Can we talk about how much faster a trowel with a bent handle lays brick compared to a straight one?

I spent 14 years using a straight-handled Marshalltown and switched to a bent one last Tuesday after a guy named Dave at the job site in Austin handed me his extra one, and I laid 300 more bricks by lunch with way less wrist pain, so has anyone else found that a simple bend makes that big of a difference or is it just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_brian2mo ago

i mean it's a trowel dude, not a magic wand. you probably just got in a groove that day or the mortar was mixed better. i've been using straight ones for like 8 years and never really had wrist pain unless i'm doing something dumb like not letting the mortar rest before slapping it down. bent handles feel weird to me, like you're compensating for bad technique or something. but hey if it works for you and your wrist feels better, whatever. just don't act like it's a revolution in bricklaying.

nancythomas2mo ago

Yeah, "compensating for bad technique" is exactly what people always say about bent handles. But here's the thing, after a full day of laying block on a retaining wall my wrist is cooked. Straight handles force that ulnar deviation thing where your wrist bends funny. Bent handle keeps it neutral. It's not magic, it's just ergonomics.

the_holly1mo ago

funny you mention dave, my buddy kevin in phoenix swears by his bent handle but he also insists on using a level that's been dropped on concrete twice because he says it's "broken in" lol. bent ones do feel weird at first though, like holding a spatula wrong.