I need to trim a dozen 12 X 12 X1 concrete “stones”. I have a 4-1/2″ Hitachi dry masonry saw. Can I cut through the stone in one pass or do I need to make several shallow cuts until I get through? Those diamond blades are expensive, don’t want to overheat it and wreck the darned thing.
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Take your time
but do it with shallow cuts.
I had to cut a bunch of concrete roof tiles that are about that thick and I put a 7" diamond blade in an old Sears circular saw I had in the garage.
It worked so well I kept it set up that way just for cutting concrete. The control is so much better than my grinder that I am surprised more people don't use one. You can use the rip guide or a straight edge to get a real good cut.
Heck, 1" you can easily cut
Heck, 1" you can easily cut with a notched brick chisel.
Maybe
he'll like the look.
Heck you don't even need a diamond blade
I used cheap fiber reinforced blades to cut concrete pavers with my circular saw. makes a great cut.
Hmmm yep
I'm no pro in that I don't cut stone for a living... but I am extreemly picky. I cut 16" x 16" x 2" patio block with a 7 1/4" diamond blade on a worm drive skill saw. I've cut outside (relativly easy) and inside (relativly difficult) 2 foot radius curves in them (multiple blocks of cource.) They have come out near perfect and it would be noticable being that they were butted up against a perfect radius stamped concrete driveway. I went about 1/3 of total depth on each pass and with the inside curves watch the back of the saw not the front. The front of the saw must be cut well inside of your line as when you turn the saw it will shorten the radius. Straight lines? One pass with the Skill worm drive went right on through with no problem. Just make sure your not useing a long extension cord as it is gonna load the saw more than ripping 3" hickory. Oh to rip 3" hickory with one pass on a 7 1/4" skill saw, remove the lower gard and put an 8" blade on that monster!
I'm another one who's used a circular saw. Worked great.
Doug
Dat dere $14.95 HF 10"
Dat dere $14.95 HF 10" diamond blade from HF works great on an old RAS. Esp wet - clamp a hose to the blade guard an do it outside..
For wet cutting with my circular saw I used a piece of double wall cardboard saturated with water laid on top of the material.
It wasn't as good as a real wet saw but it was better than a dry cut for holding down the dust. Maybe a ShamWow would work better?