Asphalt is the most popular and effective material to make roads as it is durable, excellent in pressure bearing, and easy to flatten. However, the road surfaces may deteriorate after a period because of external factors such as weather, heavy-duty vehicles, and accidents.
Therefore, fixing or healing roads are regular maintenance jobs, and these often include a primary task: cutting. One of the most popular tools for this task is an angle grinder, and if you are allowed to do it, you should know how to cut asphalt with an angle grinder, which we will describe below.
Contents
Things To Prepare Before Cutting Asphalt By Grinder
Cutting asphalt is considered a heavy-duty job, and you may see an asphalt cutting worker need to prepare carefully from cutting machines, supporting tools, and protective accessories. These include:
- An angle grinder
- Protective accessories: gloves, boots, eyewear, and a helmet
- A broom
- White chalk
Moreover, wearing thick clothes that prevent you from heat and scattered asphalt grains is also advised.
How To Cut Asphalt With An Angle Grinder (Step-By-Step)
Step 1: Prepare the angle grinder
Check the angle grinder carefully to see if anything gets problems or not. If yes, check the acceptable level and risk potential of the problem. Call customer service for help if you are not sure.
Attach all the necessary components to the grinder. Make sure the protective part must be placed between your body and the blade.
Step 2: Dress up
Choose an outfit that has thick material but a comfortable form. Such clothes will protect your body from scattered asphalt grains and heat during your process.
For example, sports clothes may be comfortable but not safe enough, while jeans are uncomfortable. Therefore, a pair of khaki pants is recommended as they are thick, durable, bring comfort, and have several pockets for supporting tools.
Moreover, you may need a coat rather than a T-shirt alone, and you better choose khaki material also, or if possible, buy a construction working jacket.
Next, put on protective accessories, including plastic gloves, boots, eyewear, and a helmet. Make sure all of them are intact and fit your body parts.
Step 3: Prepare to cut
Use a piece of chalk to draw the line on the asphalt you intend to cut through. This action will help you do the cutting precisely. You may need a ruler or a straight bar to draw it better.
If you don’t have chalk, use a piece of broken brick or something that can make highlights on the asphalt. Make sure your line is erasable in case you want to change your plan.
Moreover, you have to prepare a notification banner to tell other people that you will cut the asphalt and something like plastic rope to surround your working area. Otherwise, you may cause accidents if anyone comes near without warnings or attention.
Step 4: Cut the asphalt
Plug the angle grinder in and start it. Hold the machine tight with both hands, move it slowly to the chalk line, and let the blade gradually approach and cut through the surface.
During your process, maintain an angle of 90 degrees between the blade and the surface. If the blade deviates, move it out of the cut, and start again at the current cutting position.
When you finish a line, check the asphalt and do what you have planned. After that, check the blade for problems before cutting another area. Also, don’t forget to check your protective clothes if anything is broken or needs changing.
Check more: Cutting Aluminium with An Angle Grinder (Full Guideline)
FAQs
1. What is asphalt made from?
Asphalt is obtained in the petrochemical industry from two primary sources: natural deposits and residue from the petroleum distillation process. The components of asphalt are mainly hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur.
Moreover, oil exploration companies also collect another kind called “brea” (natural asphalt) during their exploration. This substance is formed at the beginning of the decomposing process of undersea organic deposits into petroleum.
2. How thick is the surface of asphalt road?
Not all roads and highways have the same asphalt layer thickness. We have three main kinds: residential roads, commercial highways, and parking lots, based on the purposes.
Heavy-duty vehicles like trucks or dump trucks are often not allowed to access a residential road, so the surface thickness is 2 to 3 inches, usually 3.
Commercial highways are 3 to 4 inches thick but include two courses: an asphalt layer on the top and a binder layer below. These layers have the same thickness.
Parking lot surfaces are thicker than any asphalt road because lots of vehicles gather in a small area. Therefore, such parking areas need a thick subgrade before finishing with asphalt.
For example, a place for heavy-duty transporting vehicles needs a 7.5-inch subgrade and a 4-inch asphalt finish, while a light-duty parking lot is laid with 6-inch and 3-inch layers, respectively.
3. How long does a frequent asphalt road last?
On average, a frequent asphalt road’s life expectancy is about 18 years. However, this period may deviate a few months or even a few years depending on external factors, including the weather, vehicle density, and other human effects.
Asphalt is a durable material for roads and high way. It is also easy to flatten as its melting temperature is much low than metal and other solid substances. However, like any other material, asphalt can not resist natural disasters, such as earthquakes.
4. What is an angle grinder’s blade made of?
Unlike some solid substances such as concrete or granite, asphalt is softer, so soft blades can get troubles when cutting and often results in unclean cuts. So instead, we need stiffer blades to increase cutting speed and make perfect cuts.
Among various kinds of hard material on Earth, diamond is the most suitable material for an angle grinder’s blade, not iron cast or stainless steel.
5. Which material is better for roads: asphalt or concrete?
It’s pretty hard to say whether asphalt or concrete is better as each material has advantages and disadvantages.
Concrete is made by mixing cement with water, soil, and sand. Producing concrete is easy and takes not much time with portable concrete-making machines and even by humans only, and its production releases nearly no pollutants to the air. Therefore, this material is used more for minor roads, paths, and pavement.
Completed concrete is a solid substance with low delation, so it is excellent in pressure bearing but easy to crack under high temperatures.
On the other hand, asphalt is industrially made only, and its production releases harmful gases into the air. In addition, the production time and cost are also much higher than concrete.
Compared to concrete, asphalt has higher delation, so it never cracks under severely hot weather. However, it is less pressure-bearing than concrete. As a result, we can see some frequent defects like potholes on asphalt roads.
Check more: Angle Grinder Paddle Vs Slide Switch: A Detailed Comparision
Final Words
We hope that the instruction on how to cut asphalt with an angle grinder will bring you a valuable working skill for life. If you have more experience in cutting asphalt, share it with us. And if you think this article is helpful, share it with your friends.
