How to Cut Foam Blocks At Home
How to cut foam blocks: a selection of tools
Foam blocks are used in construction very often. They resist heat well, are lightweight, voluminous, and also very easy to process.
They can be not only sawn, chipped, drilled, but also processed even with a planer, chisel and other tools.
We single out the main tools that can be used to saw foam blocks:
Hand saw
Such a saw is used in the construction of small objects (a country house, an outbuilding, a garage, etc.), where it is not required to saw a large number of foam blocks.
However, it is worth considering what to saw, if the density of foam blocks is high, then it is better, of course, to use an electric tool.
Do not be afraid of a hand saw, if you work carefully and carefully, you can cut without roughness and chips, and you can also cut curly elements.
However, you need to remember that foam blocks are a special building material, you need to work with it carefully. When sawing, it tends to crumble! No need to push the tool!
What kind of saw is necessary for processing gas silicate blocks?
Only absolutely dry material can be sawed with a hand saw.
Sawing, as a rule, is better and easier according to previously made marks. The position of the saw should be at an angle of 45 degrees. The saw must be long so that the unfinished balance does not break off and fall off at the finish line, ruining the cut.
Electric jigsaw
Masters know this jigsaw as a reciprocating saw. This saw is used in the construction of medium and large objects.
On a jigsaw, you can change the blades (put discs with different tooth sizes, change dull or damaged discs; the shape of the teeth on the discs can also be different. Large and small teeth).
As a rule, for the convenience of builders, many saw models are available with replaceable batteries, so as not to be tied to a power source.
When working with this type of tool, you need to remember that sawing wet material is not permissible, this may result in personal injury. The saw “heals” the baby and can injure the builder.
Before starting work, it is better to try on the instrument. Play the saw without power on.
You need to cut the middle part of the saw, the length of the working cutting surface should be approximately 25 centimeters.
In order not to be injured, hold the saw firmly in your hands.
Alligator
The alligator type saw is particularly robust and durable. On the teeth of such a saw there are special deposits from Pobedit, which makes the teeth more durable. Such a tool is used in the construction of large facilities (apartment buildings, large-area offices).
The advantage of this tool is that it does not need to be constantly sharpened or changed blades, as, for example, in an electric jigsaw.
When buying such a saw, it is better to choose the option with a thick-walled blade, since only cutting with such a blade will give an even cut without chips and roughness.
It is often written that before starting work with such a saw, you need to lubricate the surface with special grease, but practice says the opposite. The lubricant mixes with dust, as a result of which the saw may stop working.
Although the instructions for most instruments of this type prescribe the use of lubricant. The lack of lubricant increases productivity at times.
Circular
Most often used in the construction of household facilities of a small area. Sawing is carried out gradually according to previously made notch marks.
Angle Grinder
It is also used in domestic conditions. Often used when you need to get the U-shaped blocks. Since when working with an angle grinder, a lot of dust rises, do not neglect the respirator and other protective equipment.
Household chain saw
Some home craftsmen saw foam blocks with a conventional saw, which they saw a tree. This method is fast and quite effective, however, the chains are quickly dull, and sometimes even torn and jammed.
In addition, when sawed with such a saw, a very large amount of harmful dust is formed. Therefore, if you plan to saw in this way, be sure to protect your respiratory organs from dust.
Usually people with no experience who want to build a small object for themselves, opt for a hand tool. Firstly, it is cheaper, and secondly, it is easier to work with it. People with experience prefer a more complex instrument. An electric one.
Articles on the installation and operation of walls Rules for the construction of walls from cinder block
Rules for the construction of walls from cinder blocks
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Page navigation: Factors affecting the reliability of an artificial stone wall Description of tools Procedure for laying walls of cinder block
Reliable and beautiful cinder block masonry consists of about 10% of theory and 90% of practice, but despite this ratio, without 10% of theory it is difficult to master practical skills and begin to apply them at a construction site.
On the image: illustration of the three basic rules for laying blocks (bricks), 1. The direction of the load force on the wall, 2. The direction of destructive forces when laying wedge-shaped stones, 3. Load distribution on the wall surface.
How to Cut Foam Blocks At Home
Saw on foam concrete pitch 16 mm
Cinder block and any other stone, both natural and artificial, tolerate compression well and poorly fracture or bend. This gives rise to the first rule of reliable masonry. The overlying stone should rest on the underlying masonry with its entire surface. To achieve this, when laying cinder blocks, it is necessary to apply the solution to the entire surface of the underlying block, and not just along the edges.
2. The side faces of the stones should be located only at right angles to the horizon. If this rule is not observed, then the stones begin to fulfill the function of wedges, which, under load, push the masonry apart, destroying it.
3. Each next row of blocks should be shifted relative to the bottom by a quarter or half of the block, that is, it must not be allowed that the vertical seams of adjacent rows coincide. If the seams do not match (correct masonry), then the vertical load spreads over the entire wall, and if the seams match (incorrect masonry), the load spreads along the column, sharply increasing the probability of destruction of part of the wall.
And a few tips: when working in hot or windy weather, it is desirable to moisten the blocks, this increases the adhesion between the solution and the cinder block; if a break is expected during the laying process, then do not spread the solution on the top row; every 3 to 4 rows, you must check the horizontal and vertical rows.
On the image: cinder block elements: 1. Upper bed, 2. Large side face. Spoon, 3. Small side face. Poke.
To make it easier to understand which masonry block of cinder blocks you can use when building a wall, you need to remember that the block has 6 faces: 2 opposite to which the block fits. Upper and lower beds; large side faces. Spoons; small side faces. Pokes. Laying is carried out in horizontal rows and cinder blocks are laid on the bed.
The height of each horizontal row is formed from the height of the stone and the thickness of the horizontal seam of the mortar, which is usually 10 to 12 mm.
On the image: 1. Laying in half cinder block, 2. Laying in cinder block, 3. One and a half cinder block.
The width of the masonry, which ultimately is the thickness of the wall, must be a multiple of 1/2 cinder block.
Factors affecting the reliability of a cinder block wall or any other stone
The strength of the masonry is determined by the quality of the cinder block and the properties of the solution. The maximum strength of the masonry of the blocks is 40-50% of the tensile strength of the blocks themselves. This situation is explained as follows: during masonry, the mortar lays on the blocks in an uneven layer, microscopic kinks and voids occur, this leads to the formation of different pressure on the cinder block in different parts of the wall, bending stress arises in the block, and just such a load cinder block can withstand poorly.
On the image: the stages of masonry destruction, 1. The appearance of cracks, 2. The formation of individual columns, 3. The complete destruction of the wall.
If the wall is experiencing excessive load, then it is primarily covered by vertical cracks, which are most often located at vertical joints. Over time, the cracks expand and the monolithic wall turns into a set of columns that can be pulled out of the plane of the wall and as a result, the masonry is destroyed.
The reliability of the masonry largely depends on the quality of the solution, such an indicator as the plasticity of the solution is especially important. The plastic mortar evenly rests on the stone, as a result, the bending stress decreases and the reliability of the wall increases.
When mixing the solution, strictly observe the proportions taking into account the quality of sand and cement, do not cook for the future.
The strength of the masonry also depends on the thickness of the seam, the thicker the mortar layer, the harder it is to evenly position it on the cinder block and the likelihood of stress on the fracture increases. For this reason, each type of masonry is performed with a certain thickness of the seam (for a cinder block it is about 1 cm), and to increase this thickness without risking reducing the structural strength does not work.
Cinder block masonry tools
On the image: tools necessary for laying a stone wall, 1. Trowel (trowel), 2. Mortar shovel, 3. Jointing for convex and concave joints, 4. Pickaxe, 5. Plumb, 6. Square, 7. Construction level, 8. Tape measure , 9. Level, 10. Folding meter, 11. Duralumin rule, 12. Ordering.
1. A trowel is a steel shovel with a wooden handle, with which the mortar is leveled, seams are filled, and excess mortar is cut.
2. The mortar shovel is designed to mix the solution, not allowing it to delaminate, feed it to the wall and spread.
3. Stitching with which the seams can be given a convex, concave, triangular, rectangular recessed shape.
4. A pickaxe hammer is used when chopping and grinding a brick or block.
5. Plumb, with its help, the bricklayer controls the verticality of the wall, piers, corners and so on. This tool, depending on whether the verticality of the masonry is checked within one or several floors, has a different weight. For the first case, it is 200. 400 g, for the second 600. 1000 g.
6. The square is designed to check angles.
7. The construction level, which is designed to control the horizontal and vertical plane. It can have a length of 300, 500 and 700 mm. Structurally, it is an aluminum case with two glass ampoules filled with non-freezing liquid, in which there remains an air bubble. The principle of operation of the device is simple: put it on the wall surface and look at the position of the bubble. If he froze in the middle between the divisions of the ampoule, then the surface is horizontal, if it is shifted in any direction, then there is a deviation.
8. Tape measure and folding meter are designed to measure small distances.
9. Rules-level. This tool is made of wood (wooden section 30 × 80 mm, length 1.5. 2 meters) or a duralumin strip with a special profile. With its help, the front surface of the lined wall is controlled.
10. Ordering. Represents a wooden lath (section 50 × 50 or 70 × 50, length 1.8. 2 meters) with divisions every 77 mm, which is equal to the thickness of one row with a solution (65 mm 12 mm). Ordering can also be made from a metal corner, on the edges of which divisions are cut with a depth of 3 mm and in increments of 77 mm.
The sequence of work during the construction of walls from cinder blocks
On the image: 1. Laying of the external spoonful versta, 2. The internal spoonful versta, 3. Tychkovy row.
One of the first questions that arises before starting the construction of walls is what thickness do they make? The most correct answer to this question is in the project documentation, but many people build houses without projects, in this case, you can rely on these numbers. When constructing a 1-storey building and at an air temperature in winter. 20 C, wall thickness 350. 400 mm; temperature. 30 C; thickness 450. 500 mm; temperature. 40 C; thickness 550. 650 mm.
The cinder block is laid by the master and assistant. The latter stands in front and moves along the masonry and supplies the blocks to the wall, laying them out in steps equal to the length of the stacked block and at a distance from the wall equal to two stone lengths. With this arrangement, it will be convenient for the master to spread the solution and lay the blocks on the wall. The duties of the assistant also include the supply of the solution.
Cinder block “fast” building material accelerating the work of a bricklayer.
The master with a shovel puts the solution on the upper surface of the wall, the width of the strip is several centimeters narrower than the width of the block. The cinder block is laid on a fresh solution and pressed close to the laid block, after which it is upset with both hands and if necessary with a hammer.
The protruding solution is cut with a trowel and vertical seams are filled. If the cinder block does not have a recess on the bonded surface, then a solution must be applied to this face before laying the block on the wall.
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