Circular saw quick check....

[Delvis]

Hi all,

Going to be doing a lot of wood cutting and eventually cutting patio slabs, seeing as I'm already partially in the Worx eco-system, do you think this plus diamoned blade will be sufficient for cutting slabs?

https://www.worx-uk.com/shop/power-...orx-710w-compact-hand-saw-worxsaw-xl-wx427-2/

It will do the wood no problem, and I realise buying a fully fledged paving saw would be better, but sadly I'm not made of money.

The one above is corded, which makes me think then I don't need to go for the Worx model....The other option is there batteried one: https://www.worx-uk.com/shop/power-...-xl-worxsaw-brushless-compact-hand-saw-wx531/

Thoughts please? And/or advice

 

[200sols]

It'll cut with a diamond blade but the dust will be bad. You should never dry cut slabs these days there is no excuse for it, hire a disk cutter and wet cut them.

 

[theone8181]

I used an angle grinder for slabs, it took me about 5 seconds to realise it was a mask on job, I think everything within about 5 metres was covered in grey dust by the time I'd finished.

 

[NoobCannon]

Are worx an aldi own brand type deal?

if your gonna be using it a lot i would look at something from dewalt etc. As for wetting the slabs as above i just lay a hose on them

 

[Luke]

Are worx an aldi own brand type deal?

No, they are a budget brand, but a brand in their own right. Not bad quality stuff. But not Dewalt, Makita etc quality.

 

[psd99]

petrol saw for slabs
hire that if u can guess it also depends how many tiles u r cuttin

 

[pp111]

I would not mix the two jobs. The reason is dust. Wood dust is easy going and very readily removed from a tool, but cement dust is horrific. It is very abrasive and very difficult to remove. You will absolutely ruin whatever you use to cut slabs. By all means buy the saw but I would a cheap grinder with a diamond blade for slabs. Even a small one is good enough and grinders are really cheap because they sell a lot of them.

 

[Delvis]

Thank you all for the responses, all logical.

May hire if I go down the DIY route, makes sense

 

[koooowweeee]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-g...z5Sq7O6k4dN07aXEw18aAoneEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

These are pretty good for cutting slabs. I've seen them at £80 a few times as well.

 

[divuk83]

I cut a few paving slabs with an Evolution (185mm) Circular Saw with a diamond blade, it worked much better than expected and gave a decent cut. It struggled a little with some of the thicker slabs, I'm not sure how a dinky little saw like that worx would mange? It did make a hell of a mess, but it was only a couple of slabs. It depends on how much you are doing I think, wet cutting is infinitely less messy. If it's just for a few cuts a grinder or circular saw with diamond blade are fine. Plus I already had the saw and just got the blade for about £15, which was cheaper and easier than hiring a proper cutter. A respirator, goggles and ear defenders were also essential!

Dave

 

[jellybeard999]

For wood, get a proper circular saw (160mm or whatever the small 18v saws are or larger) unless all you want to cut is thin sheet.

For the slabs, hire a Stihl Saw or similar. I too used an angle grinder to cut slabs in the past as I only had a couple to do. It worked with a diamond disc, however, I'd definitely get the proper tool for the job if you are planning to do a lot of work.

 

[Delvis]

For wood, get a proper circular saw (160mm or whatever the small 18v saws are or larger) unless all you want to cut is thin sheet.

For the slabs, hire a Stihl Saw or similar. I too used an angle grinder to cut slabs in the past as I only had a couple to do. It worked with a diamond disc, however, I'd definitely get the proper tool for the job if you are planning to do a bigger job.

Can you link to an example for the circular saw please? I'll be cutting sleepers and don't fancy doing 20 cuts by hand!

 

[jellybeard999]

@Delvis I can't see a proper sized worx 18v saw unfortunately. They are available for most other brands, though none would be ideally suited to sleepers as you'd need a decent sized blade to get enough cutting depth to go through in one go and 18v batteries would be eaten up in no time cutting sleepers.

Edit - Found this, but above still applies. https://www.very.co.uk/worx-cordless-exactrack-circular-saw-wx530-20v/1600472460.prd

The saw you linked is more suited to cutting sheets of MDF, plywood etc

What sized sleepers?
Suggestions;
Buy a cheap mains powered circular saw and flip the sleeper if you can't get through in one go
Chainsaw
Hire a giant circular saw or sliding mitre/chopsaw

 

[divuk83]

Sleepers are usually 200x100mm. All but the very biggest circular saws won't cut the full depth of them. I have a 235mm saw that does about 90mm, then I finish the last bit off with a hand saw. I have also done it with a 185mm saw and just flipped the sleeper and cut from both sides. I don't recommend a chop/mitre saw as lifting the sleepers up is a pain in the bum, easier to bring the saw to the wood, than the wood to the saw.

Dave

 

[Delvis]

@Delvis I can't see a proper sized worx 18v saw unfortunately. They are available for most other brands, though none would be ideally suited to sleepers as you'd need a decent sized blade to get enough cutting depth to go through in one go and 18v batteries would be eaten up in no time cutting sleepers.

Edit - Found this, but above still applies. https://www.very.co.uk/worx-cordless-exactrack-circular-saw-wx530-20v/1600472460.prd

The saw you linked is more suited to cutting sheets of MDF, plywood etc

What sized sleepers?
Suggestions;
Buy a cheap mains powered circular saw and flip the sleeper it you can't get through in one go
Chainsaw
Hire a giant circular saw or sliding mitre/chopsaw

As in the op I don't mind buying a corded other make I actually linked to a corded and cordless one.

Sleepers are 100mm thick, so I'll be flipping them either way and finishing off by hand, just don't fancy doing the lot by hand

 

[Hyburnate]

I cut a few paving slabs with an Evolution (185mm) Circular Saw with a diamond blade, it worked much better than expected and gave a decent cut. It struggled a little with some of the thicker slabs, I'm not sure how a dinky little saw like that worx would mange? It did make a hell of a mess, but it was only a couple of slabs. It depends on how much you are doing I think, wet cutting is infinitely less messy. If it's just for a few cuts a grinder or circular saw with diamond blade are fine. Plus I already had the saw and just got the blade for about £15, which was cheaper and easier than hiring a proper cutter. A respirator, goggles and ear defenders were also essential!

Dave

Just going to piggy back off of this, the massive suggestion for wet cutting isn't just because of the mess. Dust, especially that from cutting slabs is incredibly bad for you lungs and wetting down supresses this dust and turns it more into a sludge.

 

[jellybeard999]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/evolution-r185ccsl240-1200w-185mm-electric-circular-saw-220-240v/285fj

Something like this.

Going bigger carries much more cost. This would get you 65mm through, so you'd need to flip it and cut again.

Or you could hire a big one.

 

[200sols]

Softwood sleepers are actually very easy to cut by hand.

 

[PlacidCasual]

Angle grinder or proper petrol saw the way to do it. But you have to ask yourself how much risk your willing to take, proper slab saws are heavy and quite frankly dangerous . Angle grinder's aren't much better, at some point you'll think about removing the guard or not using the handle and that's an easy way to a nasty gouge and a trip to A+E. I've used an angle grinder to cut a decent groove in slabs that then allowed me to snap them, not as neat a clean cut but doable and staying the right side of safe.

Also +1 for don't mix wood working tools with building tasks.

 

[skyripper]

That dinky little saw in the OP is for cutting things like floorboards without going thru the joist/pipes underneath.

Following this thread with interest as I'm also going to need kit for sleepers, slabs and big timber when we landscape in the next few months.