How to Cut Angled Circular

How to Cut Angled Circular

Aerated concrete blocks are often used in individual construction due to qualities such as good heat resistance, low weight and ease of machining.

The main benefits of working with this building material are ease of handling and masonry due to its light weight and large size. Aerated concrete can be easily drilled, sawed, pricked, planed, ditched, and shaped into complex geometric shapes with hand tools such as aerated concrete saws, planers, or chisels.

The basics of processing aerated concrete blocks with saws

Masters who have more experience communicating with building electrical equipment and devices, as well as the need to work with them more often, prefer to cut aerated concrete bricks with an electric reciprocating saw or an alligator saw rather than a hand tool. But with a one-time use of aerated concrete (for example, when erecting a utility building, garage or country house. After all, they do not need several in one area) a hand saw for aerated concrete will be more economical and reliable.

  1. Electric reciprocating saw on aerated concrete is a powerful jigsaw that gives the cutting blade a saber horizontal reciprocating motion. There are saws with two blade blades, many models operate on battery power. Reciprocating saw blades are sold with teeth of different sizes and shapes.
  2. The alligator saw works on the principle of a crankshaft. The rotation of the rotor of the electric motor turns into reciprocating motion of two cutting blades. The blade blades move in opposite directions, but in a horizontal plane, so the edge of the cut always turns out to be clean and even. The price of such a power tool is much higher than that of a reciprocating saw, and the alligator saw justifies itself only with constant use, that is, in professional construction. Therefore, before such a highly specialized purchase, think about where this tool will work after the construction is completed.
  3. A hand saw with carbide (victorious) soldering on the teeth lasts much longer than a conventional hand saw, which has to be sharpened after several cuts. On winning victories, you can build a house without replacing the saw, and it will serve further. When choosing such a tool, it is recommended to pay attention to the thickness of the blade. A thin saw will be diverted to the side, the cut will be uneven and inclined. A thick saw makes an accurate, accurate and even cut.

Therefore, choosing what to saw aerated concrete, pay attention to the accuracy and reliability of the tool, and not its price: many people think that an expensive power tool is the key to successful construction, but this is not always the case. Try to cut the foam block with a regular hand saw first, and only with unsatisfactory results buy more expensive saws for aerated concrete.

Manual sawing

The widespread but misconception that sawing aerated concrete by hand is a long and thankless task with poor results (uneven cuts, ragged edges, tiring and unproductive). But for an individual builder, it is possible and necessary to cut blocks manually, since with a rather thick canvas the cut will always be smooth, and the porosity of the material does not make a big load on the hands. It’s all about the cutting technique, in the material and brand of the foam block. If you are going to saw a gas block or a foam concrete brick of class B 2.0 and density (grade) D 400 with a hand saw, then you will like the result. But the class B 3.5 block of the D 600 brand will make you think about purchasing an electric cutting tool.

A correctly selected hand saw allows you to make several thousand cuts, and this can be complex lines in the form of a trapezoid or hemisphere. The conclusion suggests itself: in addition to the foam block brand, it is important to develop the correct process technique:

  1. It is impossible to put pressure on the saw so that the blade does not lead to the sides. Aerated concrete needs to be cut not like boards or slats. The material is not cut, but crumbles, so the pressure is not necessary here in principle.
  2. Before sawing aerated concrete blocks, make sure they are well dried. Wet crumbs will get stuck in the cut and complicate the cutting process.
  3. An even cut will result if the block is pre-marked on three sides. Shallow cuts of 20-30 mm are made on the markings.
  4. The canvas should go along the cuts so that there are no deviations along the planes. The saw must be held at an angle of 45 ° and not press on the blade. So that the piece to be sawn off at the end of sawing does not fall and does not break off with uneven edges, the block must rest on the stand with its whole body.
  5. The hacksaw should be long so that the blade completely and with a margin overlaps the brick in length.
  6. To facilitate the work, planks or plywood can be made of plaster.

How to Cut Angled Circular

How to saw a block with electric tools

Sawing gas or foam concrete with electric saws speeds up the process and increases the amount of work, and also allows you to cut architecturally complex architectural elements. The method justifies itself in the construction of large objects or houses in two to three floors. The optimal choice for such work would be an alligator saw or a reciprocating saw on aerated concrete with an electric power of about 1000 W and a blade length of 365 mm.

Important: When sawing with an electric saw of any type, it is necessary to take only dry foam blocks, otherwise the saw may be bitten into the cut and wrested from the hands.

Reciprocating saw operation:

  1. Before cutting, it is recommended to work out the movements with the tool turned off: the saw blade should not be placed with a hard stop in the block. Before cutting, hold the tool at a certain distance from the place of cut, while swinging the saw up, down and back to the center, as if it were a hand saw. Sawing the block is necessary not for all the blade, but for its central part, the length of the cutting surface should be approximately 250 mm.
  2. When working with a saber saw, abutting it against the end of the product, you can get dust sticking and biting the blade, especially on a wet block. Therefore, cuts are recommended to be made on both sides towards.
  1. Alligator is a professional tool, and working with it will pay off only on large volumes. However, nobody will be cutting a large number of gas blocks with a hand saw, since this is a rather slow process, and if there is a lot of material, then it is tiring. Sawing with an alligator saw speeds up work.
  2. The practice of working with this power tool showed that it is not necessary to lubricate the sawing surfaces, as stated in the instructions, since solid dust will immediately stick to the lubricant, which simply throws the grease away, after which the saw works on dry material and the blade often wedges. If the grease was factory, it must be removed immediately, but for this you will have to disassemble the saw. This unusual approach with the correction of the factory instructions allows you to dissolve 50–70 blocks up to 1 meter long in 2-3 hours, with a cut length of 500-600 mm. With a large product length, the cut is made bilateral, with preliminary marking of the sides.

A professional saw allows you to do the job accurately and quickly, but its cost does not always justify the construction estimate. Therefore, home craftsmen often dissolve blocks with a circular or chain saw, gasoline or electric.

Sawing on a circular or chain saw:

  1. From the practice of working on a circular: the block is marked on all sides by sawing shallow grooves and sawn completely with a hand saw. If the disk is large, then you can try to cut the block at once or on both sides, but there will be a lot of dust, so individual means are sewn up, as well as forced ventilation of the enclosed space.
  2. A chain saw is sawn a block much faster, since it has a higher chain rotation speed. The negative point is a quick wear of the chain or even a sudden break. Positive aspects. Even cut, high speed, mobility (blocks can be cut at the place of their laying).
  3. Practical statistics on wear and replacement of chains: one chain is enough for 12-15 foam blocks of any brand with a thickness of 400 mm. If you continue to saw the material with a blunt chain, the dust emission increases, the work slows down, the cut may turn out uneven due to the large accumulation of dust in the slot.

Sawing angle grinder and puncher:

  1. This original method is useful for those who need U-shaped blocks. For accuracy and acceleration of work, it is recommended to make a wooden template, according to which all cutting lines are marked with a steel rod (for example, a nail). Then, with a diamond disc grinder, the upper part of the aerated block is cut to a depth of 5 cm on both sides, and excess material is knocked out with a puncher with a lance blade. Irregularities inside the chip can also be removed with a grinder, a plane for aerated concrete or a chisel.
  2. To make a U-shaped product from a continuous rectangular foam block in this way, it takes only 20-30 minutes. Work takes place in dust, so you need a respirator or hood.
  3. The chain saw, like the alligator saw, should not be greased when cutting foam or gas materials, so that greasy dust does not stick to the teeth, slowing down the work and wearing out the chain with this peculiar abrasive.

When summarizing the analysis of manual and electric tools for cutting foam or aerated concrete blocks, it becomes clear that sawing this building material with mechanized tools is preferred by experienced craftsmen or those who need large volumes and complex configurations of products.

For the construction of an ordinary garden or country house, garage or barn, a simple hand saw or the same saw is enough, but with victorious soldering to extend the life of the blade. The speed of work in these cases does not matter much, because you can cut one day or three days. In the warm season and with sufficiently long periods, it does not matter and will not affect the construction of the house.