[Jewelry making - Article 00939] - Re: [Orchid] Cutting Slate

[Ian W. Wright]

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>     A slate tile cutter not only has an anvil and a drop shear, but it
>     also has a built in clamp: when you use one to cut slate it first
>     clamps down completely (top and bottom faces) on one edge of the
>     slate, leaving the other side unsupported. The drop "blade" comes
>     straight down so that the shearing action is applied over the
>     entire tile at one moment. Anything less than this total control
>     will not work, and is very dangerous.

    I take your point Jim but assume you have no long contact with the
    roofing business. Back in the 60's and 70's when I was more involved
    in the practical aspects of the building trade and most British
    houses had slate roofs, this was the way all slates were cut on site
    and most of the thinner slates in the Welsh slate quarries. 

    The one thing I could see as giving a problem in using an axe is
    that the cutting edge is curved whereas a slate knife (ax) had a
    straight edge. As the anvil and knife were two separate parts, there
    was, of course, some skill involved in striking so that the heel of
    the knife struck the slate first and slid cleanly along the edge of
    the 'iron' and new slates cut much easier than old ones. Things have
    changed nowadays and Health and Safety have become more important
    than doing the job - so much so that many jobs have now become
    uneconomic. I remember working on a church roof which had to be
    re-slated and many new slates cut and fitted. It was all done using
    ladders only - no scaffolding and the slates were cut on the roof
    with an 'iron' fitted into a piece of railway sleeper and a hand
    'knife'. Can you imagine doing this using a modern machine and having
    to climb up and down the long ladders for each cut slate and again to
    trim them to exact size!!! 

    Anyway, ignore the ramblings of this old fool and don't do anything
    which might be unsafe.. 

Best wishes,
Ian

---
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield   UK



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