Did you know there are thousands of different grades of steel?
A steel’s grade describes the amount of carbon it contains, what alloying elements it contains, and the way it has been processed.
At its simplest, steel is a combination of iron and carbon, key elements of the manufacturing process affect the finished material’s weight, strength, durability, and corrosion and heat resistance. The ratio of carbon to iron used, the addition of alloying elements like nickel, copper, chromium and aluminum, the rate that steel is cooled, and the time it’s held at different critical temperature points during manufacturing all affect its grade and change its performance.
How is Shingle Eater’s steel different?
At Shingle Eater, we seek out steel with the highest possible strength-to-weight ratio, especially for our handles. The same HSLA (High Strength Low Alloy) steel we use for our handles is used to create cars, bridges, and rollercoasters.
Shingle Eater uses only the best quality steel tube, manufactured to exacting specifications and inspected thoroughly. Other roof stripping tools use imported products, black steel, or pipe which is thicker-walled, heavier, and less consistent. In contrast, the steel tube we use offers hardness, tensile strength, and uniformly thin, more consistent walls for a tube that is light yet strong and can be bent to precision, creating Shingle Eater’s patented ergonomic shape. Our steel handles are designed to compress and spring back slightly with each impact, for easy shingle removal with less hard prying.
For the business end of our Shingle Eaters, we use high-carbon sheet steel and hand stamp each unbreakable, one-piece footplate. We reinforce it with strategically placed corrugations that help the tool to slide under stubborn shingles, and then we heat treat the entire footplate—not just the teeth—for hardness with subtle flex. Shingle Eater teeth won’t bend or break with prying shingles. Instead, they self-sharpen with use, allowing a roofer to strip thousands of shingles with a single Shingle Eater.
All of Shingle Eater’s steel is manufactured in the United States where quality control includes precise manufacturing processes, but also stricter emissions standards, workers’ rights, and environmental regulations. We inspect every batch of steel for quality, consistency, and chemical composition, and we inspect our finished tools again so that we can guarantee every Shingle Eater to be 100% free of manufacturing defects.
Why pay more?
Manufacturing high quality steel in the U.S. is both more expensive and more time consuming than importing metal. At Shingle Eater, we look to more than the bottom line. We consider where our raw materials come from, the chemical and physical properties of the metals we use, the performance and durability of the tool in the roofer’s hands, and the wear and tear on a roofer’s body after using our tools for hours and days on end. That’s what makes Shingle Eater a great value, and the most durable, hardest working roof stripping tool you can buy.
