000 or so. 3 cents a brick, as I recall- decent
money for a 14 year old, back then, as long as you kept up a good pace.
(small-town construction companies could still get away with breeding their
own help, back then.)

aem sends...