Discoveries

Wire-cut Patterns on Bricks

By Dan L. Mosier

In the stiff-mud process of making bricks, the extruded clay column is cut into bricks by a wire or wires. The wire leaves a pattern on the cut face of the brick. After recording these wire-cut patterns from hundreds of bricks in California, it became apparent that these patterns can help to identify brickmakers. This article will demonstrate the use of wire-cut patterns on bricks.

Freese wirecutter

When a brickmaker uses a wire-cutter to cut bricks, the wire-cut pattern on the cut surface will be exactly the same on all of the bricks made with that wire-cutter. This consistency allows us to use this method for identification. A change with the wire-cutting equipment may change the wire-cut pattern on bricks made by the same brickmaker. This equipment change can help to refine the manufacturing date of a brick if we know when the change occurred. Many brickmakers who started out making bricks using the soft-mud process with wooden molds or molding machines, eventually changed to the stiff-mud process with an extruding machine and wire-cutter. Knowing when this change occurred can also refine the manufacturing date for the bricks made by that brickmaker.

Fate wirecutter

The wire-cut patterns discussed here are the cuts that separate the brick from the extruded clay column. They do not include the wire-cuts made only for the purpose of adding textures or reducing the size of a brick. I cannot explain how wire-cutting machines made the different patterns seen on bricks. I have not been able to observe the old types of wire-cutters used in the brick industry. I can only study the patterns they made on the brick. In the limited wire-cut experiments with a clay column that I have performed, I was able to reproduce some of the wire-cut patterns seen on bricks, but not all of them. I suspect that the patterns are based on the position of the revolving wire-cutter relative to the center of the clay column. But some wire-cutters were not revolving. Some wire-cutters pushed straight down vertically through the clay column. Some wire-cutters pushed straight through the clay column at a constant angle. Some pushed cut sections of the clay column horizontally through stationary wires. Some made the cuts on the large faces or the long sides of the brick, often called side cuts. Some made the cuts on the ends of the brick, known as end cuts. So, wire-cut patterns can be found on any surface of a brick.

Gladding McBean wirecut face brick
Shallow to moderate angled wire-cut pattern on a Gladding McBean face brick. Note how the wire-cut angle steepens from left to right. Streaks of yellow clay follow the wire-cut grooves. Velour texture is absent.
Higgins wire-cut brick
Horizontal or flat angled wire-cut pattern in a Higgins brick. The wire-cut grooves run straight and parallel to the length of the brick. Faint velour texture is visible as tiny tears perpendicular to the horizontal wire-cut grooves.
N. Clark & Sons wire-cut face
Arch wire-cut pattern in a N. Clark & Sons face brick. Velour texture is weak with tiny tears perpendicular to the wire-cut grooves.

There are two features usually left by the wire on the cut surface of a brick as shown in the pictures. We must learn to recognize these features in order to read wire-cut patterns. One is made by the wire passing through the clay, which, for this description, is called the velour texture. These are tiny tears or crinkles on the clay surface that form parallel to the wire. Associated with these tears or crinkles may be seen a slight undulatory surface or waves, which may be parallel to or at a small angle to the wire. The waves were caused by the resistance of the sticky clay pulling on the wire. The second feature are the wire-cut grooves, which are scratch marks, or grooves, on the clay surface that form perpendicular to the wire. These grooves may be short or long, straight or curved. They were formed by grains of sand or rocks that were pushed along by the wire as it passed through the clay column. The grain can sometimes be seen at the end of the groove, which indicates the direction of the cut. We will measure the angles of these wire-cut grooves. Depending on the nature of the clay or the manufacturing process, these wire-cut features may or may not be visible. So their descriptions may be prefixed with terms like faint, weak, or strong, such as weak velour texture or strong curved grooves. Curved or straight wire-cut grooves can have shallow (1˚ – 29˚), moderate (30˚ – 59˚), or steep (60˚ – 89˚) angles, which can be measured relative to the length (or longest side) of the brick. If the wire-cut grooves are not visible, but the velour texture is visible, the angles of the wire-cut grooves can be approximated by measuring perpendicular to the tears or crinkles of the velour texture.

California brickmakers have been categorized according to the shapes of the wire-cut pattern and wire-cut angles from shallow to steep relative to the length of their brick. The list below can be used to match the wire-cut pattern on a whole brick with that of a brickmaker. However, not all brickmakers who made wire-cut bricks are listed, because their bricks were not available for this study. As more wire-cut bricks are discovered, they will be added to the list. The brickmakers with multiple wire-cut patterns in the list may have used different wire-cutters simultaneously or at different times. Usually, the same wire-cut pattern will be found on different types of brick (common, face, and firebrick) made by the same brickmaker, so it was not necessary to list the brick types.

Angles are measured from the top lengths of the brick for all straight grooves. For illustrative purposes, the curved patterns are oriented with the upper left corner curving downwards to the lower right corner on the brick face. The first angle of the curve is measured down from the top length at the upper left corner of the brick. The second angle of the curve is measured up from the bottom length at the lower right corner of the brick as shown in the following picture. These two angles represent the wire-cut pattern for the brick, which are the minimum and maximum angles for the curves. Because arch patterns are relatively rare, their angles are not measured. It is important to note that these wire-cut angles may vary slightly from brick to brick due to deformation or warping, so the margin of error may be within a few degrees.

Gladding Bros. wirecut face

In the above photograph is an example showing the measured angles on a moderate to steep curved wire-cut pattern. At the upper left corner, the wire-cut groove forms a 30˚ angle from top length of the brick. At the lower right corner, the wire-cut groove forms a 70˚ angle from the bottom length of the brick. Therefore, the angles for this pattern are 30˚ – 70˚. Note that the tears of the velour texture are perpendicular to the wire-cut grooves. Note also how the curved grooves steepen while the velour texture shallows from left to right. This is a side-cut brick (on large faces). Can you determine the brickmaker of this brick in the following list?

First, determine if your brick is a side-cut or end-cut, measure the angles, and go to the appropriate listing below. Then find the wire-cut pattern that closely matches with the pattern on your brick using the measured angles. Your brick could have been made by one of the brickmakers listed under the matching pattern. Verify that other features in your brick match with those in the brickmaker’s brick.

List of California Brickmakers and Their Wire-cut Patterns

1. Side-Cut Bricks (on large faces)

     Horizontal

      0˚ Pacific Clay Products, Alberhill

      0˚ Higgins Brick Company, Chino Hill

     Flat to Shallow Curve

      0˚ – 5˚ Pomona Brick Company, Pomona

      0˚ – 7˚ Ione Fire Brick Company, Ione

      0˚ – 8˚ Castaic Brick Company, Castaic

     Flat to Moderate Curve

      0˚ – 40˚ Pacific Clay Products, Alberhill

     Flat to Steep Curve

      0˚ – 50˚ Pacific Clay Building Products Company, Santa Fe Springs

      0˚ – 65˚ California Pressed Brick Company, Niles (Fremont)

      0˚ – 70˚ Higgins Brick Company, Monterey Park

     Shallow Straight

      18˚ Livermore Fire Brick Company, Livermore

     Shallow Curve

      4˚ – 38˚ Atlas Fire Brick Company, Vernon (Los Angeles)

      10˚ – 25˚ Dickey Clay Manufacturing Company, Livermore

     Shallow to Moderate Curve

      6˚ – 50˚ Steiger Terra Cotta & Pottery Works, South San Francisco

      10˚ – 43˚ Steiger Terra Cotta & Pottery Works, South San Francisco

      10˚ – 45˚ Sunset Brick & Tile Company, Santa Monica

      10˚ – 50˚ Central Brick Company, Richmond

      11˚ – 57˚ Star Brick & Tile Company, Torrance

      15˚ – 40˚ Corona Pressed Brick & Terra Cotta Company, Corona

      15˚ – 40˚ Davidson Brick Company, Perris

      15˚ – 47˚ California Pressed Brick Company, Niles (Fremont)

      20˚ – 42˚ Carnegie Brick & Pottery Company, Carnegie

      20˚ – 50˚ Gladding, McBean & Co., Lincoln

      20˚ – 55˚ Los Angeles Brick Company, Alberhill

      22˚ – 56˚ McNear Brick & Block, San Rafael

      24˚ – 52˚ Diamond Brick Company, Pittsburg

      25˚ – 52˚ Los Angeles Brick Company, Los Angeles

      25˚ – 53˚ Higgins Brick Company, Torrance

      25˚ – 54˚ Carnegie Brick & Pottery Company, Carnegie

      26˚ – 50˚ Port Costa Brick Works, Port Costa

      28˚ – 55˚ Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company, Santa Monica

     Shallow to Steep Curve

      2˚ – 72˚ Torrance Brick Company, Torrance

      6˚ – 72˚ Mission Valley Brick Company, San Diego

      12˚ – 60˚ Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company, Santa Monica

      15˚ – 60˚ Union Brick Company, San Diego

      15˚ – 80˚ Higgins Brick Company, Santa Monica

      17˚ – 70˚ Stockton Brick & Tile Company, Stockton

      18˚ – 62˚ Hancock Brick Company, Highgrove

      19˚ – 74˚ Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company, Alberhill

      20˚ – 60˚ Davidson Brick Company, Perris

      21˚ – 65˚ Richmond Pressed Brick Company, Richmond

      22˚ – 78˚ Higgins Brick Company, Santa Monica

      23˚ – 62˚ Cannon & Company, Sacramento

      24˚ – 60˚ Atkinson Brick Company, Los Angeles

      25˚ – 71˚ Stockton Brick & Tile Company, Stockton

      27˚ – 63˚ Carquinez Brick & Tile Company, Eckley

      27˚ – 70˚ McNear Brick & Block, San Rafael

      28˚ – 66˚ Stockton Fire & Enamel Brick Company, Stockton

     Shallow to Vertical

      27˚ – 90˚ Oakland Brick Company, Hayward

     Moderate Curve

      33˚ – 45˚ Valley Brick Company, Sacramento

      34˚ – 57˚ Wilson-Lyon Construction Company, Richmond

      40˚ – 55˚ Richmond Pressed Brick Company, Richmond

      45˚ – 58˚ San Jose Brick & Tile Company, San Jose

     Moderate to Steep Curve

      30˚ – 60˚ Coast Brick Company, Torrance

      30˚ – 60˚ Stockton Fire Brick Company, Stockton

      30˚ – 60˚ Davidson Brick Company, Monterey Park

      30˚ – 70˚ Gladding Brothers Manufacturing Company, San Jose

      30˚ – 74˚ Peterson-Kartschoke Brick Company, San Jose

      32˚ – 70˚ Stockton Fire & Enamel Brick Company, Stockton

      35˚ – 85˚ Stockton Fire Brick Company, Stockton

      38˚ – 70˚ Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company, Alberhill

      40˚ – 60˚ Liston Brick Company, Riverside

      55˚ – 67˚ Oakland Paving Brick Company, Niles (Fremont)

     Moderate to Vertical Curve

      55˚ – 90˚ St. Louis Fire Brick & Clay Company, Los Angeles

      56˚ – 90˚ California Brick Company, Niles (Fremont)

     Vertical

      90˚ San Francisco Brick Company, San Francisco

      90˚ Fortin Brick Company, San Rafael

      90˚ McNear Brick Company, San Rafael

      90˚ Sacramento Clay Products Company, Sacramento

      90˚ Pure Clay Brick & Tile Company, Guerneville

      90˚ Bayshore Brick Company, San Francisco

      90˚ Vallejo Brick & Tile Company, Vallejo

      90˚ Atlas Paving Brick Company, San Francisco

      90˚ Steiger-Vallejo Brick Company, Vallejo

      90˚ Steiger Terra Cotta & Pottery Works, South San Francisco

      90˚ Union Brick Company, San Diego

     Arch Shape

      N. Clark & Sons, Alameda

      California Clay Mining Company, Los Angeles

2. Side-Cut Bricks (on long sides)

     Flat to Moderate Curve

      0˚ – 20˚ Pacific Clay Products, Alberhill

      0˚ – 41˚ H.C. Muddox, Sacramento

     Shallow to Steep Curve

      21˚ – 60˚ Torrance Brick Company, Monterey Park

3. End-Cut Bricks

     Shallow Angle

      19˚ Los Angeles Brick Company, Alberhill

      27˚ H.C. Muddox, Sacramento

     Steep Angle

      60˚ Los Angeles Brick Company, Alberhill

      75˚ Cannon & Company, Sacramento

     Shallow to Moderate Curve

      18˚ – 45˚ Hancock Brick Company, Highgrove

      28˚ – 48˚ Pacific Clay Building Products, Santa Fe Springs

     Moderate to Steep Curve

      40˚ – 75˚ Hancock Brick Company, Highgrove

      55˚ – 80˚ Cannon & Company, Sacramento

     Steep Curve

      62˚- 77˚ Los Angeles Brick Company, Alberhill

     Vertical

      90˚ K&K Brick Company, Los Angeles

      90˚ Higgins Brick Company, Torrance

      90˚ Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company, Los Angeles

      90˚ Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company, Santa Monica

      90˚ Cannon & Company, Sacramento

      90˚ Los Angeles Brick Company, Los Angeles

References

Brick, v. 25, no. 3, September 1906, p. 109.

The Clay Worker, v. 61, no. 3, March 1904, p. 458.

Citation: Mosier, Dan L. Wire-cut Patterns on Bricks. California Bricks, https://californiabricks.com, 2022.