How to Cut Shingles, Asphalt or Fiberglass

sf340dvr · Joined: 05 Jul 2005 Posts: 57 Location: Appleton, WI

I was using a regular utility knife to cut the access shingle tabs off the rake of my garage and noticed I was going through blades very fast!

Just wondering if there's an alternative to a utility knife for cutting shingles!

Thanks! This is my last roofing question! Wink

webmaster · Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:24 am Post subject: Use a Hook Blade to Cut Shingles

Yes! If you use regular blades in your utility knife they will dull quickly!

You need to use a hook blade! These blades are designed to fit in any utility knife, work much faster than a standard blade, and stay sharper longer.

I've also seen pros use a cordless circular saw with a special jig, but these are expensive and reserved for experienced roofers. They are not for a novice do-it-yourselfer, stick with a utility knife and hook blade!

handnhammer · Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 60 Location: Ann Arbor, MI

There are a couple of different techniques that I have seen:

Lay all your shingles, snap a chaulk line where you want to trim at the rake, and then trim with a hook blade
Same as above, but for trimming, cut with a cordless 18V cirular saw with a carbide tipped blade (preferably the "nail eater" type). I recommend using an older blade, because you won't be able to use it for any else after cutting shingles. Make sure you snap the chaulk line past the drip edge so you don't cut into it!
Instead of trimming after all the shingles are installed, trim as you go, because you will only need to cut through one shingle at a time! Also, you can cut from underneath, which is easier, because you can use the drip edge as a guide.
Instead of installing and then trimming, cut the shingle to size, then install. This produces and clean edge, but is very time consuming! Though I've seen this done with a old radial arm saw, and carbide blade...this was fast!

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