Handmade Natural Stone Vases

and Slate Sculptures Designed for Aquarium Aquascaping

TOOLS YOU NEED TO MAKE AQUARIUM DECORATIONS FROM

SLATE

for Splitting, Breaking, Nipping, Knapping, Snapping and Sawing.

THIS IS PAGE THREE Tools needed to make slotted slate aquarium decorations.

PAGE ONE Where to find slate suitable for aquarium decor.

PAGE TWO Is all slate safe in aquariums?

PAGE FOUR The Methods, making a slate aquarium decor by slotting slate.

PAGE FIVE The Designs. Some basic structures for building with slate in an aquarium.

Probably the most commonly known fact about slate is that it is flat. In fact most of the flat sheets of slate we see are the result of man using large machines to shear flat sheets from blocks of solid stone. Slate is known as fissile stone meaning that it can and does split into layers. Some slate that has naturally weathered from cliffs or broken away at a roadside excavation might be thin enough to use in slot together aquarium decorations without further splitting. It is possible to find uniformly thin pieces but often found pieces need to be split into slices that are thin enough to use. Slate that you buy, either as tiles or as randomly shaped pieces, might also be thicker than ideal, both for appearance and for ease of working. It may need to be split again.

Small scale slate splitting can be done by hand using plane blades or chisels and a hammer.

Splitting the slate thinly will make it much easier to work into the desired shapes. Shaping is done using a combination of breaking or nipping the slate and sawing it. Nipping and breaking is done using hand tools. Sawing the slate can be done using a specialized handsaw or with power saws designed to cut tiles or masonry.

One tool that you really must have is a substantial bench, block of wood, or large rock. You need an impact surface that will not absorb or cushion your blows. A springy table or floor will not help.

THE SLATE SPLITTING TOOLS

Splitting slate is a simple process, which is not to say that it always happens easily. You simply need to tap thin steel blades between the layers to separate them. Blades designed for hand planes can be ideal. Choose a wide blade with a small or no hole. Most blades have a hole so that it fits into the plane. Blades with large holes do not transfer your impact as efficiently and are more likely to bend. Wide ( 1.5-2ins.) but short (stubby) wood chisels can also be used. You can use any hammer, even a regular claw hammer, however the small hammering surface and the claws obscuring your view can be annoying and are more likely to cause accidents. A 2-3lbs. club hammer is a better choice.

Tips on the slate splitting process are on the METHODS PAGE.

THE SLATE SHAPING TOOLS

Nipping, knapping, breaking and snapping. Shaping the slate pieces for an aquarium display should be the fun part. Hitting a slate tile with a hammer will allow the forces of accident into your design process. In other words, You will be presented with an array of shapes to work with

Shaping slate can be done by hand using hammers to break the slate into pieces and to hit the edges so as to break them away (knapping). Slate shapes can also be altered using nippers. Specialized Tile nippers with slight design variations are available at a variety of prices. Perhaps more cumbersome but very effective for nipping slate are Farriers nippers. These are large nippers designed to trim animals hoofs.

Tips on slate nipping and knapping are on the METHODS PAGE.

Of course, Slate is also shaped by sawing:

THE SLATE SAWING TOOLS

If you want to make aquarium decorations from slate using my slotting together method, you will need to do some sawing. As said previously, much of the basic shaping can be done using nipping and breaking away methods, but the slots have to be made with a saw. This is not as formidable as might be supposed. Slate is a relatively easy stone to cut with a saw especially when it is in thin slabs. Of course there are specialized saws that make the job easy.

You may have read that a hacksaw can be used for cutting slate. This is true, but only for a very limited time, Hacksaws are designed to cut metal. The tiny hard steel teeth are sharp enough to shave the surface of the metal they are cutting. These cutting teeth quickly lose their sharp edges when used on stone. Then they will not cut stone, metal or anything else. There is a handsaw that's designed to cut stone and ceramic tiles. It is called a Rod saw. As the name suggests, rod saw blades are actually steel rods that are coated with hard abrasive material, usually carbide. Rod saw blades can be bought separately and used in a conventional hacksaw frame. There are also saws made, like the one in the center of the picture below, that have more depth to the frame and therefore make long cuts easier.

If you want to make a number of slate aquarium sculptures, or just want to make the project go faster, there are power saws that cut slate perfectly. Small tile saws like the one on the right above have dropped in price dramatically over the last few years. Generally these saws are now less than $100 in North America. Some years back, a blade alone would have cost that much. The blades cut stone because they are coated with fine industrial grade diamonds which wear away the stone at high speed. The blades are kept cool by passing through a tray of water. Of course there are expensive, high quality, saws too. The one pictured on the left is more powerful and has a nice stand and a sliding surface to help you push your slate into the blade. Saws like this are generally in the $1000 range.
Many people may also be aware of tile cutting saws that are variations of skilsaws . These hand held circular saws direct water onto the blade as the cut is made. These saws may work well to cut large slabs of stone but are not recommended for this project. Small pieces of stone are impossible to hold steady enough to make a successful cut with this kind of saw.

Tips on sawing slate are on the METHODS page