Hod cuture

The chap came and did the first coat of rendering today. He has been relegated to doing sort of odd jobs due to the recent innovations in siding and wallpaper, but he served many years as a plasterer I think. It was nice to see the machine in action. There is a lot to learn from seeing a professional at work. He explained a long time ago that the hod I had knocked up in emulation of the ones I had seen as a kid was not the bees knees as it had several disadvantages over the number he presumably learned to make in his first hour of work as a kid. Mine was the board with a stick as in the bottom two line drawings. His is the one made from three sticks and a board, loaded up and resting at left and upside down to see the structure at right. I didn't draw in any nails, but it must be pretty clear where you would put them. The grip it affords makes you less tired for some reason, and it can be laid down to rest on any flat surface while still loaded, while the one stick has to be put down on a bucket or something to keep its load from sliding off.
I had always assumed one worked from the bottom up with rendering, but if you go from top down you can keep the edge of the hod flat against the wall and catch any bits that don't quite stick. As to the actual scoop up and spread movement of the trowel, I am afraid I would have to be a poet to do it justice. I must watch a bit more closely on the next coat, today I was busy fiddling with bits of copper flashing.