Slating tools, such as rippers, hammers and stakes, were specially designed for the installation of repair of slate roofs. Some of these tools have remained largely unchanged over time, while others have evolved in response to changes in the slate roofing industry.

The T-shaped skate, sometimes called a slater’s tee, is also pictured in the Strelinger & Co. advertisement. It was used to trim and punch slate for nail holes. The cross bar of the “T” was either straight, or curved to facilitate the trimming of the slate in a radiused pattern. With straight-topped stakes, the slater’s tendency was to move the hammer along the top of the stake as trimming proceeded. When the top of the stake was curved, it was the slate that tended to get moved as trimming proceeded, thereby making it easier to trim on the radius. Stakes are still used today, although not as commonly as in the past. Some modern stakes have rules engraved on their edges to aid with trimming slates to size.

Slate hammers had a curved head with a sharp point on one end for punching nail holes in slates and a hammer head at the other for driving nails to secure the shingle. The length and curvature of the hammer’s head varied. Handles of slate hammers were either wood or leather. Many contemporary slate hammers have a beveled edge on the shaft, which can be use for cutting slate, and a nail pulling claw at the crossing point between the handle and head. Two similar tools are depicted in Randle Holme’s Academy of Armory, written in 1688, A slater’s pick had a curved head, pointed at both ends, for punching nail holes and a slater’s hatchet had a flat head for driving nails and a sharp, hatchet-like edge for trimming the end of a wood lath on which the slates were installed. The modern slate hammer may have evolved from a combination of these historic tools.

 

A slate knife (sometimes called a zax of hewing knife) had a heavy rectangular blade with a sharp edge for cutting slate. It also sometimes had a sharp point protruding from the blade, which was used for punching nail holes. Today, the slate hammer, which can cut and punch slate as well as hammer nails, has taken the place of the slate knife.