How To Cut Wave Slate For Fencing

Preparing slate for work

To create beds, wavy slate plates must be cut into strips in height. This requires a circular saw with a stone attachment. A standard sheet is 1 m 75 cm long. It is cut horizontally into as many pieces as required to fully immerse the sides of the bed. For evenness of the cut, markings are made with chalk. If there is no angle grinder or the conditions for connecting it to the mains, the slate is cut with an old unnecessary saw, moistening the cut with water.

Next, they deal with the soil. A narrow trench is being dug along the perimeter of the future plantation and well watered. Prepared pieces of enclosing material are inserted into the moat. For stability on both sides, they are reinforced with reinforcement posts. The sheets are placed with an overlap of at least 1 wave, a wooden block is placed on the upper edge and the material is lightly pressed.

The evenness of the walls is controlled by the level in two directions. along the length and diagonal. As necessary, part of the earth is removed from the surface. Then the trench is filled up and tamped, and the slate strips remain fixed.

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How to cut wave slate for garden beds

Row spacing

Row spacing is also important to give the plot an attractive look. The spaces between the beds can be covered with gravel or concrete, which will also strengthen the edging of the beds. If the structures are built according to the Mittlider method, concreting the paths is categorically unacceptable.

No dust and noise. how to cut wave slate quietly?

If you have to cut slate indoors, where it is important not only to avoid the appearance of dust, but also to do the job as quietly as possible, then in the case of flat slate sheets, a cutter made of good steel will come in handy. A sheet of slate is laid on a flat place and a line is drawn under the ruler with a cutter. Then, removing the ruler, the line deepens and expands, pressing harder on the cutter.

There is little left to do. put a rail or pipe under the sheet, placing them parallel to the cut line of the mowing line, and slightly press. If you tried in the previous step, then there should be no problems here either. Wavy slate can be cut with a cutter only along the wave. having stuffed your hand, you can cut off even very narrow strips of about 10 cm, and notice, completely dust-free and with minimal noise.

How to cut the slate if there is only a hammer from the tools? Then a method belonging to the category of “grandfather’s tricks” will come in handy. Indeed, when there was no angle grinder and jigsaws, and for using a good hacksaw not for its intended purpose, the grandfather could slap a savory slap on the grandson’s head, this was the only way they cut the slate. Although the word “cut” is somehow wrong to call this method. Rather, they break it. However, they break without dust and unnecessary noise, so the method will always be relevant.

So, you will need not just any, but a slate nail. Pre-mark the line of the cut, it is important that it runs along the bottom of the wave. That is, if the line runs along the top, just turn the sheet over. Holes are punched with a nail along the mowing line. the more often they are located, the better. Then a pipe or wooden block is placed under the sheet and gently pressed on the edge of the sheet to break the slate along the mowing line with holes. The evenness of the line depends on the number of holes and the accuracy. Sometimes, in order for the desired piece to come off, it is enough to tap on the mowing line of the cut with the side of the hammer.

Flat slate beds

One of the varieties of slate edging is flat (no waves) slate, which has its own advantages for beds. The industry produces special strips of asbestos cement, which eliminates cutting of the material. The advantages of this type of sheet are due to the characteristics of the asbestos-cement material from which the strips are made:

• light weight of workpieces;
• fire resistance, which is provided by asbestos;
• resistance to temperature extremes;
• insensitivity to rot;
• preservation of properties for about 10 seasons;
• plasticity in processing;
• aesthetic appearance.

When building beds from flat slate, they will need to be strengthened. In order to prevent destruction, it is necessary to use a metal corner, cutting it into pieces of the desired size. They must be painted to protect against corrosion. Asbestos cement is produced in thickness from 16 to 40 mm, length. 3 m, of various structure, weight and color. When constructing fences, care should be taken when sawing and installing a plate from prepared flat slate, since slate is fragile and does not tolerate blows. Painted sheets protect plantings from weather extremes, pests and weeds, so that the seedlings grow quickly and get stronger. Certain material properties can adversely affect plants. Flat slate can be harmful if it gets very hot in the sun. This leads to drying out of the soil, and the plants will require additional watering. It is believed that asbestos-cement components have a toxic effect on crops, impairing the nutritional quality of the crop. The solution is simple. the stripes should be painted. Painting the fence will increase its lifespan and increase resistance to temperature fluctuations. To paint flat slate when decorating the beds, you should use quick-drying acrylic paints. Further actions are as follows:

• grooves are formed according to the specified dimensions;
• slate is installed in place and secured.

To give the structure strength, use a corner and bolts.

Slate types

Among roofers, slate is called several types of materials, their individual technical parameters have a direct impact on the choice of cutting method and tool.

Flat slate plantations

When working with flat sheets, proceed as follows:

• They cut slate either into two identical parts, or into pieces of 1 m and 75 cm.The choice can be anything, only the width of the beds depends on the cutting option.
• In order to avoid creeping, the material is fastened together with scraps of a metal corner. For this purpose, holes are made in the cut corners for bolts and the parts are treated with an anti-corrosion coating.
• Mounting work is carried out carefully so as not to damage the slate and not injure your hands. The protruding corners of the self-tapping screws can be hidden under the bottle caps for safety.

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The aisles are tamped tightly. Free areas are concreted and sprinkled with gravel. Slate beds, “diluted” with lawn grass, look beautiful. If the owner plans to plant grass in voids, the zones between the rows should be wide enough (in narrow areas, the vegetation is inconvenient to mow with a trimmer).