Lazy Mans Idea

Static Design

I am not a roofer by trade but I have done several patch jobs and small buildings in my career. The part that I have always hated when I would let the shingles run wild so to speak off the edge and then come back later to cut them along the drip edge afterwards. I am not sure if this is common practice, just the way that I have always did it. One night letting the dog out and smoking a cigarette I came up with the idea of a automatic cutter that would ride along the edge and cut the shingles off in one clean swoop.

Do you think there is a market for this? is there a product already on the market? Am I just crazy for watching the new series on discovery channel called pitch men trying to strike it rich?

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ticktock

Does it involve a saw with counter rotating blades? If it does, I'm sorry to say, it already exists. I know because I just got tricked into watching a 15 minute infomercial with the guy with the beard selling the "dual saw".
How about making pre-cut shingles so there is no waste at all? Shingles will soon be gone, its silly how close Nano-solar is to replacing the shingle entirely. 1$ a watt here we come!

Static Design

This would be an auto device that would ride along the edge and the only human interaction would be to start/stop it.

Think of it like an automatic pool cleaner, you don't appreciate one until it's gone.

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Jordy3738

It sounds like you could have a unique idea there. Well it was before you made this post.

I was just asking a friend of mine if there was a tool that would cut them off. He referenced a hand tool.

Did you Google it yet? That's what I'd do Shhhh.

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johnk

I always cut as I go.Good old hook blade.Never do I hang them all the way up the gable and cut them all at once.

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"A Roof is only as good as it is Applied"

2ndGen

What's up John!

I'll change it up depending on the weather. If it's colder and we have some sun peaking through, I'll let them hand a bit to get a little warmed up and then I'll come back and cut them.

If it's hot, I cut as I go. Avoids the messes that can happen then they fuse together from the heat.

Coincidentally, I read that there is a shingle cutter (similar to the $300. guillotine types) that is going to go on the market starting at only $150.

As for the OP's idea...play with it. Anything that makes shingling easier, faster and more efficient and most importantly results in a better job is definitely worth looking into.

I buy anything that makes my job easier and produces a better job.
The days of the crusty old-timers "just use a hammer and an apron and a knife" mentality is dieing away. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about that simplicity, but I compare roofing technology today to extremes.

Will the common roofing knife be replaced anytime soon? Yes, there will be better/faster/cheaper ways to cut shingles, but who wouldn't go on a roof without a roofing-specific knife?

Did guns do away with hammers?

Roofing tool tech is either old school or has made leaps and bounds ahead.

I love my guns, but I also love my hatchet and as I've said before countless of times, when I'm shingling away on a big job with my gun, I'll always shingle a square or two with my hatchet just to keep touch with the "olden ways".



LMAO! When my old man starts bitchin' with me about using guns, I yell back:
"Pop, I'm surprised you're even using a frickin' hammer to do the job and not a rock!"

LOL!

But, when he got to come up on a job with me late last summer for the day and he saw me laying out 3 or 4 squares an hour comfortably, he stopped haggling me about it. He'll never use one, but I guess he's allowing me to make my own way now. I think I've proven myself enough to him (I should've by now...now that I'm 40! )

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My whole life has been about making that profession respectable."
Ken Hendricks
www.SolutionsRoofing.com

silvertree

When I did roofing and being right handed I let the right side hang, I precut the left, rabbit runs I always precut.

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J-Peffer

I over hang 3/8" on the gables of roofs, so I use a shingle shear over a hook blade. It takes me a second to mark the top of the shingle, and get a nice square clean cut on the shear every time, regaurdless of the weather conditions, raining, cold, warm.

I put my starter strip up the gables too, along with ice and water.

Darwin

To me, cutting them after roofing is the lazy approach..I just measure and cut as I go..no need to go over the work twice...

kubie

http://www.shingleking.com/ not sure if it works. looks messy and on a hot day.....someone told me you will wish you never saw this tool cant remember who said that though

Tinstaafl

$500?!? That's at least one lifetime's supply of knife blades.

Tom Struble

nowadays for proper racking your shingles should already be cut.
But that saw looks like it could come in handy i think i saw a pneumatic version of one before

RobertCDF

I have only done a limited amount of roofing... I just took my battery saw with an old blade and it did a great job. I can cut a straighter line with a circ saw than any other tool.

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WarriorWithWood

IMO if you could manufacture that saw with a 199.99 price point it would probably sell like hotcakes. (Yes I too have been watching Pitchmen)

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Static Design

I know this is probably throwing up a decent idea for someone else to copy or make this product before I, but it's part of my feasibility study before I start turning the idea into a prototype. Like I said I am not a roofer by trade so I needed some professional opinions and what better place then our little online community. I am aware some will hate this idea, prefer the razor method, or think of it as just another tool in the tool box. So I am up for ideas, questions (if I can answer them yet), or any other comments.

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johnk

Heh bud,how goes the battle?

__________________
"A Roof is only as good as it is Applied"

2ndGen

There is a pneumatic saw which seems to be able to be used for shingles and slate/wood/etc...

The one in that link seems to be a 7 1/4 circular saw hybrid.

Pre-cutting always to start for me and hang over at the right rake.
(I'm a rigthtee too)

I hate using knives to pre-cut. Killer in time. Love shingle shears.

Not fond of using snips/scissors to trim or cut shingles,
but there are times that they have their uses.

I don't pre-cut for right rake ends because there are times when the house isn't square and it's better to follow the contour of the house for aesthetic reasons. The best thing a homeowner can see from below is an even overlap around the perimeter of the roof. From the top, it won't make a difference.

Like my old man says..."as long as it lasts the time it's supposed last,
doesn't leak and looks good, that's all that matters".

__________________
"I've been up on the roof. I know what those guys go through.
My whole life has been about making that profession respectable."
Ken Hendricks
www.SolutionsRoofing.com

2ndGen

What type of blade did you use?

I always imagined that an ordinary saw would work, but also that under production use (heavy usage), an ordinary saw would burn out or get clogged up with fiberglass/ashpalt remnants like guns do at the nose.

__________________
"I've been up on the roof. I know what those guys go through.
My whole life has been about making that profession respectable."
Ken Hendricks
www.SolutionsRoofing.com

2ndGen

Kickin' arse, taking names and leaving my business card at the scene of the crime!

__________________
"I've been up on the roof. I know what those guys go through.
My whole life has been about making that profession respectable."
Ken Hendricks
www.SolutionsRoofing.com

johnk

LoL,right on brother.Slowest start ever this year for me,but things are looking up.

__________________
"A Roof is only as good as it is Applied"