Fettling and Horsing

The illustration above shows the man on the right fettling - that is dressing the tiles by smartly striking the sides with a long flat wooden dresser.

This is called hand-dressing and is done after the preliminaty drying, before the tiles are stacked in a cool dark place for the final drying process.

When they have become quite cold, six tiles are picket up at a time and placed upon the Tile Horse - a three-legged stool with a cambered rectangular top, as shown in the centre of the picture.

The object if horsing is to obtain the necessary camber, which is achieved by bringing down smartly upon the tiles on the horse, a convex piece of wood slightly larger than the tiles - known in the trade as a crick.

If a good clean blow is not struck, the tiles are damaged at the ends - therefore to make customers' satisfaction a foregone conclsion this work is delegated only to experienced men.

Skill of the Workmen Counts