How to cut mineral insulation

Characteristics and properties of mineral wool

You need to cut the insulation with the tools that are best suited to its type and technical characteristics.

For thermal insulation work, the following types of mineral wool are used:

• Stone. Consists of integrated dolomite rock fibers. Basalt is mainly used for manufacturing, which is characterized by high strength. The material is used as insulation and for the manufacture of acoustic panels. Cutting stone wool is easy as it is soft and pliable.
• Slag. Manufactured from waste from the steel industry. It is used more in the decoration of utility rooms, as it contains impurities of toxic materials, has a pungent unpleasant odor. Cutting mineral wool in slabs is difficult, since it is fragile and unstable to pressure.
• Glass. The raw materials for production are cullet, lime and stone chips. Consists of many interwoven glass fibers that break easily. Supplied on sale in tightly rolled rolls. Cutting glass wool is easy as the material lends itself to any sharp tool.

The ease of installation and the quality of the final result depend on the quality of cutting the insulation.

Carbon Steel Blade Knife

Mineral wool cutting knife with carbon steel blade has high cutting quality and is easy to sharpen. However, it requires more careful maintenance than a stainless steel blade, as it is prone to rust. It must be wiped dry after each use and lubricated.

How to cut mineral wool insulation?

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When working with such a popular insulation as mineral wool, you inevitably have to resort to cutting pieces of the desired size. The RMNT website will tell you in detail how to cut mineral wool and what tools you need to do this.

Recall that the portal Rmnt.ru wrote about the rules for cutting glass and ceramic tiles. Now let’s talk about cutting insulation.

Before working with mineral wool, first of all, you need to take care of your own safety. During the cutting of the insulation, small particles, prickly dust always rise up, and it is harmful to health. it gets into the respiratory tract and can cause skin irritation. Therefore, for work you need:

Work suit made of dense fabric, completely covering the arms.

Special safety glasses.

Gloves with rubber or silicone spraying.

Thin mineral wool. no more than 50 millimeters thick, you can cut:

An ordinary kitchen knife for slicing a loaf. It has a jagged edge so that the loaf crumbles less. For mineral wool, this is also relevant.

Mounting construction knife.

For insulation with a greater thickness, such simple tools are no longer suitable. We’ll have to use:

Special knives. Their length is about 30 centimeters. Such knives are most often offered by manufacturers of the insulation itself, they have teeth that can be of different sizes. A knife with teeth should be selected depending on the density and thickness of the mineral wool.

An ordinary hacksaw, but not for wood, but for metal.

Saw with undivided teeth.

At home, special machines for cutting mineral wool, of course, are rarely used, since they cost a lot, but they will only be needed in the process of warming the house.

Important! Additionally, you will need a level or just an even stick, along which you will need to cut the mineral wool so that the cut is accurate, it does not get skewed. This will avoid damage to the material.

When cutting mineral wool, you need to adhere to the following rules:

Sharpen the slicing tool to minimize dust and avoid the risk of tearing the material into individual fibers.

Plates need to be cut one at a time, taking them out of the package, but insulation in rolls should be cut without unrolling.

It is necessary to leave allowances of the order of 2 centimeters to ensure a snug fit of the material inside the crate.

You should not cut the mineral wool for future use, this will increase the risk that the piece will lose its shape. We cut off the insulation of the required size, laid it down, you can proceed to the next.

Actually, there is nothing complicated in the process of cutting mineral wool. You just need to take care of a comfortable tool, protection for the face and body, and follow simple safety rules. In particular, take regular breaks from work and ventilate the room if the cutting is going on inside the house. Also, you can not throw the cut pieces of insulation, so as not to raise dust once again. Carry and stack them neatly.

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For example: MORA knife for cutting mineral wool

The Swedish company MORA produces tools for cutting mineral insulation. A knife with a stainless steel blade is used for cutting stone and glass mineral wool. The blade is made of special cold rolled stainless steel and has a serrated edge. The ergonomic and comfortable plastic handle is suitable for use with gloves. Its characteristics:

• total length. 500 mm;
• blade length. 335 mm;
• blade thickness. 1 mm;
• weight. 0.238 kg.

A knife with a carbon steel blade is used for cutting various types of mineral insulation. Has a smooth, made of high quality carbon steel blade with a length of 350 mm. Plastic handle provides a good grip when wearing work gloves.

It is important to create a safe working environment

This is really important. As in any business, adherence to simple safety procedures will help maintain health, carry out work at the optimal time and at a high quality level. What you need to pay attention to:

• it is better to cut the insulation in cold weather, since for work it is necessary to wear a protective suit made of dense fabric, which will prevent skin contact with mineral wool fibers and its irritation;
• to protect hands, wear special gloves. with silicone or rubber dusting on the palms;
• special glasses will be needed to protect the eyes;
• respiratory organs will be protected by a respirator.

Such measures must be observed, since when the insulation is cut from under the knives, particles of the material rise into the air. May come in contact with the eyes, respiratory tract, and cause skin irritation.

In addition, it is important to remember:

• when working with this type of insulation, you need to periodically take a break, during which to ventilate the room;
• the cut pieces must be shifted carefully, without throwing, in order to reduce the amount of fibrous suspension in the air;
• there should be no children on the construction site at this time, even in protective equipment.

As you can see from the above, there is nothing super complicated in cutting mineral wool. Subject to the indicated rules, it will not be difficult to perform work efficiently and safely.

What are the remnants of mineral wool useful for?

The remnants of the insulation do not need to be thrown away: they will also come in handy for the pantry or utility room. Many people strive for budgetary insulation, therefore, they use scraps and leftovers of material.

Waste rock wool can be recycled for later use. In this case, special machines are used.

In order for the process of warming the room to go properly, you should know what to cut the mineral wool and how to do it. If you follow the simple rules for working with this insulation, then you can achieve a good result.

How to cut a mineral wool slab: an overview of knives and saws

There are always a lot of questions about what and how to cut mineral wool. Especially for those who are going to build housing on their own (for example, frame, which involves assembly on their own). Indeed, in its structure, this material is fibrous, moreover, having a certain thickness. Ordinary table knives or scissors designed for cutting cardboard or thick fabrics will not work at all here.

Working with Mineral Wool

However, before you start cutting the mineral wool, it is important to deliver it correctly to the construction site. Indeed, otherwise, the material, brought to a state of marriage, will not have to be cut, but simply changed to a new one. And this is additional costs.

For example: MORA knife for cutting mineral wool

The Swedish company MORA produces tools for cutting mineral insulation. A knife with a stainless steel blade is used for cutting stone and glass mineral wool. The blade is made of special cold rolled stainless steel and has a serrated edge. The ergonomic and comfortable plastic handle is suitable for use with gloves. Its characteristics:

• total length. 500 mm;
• blade length. 335 mm;
• blade thickness. 1 mm;
• weight. 0.238 kg.

A knife with a carbon steel blade is used for cutting various types of mineral insulation. Has a smooth, made of high quality carbon steel blade with a length of 350 mm. Plastic handle provides a good grip when wearing work gloves.

How to cut mineral wool

The structure of mineral wool is fibers, and accordingly, when it is cut into the air, small particles of these fibers get into the air. To prevent them from getting into the respiratory tract and on the skin, it is important to create a safe working environment:

• provide good ventilation in the work area;
• use overalls and protective equipment. overalls, gloves, mask or respirator, goggles;
• immediately after finishing work, wash your hands thoroughly with cold water and then your face.

To minimize the amount of harmful dust in the air, cutting mineral wool should be done with tools with a well-sharpened, sharp working edge. Better to cut across the grain.

To obtain strips of the same width, the mineral insulation produced in rolls is recommended to first be cut directly in the roll without unrolling, and the mineral wool slabs are cut one by one.

How and how best to cut mineral wool

Mineral insulation has a fibrous structure, the violation of which leads to a decrease in thermal insulation properties. This makes it ineffective to use scissors for heavy fabrics or cardboard, as well as table or office knives for cutting it. Therefore, the answer to the question of how to cut mineral wool correctly, without violating its structure, will be useful for novice builders.

What to do with scraps and remnants of mineral wool

If scraps remain after working with mineral wool, you can use them for insulation, for example, a garage or a shed. Some people choose such a budget option for insulation, so that you can sell the leftovers at a low price.

There is also an option for recycling waste. In this case, the remnants of mineral wool boards are crushed using special equipment.

Carbon Steel Blade Knife

Mineral wool cutting knife with carbon steel blade has high cutting quality and is easy to sharpen. However, it requires more careful maintenance than a stainless steel blade, as it is prone to rust. It must be wiped dry after each use and lubricated.

What will we cut

On an industrial scale, special machine tools are used to cut mineral insulation. Consider how to cut mineral wool insulation yourself at home.

Often, an assembly knife is used to cut mineral wool. But it has one drawback. a short blade, which is not suitable for working with thick sheets of insulation. In addition, the blade dulls quickly and needs to be replaced.

Sometimes a special hacksaw is used for wood or metal, and craftsmen have found how to cut mineral wool at home. with a kitchen serrated knife for cutting a loaf.

Knife with stainless steel blade

A long-blade insulation cutting knife made of durable stainless steel is suitable for working with mineral wool of any thickness. For cutting insulation of different stiffness, larger and smaller teeth are located on each side of it. Such a blade easily enters the thickness of the slab, allowing even curly cuts to be made thanks to the sharp tip.

Mineral wool cutting video

In the video. cutting the mineral wool with a special tool.