How and what to cut wave and flat slate - photo, video

In the country building for any householder slate - the most indispensable material. With it, you can quickly and inexpensively make a roof for a garage, shed, gazebo or even a garden house. Non-decreasing demand for it suggests that the ease of installation and affordable price. However, we should not forget that it contains asbestos, a mineral dangerous to the respiratory tract and mucous membranes of humans. In sheets that are not exposed to external influences, it is in a bound state, held by the binder. Hazard lurks workers when cutting material. This article will tell you how and how to cut slate, so as not to violate the integrity of the sheet and protect yourself.

Physical properties of the material

To make slate, manufacturers mix asbestos with cement and water, pour it into molds and leave it to dry. To prevent dusting, both sides and sections are coated with a special paint that gives the desired shade to the material and makes it smoother.. Slate has the following physical characteristics:

1. Great weight. The mass of one sheet of standard size exceeds 30 kg. Among the roofing materials, it has great weight, exceeding which except ceramic tiles.
2. Fragility. Breaking the integrity of the slate sheet is easy enough. On the one hand, this is bad, as it is necessary to pay more attention to transportation and storage. On the other hand, this is a definite advantage, since cutting a sheet is not particularly difficult.
3. Colour. Unpainted slate is easily recognizable by the light gray tint, which is impossible to confuse with something. If it seems inconspicuous or does not harmonize with the decoration of the house, simply buy paint and apply it on the roof surface.
4. A variety of textures. Manufacturers of building materials produce wave and flat slate. Not differing in composition, they have a different surface and different scope of application. Wave type is more often used to cover the roof, and flat to protect the walls.

Note! Slate is made using asbestos. This insidious class of silicate mineral penetrates with dust into the lungs, irritating and causing microtrauma. Therefore, to cut a sheet of slate, you need to use personal protective equipment that protects the airways and eyes. It is best to cut not indoors, but in the open air.

Cutting with grinders

The grinder since the Soviet era is called the angle grinder, which produced in the eponymous friendly republic. To cut the slate with this universal tool is better with an assistant, following this technology:

• Carefully remove the slate sheet on the open area and place it on two supports that will lift it above the ground to work more conveniently.
• Determine the location of the incision and draw a line along which you will cut. Liberally moisten the site of the future cut with water. Firstly, the plasticity of slate increases when wet, and secondly, less dangerous asbestos dust is formed.
• Put on a respirator dipped in water and a protective mask over your eyes and determine where the wind blows so that it carries the dust in the opposite direction from you.
• Proceed to cut the slate, using a grinder at low revs. While you continue sawing, your assistant should pour water into the workplace. If you constantly wet the incision, the bulk of the dust flows with the water to the ground.

Important! To cut the slate using a grinder with a disk for a stone or diamond wheel. The first option is cheaper than the second. Nevertheless, the diamond nozzle allows you to fill the cuts in any direction or even to grind the edges of the sheet.

Hacksaw cutting

If you do not have a grinder or other electric tool, you can make a cut on the slate using a simple metal hacksaw or a sharp carpenter's knife. It is interesting that it takes no more than 2-3 minutes to saw a sheet of slate with a hand tool. In order not to damage the sheet, follow the steps in the following order:

1. Take the sheet and place it on two bars on the ground. It is not necessary to take too high support, because after the end of sawing the sheet will fall and break.
2. Before cutting flat slate, mark on it the line of cut with a construction pencil. Wet clean cotton rags in water and lay along a drawn line. After three hours, when the water is absorbed and the slate becomes more pliable, proceed to work.
3. Take the hacksaw in hand, put it above the cutting place, placing at an angle of 45 degrees to the surface. Holding the edge of the sheet with one hand, start moving the tool back and forth, cutting the slate along the line. You should not make too much effort, act without pressure to avoid breakage of the sheet.

Important! Professional builders with experience with slate, argue that the use of hand tools during sawing reduces the amount of asbestos dust, when compared with the work of the grinder or jigsaw.

Alternative methods

Sometimes it happens that you need to cut a sheet of slate urgently, and you don’t have a grinder, a jigsaw or a hacksaw. The only way out is to break the sheet by hand. Experienced masters have two tricks on how to make a rift even:

• Using a sharp knife. On the surface of the slate line is applied where necessary incision. Next, taking a sharp household or stationery knife, repeatedly spend along this line, deepening the risk over and over again. When the incision is deep enough, the sheet is carefully broken.
• With a drill. On the sheet draw a line marking the place of the future incision. Using a drill along this line, holes are made every 5 cm. Then, on the resulting perforated strip, the slate is carefully broken open. The smaller the pitch between the holes, the easier it is to break the sheet.

The fault of the flaws in the process of sawing slate forms a large part of defective sheets, which are not always used. If you do not have experience in cutting, buying material, take care of a 10% margin, which compensates for losses due to careless actions when cutting.

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