Wet cutting electric circular saw
JohnSprung
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
The previous owner of our valley place went slab-happy and poured a lot of concrete out back. So, anything I want to do out there, electrical, drainange, etc, requires cutting concrete.
My theory is that with a wet cutting diamond saw, if I can make kerfs a couple inches deep, I can probably break out between them and still have decent looking edges. If I lay bricks in there when I’m done, it can look like an intentional design element rather than an afterthought.
So, I’m looking for something about the size of a Skilsaw that’s designed to work wet. Any recommendations?
Thanks —
— J.S.
Replies
Youre just wanting to buy a tool. <G>
Sounds like a renting question to me .
Tim
OK, I'm John, and I'm a toolaholic. ;-)
Renting means I'd have to plan a whole bunch of stuff, lay it out, do all the cuts on one rental day, and then not be able to execute those "good idea" changes.... (And fix the "aw s--t" mistakes.)
There's so much slab and so many little jobs here that I was thinking it would be better to own something. The gasoline walk-behinds are too big and expensive for that, but something more like a watertight version of a carpentry circular saw would be ideal.
-- J.S.
I worked as a flunkie busting up a concrete slab a while ago, and the guy I worked for used a gas powered demo saw, with a hose hook up and was able to cut really clean edges, we where yanking up 4x2.5 foot sections, loading them into a kubota and running them out to a dumpster.
It was amazingly loud and pretty dusty even with water spray.
I once demoed a slab like that, using a walk-behind. We cut it up into 1x3 ft. pieces, and used them as stepping stones elsewhere on the property, saving the dumpster fee and the cost of stepping stones.
-- J.S.
A couple of years ago at a neighbor's garage sale, I picked up a Milwaukee gear drive saw that was equipped with a diamond blade and a long but small diameter plastic tube that was set up to be connected to a faucet. Reportedly the neighbor's father was a plumber who had used it a fair amount to cut concrete before he retired. The saw still runs well but I have never tried with the diamond blade. Thus I can say that the saw was apparently not damaged by its use as a concrete saw, but I don't know how well it worked or if there was any additional electrical hazard from wet sawing.
John,
Just use a regular worm drive saw ( bosch or skill 77 ) with a diamond blade. Run the hose on low and plug into a gfci outlet...... clean the saw well when finished. I have more problems with the guard sticking etc than water in the motor.. if you look while you are doing the cutting you will see that the motor stays dry.
hope this helps
james
Why not use a dry cut diamond saw blade. Less chance of shock. Use a blower to direct the dust away from you(if our outside). Hilti sells a great dry cut blade that will fit into a standard saw.
MMM
I listend to a DIY that scored his driveway in a pattern he laid out , then stained it .
He told me just a masonary blaade of many that was bought at Walmart for half price was the cheapest alternative . He burned a diamond dry cut blade up pretty quick . I think he said three abrasive blades out lasted that diamond.
I dont have a clue about a wet blade on a skill saw and neither did he. If it was on a ground fault and it was a used saw , I would still wear rubber gloves , boots ,and knee pads. Hooking it up with a ice maker line and a sprayer nozzle from a farm store would do the trick. Or DW with the water hose with a fine jet with a shut off. Doesnt seem any more dangerous than me dynamiting my well. <G>
Since the job requires cutting all the way through I still would rent a walk behind.
Tim
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006ANSG/ref=e_deav_acc_1_1/102-8794846-8716140?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=228013
Check out this product. They make a water feed, a rolling platform and I think even a vacuum hookup for skilsaws running a diamond blade.
If the link doesn't work it is called a saw roller and made by pearl abrasives
Karl
There are lots of small wet saws out there but you may be limited to 1 1/2". That may be enough for your application -- then use a chisel bit on a jackhammer.
http://www.alpha-tools.com/refguide/flyers/046AWS110ADFlyer.pdf
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4357903416&category=20790
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4361104939&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT
Billy
Edited 12/21/2005 5:29 pm ET by Billy
Thanks for all the ideas.
I tried a small wet saw, 4 3/8" blade, kerf a little over an inch deep. Breaking out the rest of the way with the Bosch resulted in cracking beyond the kerf, and DW was real unhappy with the noise and vibration. That resulted in purchase authorization for a Partner K-3000 14" wet saw. It can make a kerf 5" deep, so no more breaking. I should be able to just lift out the chunks. It should be here next week, who needs a Rose Parade .... ;-)
-- J.S.
The saw came in on the 24th, so I spent the holiday weekend putting PVC conduit under part of the patio.
All in all, it worked very well. The electronic "soft start" feature makes it possible to start it without tripping a 20 amp breaker. But it really does need 20, it tripped a 15 while cutting. You really have to squirt water at it, the air blown by that big blade will blow a gentle stream away from the cut. It's a good thing I went for the big 14" blade, some of that slab was over 5" thick.
Having an electric saw for concrete makes a lot of stuff easier. No persnickety gasoline engine, no fire or explosion hazard. I can even cut concrete inside the house if we have plumbing to repair.
The one obvious thing missing from the saw is the plate and depth adjustment. No spring-loaded blade guard, either. It's strictly hand-held, follow the line by eye. The blade also rotates the opposite way from a wood saw, the leading edge is going downward into the workpiece, not upward out of it.
-- J.S.
I took the fitting that comes with the icemaker on some refridgerators that adapts from ¼" tubing to hose thread, drilled a hole in the backside an sidewinder that had done its time, to attach the fitting. Screwed in a cheap hose valve and hooked up the hose- Now my diamond blades last about 10x as long.