Irwin 10507267 Mortar Rake Starter Kit, 8mm & 10507230 10 x 20/40mm 3-Cutter Mortar Rakes (2 Pieces)

Knowing how to go about repointing an old house with no damp course is an issue. Ours must use lime mortar as it has no damp course. Much incorrect paint and incorrect mortar caused all sorts of damp wall problems, so all the paint has had to be stripped off, the mortar raked out and repointed with lime mortar ready to lime wash so the house can breathe properly. Trial and error has resulted in us using a combination of tools to get the job done effectively. The mortar rake on its own is not the answer. We discovered this after ruining the transfer case on two supposedly heavy duty 950w angle grinders. We also discovered that the diamond mortar bits are far expensive and have way too short a life span to be a viable option. The best answer for us was a combination of fat diamond discs (6mm) for one 4½" angle grinder to cut out the existing mortar to start with, followed by the mortar rake fitted to a second 4½" angle grinder. We use the tungsten tipped 3 and 4 flute bits which are available in a variety of diameters for best results. We find having two separate grinders saves the hassle of swapping fittings. We have also experimented with different Angle grinders and find it is not the power of the angle grinder that counts but the durability of the transfer case. We are currently using two JCB angle grinders that are proving highly reliable whereas other more expensive units failed quite quickly. We couple the mortar rake with a Silverline 1500w 806719 wet and dry vacuum system to extract the removed mortar. This has a power take-off for the angle grinder so that we can start the vacuum from the grinder. This combination works well and allows us to make the most rapid progress. Everything else we have tried is way too slow by comparison.We are on our second mortar rake with the first failing when the base plate snapped off the collar. At this rate we will use 3 to finish the job. That is acceptable for a 3000 square foot house where we are encountering cement mortar that is extremely hard on the tools but must be removed to allow the walls to be repaired and to breathe properly.We are happy with the result however as the work is arduous on the tools and we do consider these items to be consumables as nothing lasts for ever. Wear and tear is a factor in this whole process.The Irwin mortar rake is a good piece of kit.

Very easy to use. Greatly speeds up raking out old mortar beds and creates a lot less of a dust cloud than using a disc. Does not slip over the face of the brick but if you let it do the work it is self guiding along the course and easily drops into the vertical joints. It is a lot less effective if the old mortar is a strong mix. But as is said, other than for a colour match, if the mortar is difficult to get out why rake it out anyway.

Dust extraction worked OK 'ish but the vac kept blocking up after a few minutes. Not the tool's fault I hear you say but read on... I was using an industrial vac, but I stopped using it in the end as I got fed up with continually cleaning the filter. The tool worked just as well without dust extraction and didn't seem to be much more dusty so made me think that the dust extraction wasn't great in the first place (even though my vac kept blocking.Good tool though, made light work of a victorian black mortar, but beware, victorian brick mortars are no-where near consistant and some gaps are less than the 8mm rake. I had to do those joints manually>Also it wasn't so great on the joints that had been done wioth cement based mortar (patched up). Not sure what the mix was that had been used but I'm betting it was stronger than 5:1Overall, tool saved me a LOT of time and was good but not perfect for my particular job.

Have used this to rake mortar for flashing for a porch canopy. Glad I bought it as it worked brilliantly.Used with my Bosch grinder, fitting was no problem.The mortar I removed was fairly sandy, and not too much of a challenge, but this really did go like a hot knife through butter. My workshop vacuum with a dust collector meant that almost no dust was dropped too. As others have said, gravity makes the vacuum attachment align correctly as you go. The notches it has to align with the mortar also work just fine. I bought the 8mm for my mortar as it wasn't very even, in some places about 8mm, generally nearer 10 and sometimes 12+. This could be used to clear it all without issue and it didn't touch the bricks themselves. Depth setting was easy, I used it at 18 and then 23mm depth.Note this was a warehouse deal in my case so the box is not new looking (but contents was :-)

We live in a Victorian house so there's always some repoiting to do...I have done it before with just a hammer and chisel but this has saved me so much time, I wish I invested sooner. Cuts through old, crumbly mortar very easily and where I find a patch of newer, stronger pointing it still goes through but takes a bit longer. Also as the mortar joints are quite uneven in our house, you can can let it trim the edges of the brick a little to create more consistent joints. Very happy with this product.

Works really well on old mortar.The guide keeps it square to the wall and keeps a constant depth of cut.The vac connector is a bit of a nuisance as it gets in the way, and when used with a vac the holes tend to get blocked and stop it working.

Fitted to Makita 5" grinder that has plenty of power, this makes short work of mortar including some cement based mortar.

Overall this is a good tool, the only slight problem with mine is that the face plate is not welded squarely to the main body so that setting the correct depth takes a bit of thinking about. The actual cutters last much longer than I expected them to and if you've got a diamond disc, you can ( with a bit of care) sharpen them so that their life is doubled or more. You really need an industrial vac or your constantly emptying the bag. A 6mm cutter would be good if your walls are like mine where no two joints are the same size.