chain saw for concrete

brettgiardiello_at_bellsouth_dot snipped-for-privacy@foo.com (bmancanfly) wrote in news:49a20745$0$4616$ snipped-for-privacy@news.usenetserver.com:

Yes, cut a door into existing concrete block basement wall. I rented a

14" Imco (? I think?) ...the red ones. It was the greatest single experience in my life.. almost. It took about an hour to plunge in and cut a 36" door opening and the mess was almost non-existent. I did put up sheet plastic to prevent spraying water and swarf around, so it left about 3 square feet of mop up. The operation of the saw was very similar to using a chain saw for wood and the feel was very much the same. One thing that supprised me was how quickly it cut as this was filled block and was about 8 inches thick.

Absolutely the best for this application. Square corners and easy to follow the lines. A much better experience than using a cutoff saw and round blade. Total rental was around $250 which included the wear on the chain. It was very nice to find a dealer who did not require the purchase of the chain (around $400) instead they miced the chain prior to/ and after use and charged a pro-rated wear (around $8.00/ .001 of diamond wear) Rental was from contractors rental in Camden NJ. (if you happen to be local) very nice people.

Hope this helps.

Chainsaws are for wood

Typical

And concrete...

To the OP, yes, they are good, some what expensive (rental if you don't plan to use it a lot!) and of course watch yourself because even in concrete there is a potential for kickback (less than wood!)

bmancanfly had written this in response to

:

------------------------------------- Doc wrote:

Thanks for the feedback. I've seen the company's "propaganda" video and it seemed to good to be true. I don't have that much to cut. I', turning a window into a door, so maybe cutting four feet on each side of the window. And it's hollow core concrete block.

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Were this my project, I'd grab a couple of masonary blades at HD for my Skil saw. Be done in an hour or less. Just don't push the blades too hard and you'll be OK.

bmancanfly had written this in response to

:

------------------------------------- PeterD wrote:

I thought about that too. But the wall is 8 inches thick. The deepest you can cut will a standard cicular saw is 3 inches or so.

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You should try the cheapo diamond saw blades for circular saws you find on eBay. They work very well and last much longer than the carborundum blades. Safer too, as they don't break into pieces at inopportune times.

You can cut from both sides, break out the faces and then clean up the rest with a brick hammer.

R

CMU's might be 8" thick but the sides you'd be cutting thru are only about

1.25" thick, unless they filled the cells with concrete

IIRC he said they were not filled, which is why I recommended the circular saw method.