Cutting slate tiles

[PeTe33]

Hi all, What would be the best tool for cutting slate tiles up-to about 1" thick? The tiles are to be fitted into a fireplace for a woodburner to sit on.

Cheers Pete

[Weatherlawyer]

Slate is a fairly soft stone but laminar. Rooftiles can be easily cut with an axe over a metal bar anvil but the thicker stuff will fracture badly. Get a diamond angle grinder and cut half way through it then bend it.

Use the grinder to soften the cut edge afterwards.

[PeTe33]

I have a Diamond wheel on my grinder, thought it might clog up within a few seconds of cutting slate, but if its OK then the jobs a goodun.

Cheers Pete

[Pecanfan]

I've only cut up to 1/2" slate but it's relatively soft and very easy to cut with an electric tile cutter.

Andy

[The Natural Philosopher]

You can just about do that on a cheap electric tile saw.

I have, in an emergency, uses it to cut 30mm sandstone slabs, and extensively on 8mm slate tiles.

It will be very slow though.

I have also hired angle grinders - big ones - with diamond cutting blades. Fast but far less accurate.

If you already have an electric tile saw (and everyone should: They are only about £30 these days) I would gird up thine loins, and for the few tiles to be cut, use that.

Otherwise hire what you need. A BIG electric tiles saw - maybe a 12" diamond blade - would be ideal..but the rental may not be far off what a smaller one costs to buy.

[robgraham]

I know this doesn't help the questioner, but I had a similar problem many years ago and asked the stone mason who was building the chimney for me. He sent me off to a local company giving me detailed instructions on how to get there. I arrived expecting to find a small almost backstreet organisation having some stone cutting equipment - what I found were some half dozen 12 feet diameter diamond stone saws, stone cutting lathes and what really caught my eye was a guy doing piercing work on a large stone slab with a Dremel like tool. The whole place was quite an eye opener.

Rob

[Andy Dingley]

Electric wet tile saw. Plasplugs plastic ones seem to last better than the all-steel non-Plasplugs ones. Slate is easy to cut with almost anything, but these are easier to control than a hand-held grinder.

Don't leave the saw wet after use though, or the blade rusts in no time.

[PeTe33]

I have one of them plasplugs one. It's not been used for a couple of years now but hopefully it will still be OK.

I'll take both grinder and tile cutter just in case. :¬)