That old mason in Pittsburgh who showed me his brush technique up close

I always thought a stiff wire brush was the only way to go for heavy creosote until I watched him use a chain knocker on a clay flue liner at a church job. The guy just said, "You're grinding away refractory, son... let the weight do the work." Has anyone else had an old timer totally flip their basic approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

quinn_nguyen1d ago

Man that chain knocker tip hits different when you see it in person. I had a old chimney sweep show me the same thing with a soot eater instead of scrubbing everything raw, and it made me realize I was just making more work for myself the whole time.

nathan_bailey1d ago

That thing about making more work for yourself really hits home. I once spent a whole weekend scraping out my parents' old wood stove with a wire brush, only for my neighbor to come over and show me I could have just used a shop vac and a long hose attachment. Felt like a real genius standing there covered in soot with nothing to show for it but a cramping hand. Now I just tell people I'm 'building character' when I do things the hard way.