ive done quite a few drives now both for my self and for some very happy customers. on a number of occasions ive been in a situation where i need a nice straight cut line averaging 3to 5 metres in length so that i get a real nice finished lookin line where the main pavors meet up with the paved boader threshold. ive tried using a hired splitter but they just arent good enough in my view for a crisp job as they tend to leave jagged edges that need rework before laying (i hope you understand that) so i always snap a nice straight line and cut with my petrol cutter in line, however, the pavors always want to sink in the unwhacked sand and tend to move out of line so making it hard to move onto cutting the next brick, what usually happens now is that i cut a shallow line with the cutter and dothen cut each brick independantly on a cutting board and relay it. i know this seems long winded but it gives me the best results so far.
how would u go about this. i hope ive made myself clear in what im asking, and i must admit i am a bit of a perfectionist and it is a very long winded way of doing it.
Cutting a nice straight edge
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84-1093879891
Assuming your edge course is already in place, you could mark up each block that needs to be cut, place them on a bench-mounted saw and cut them while they're locked in position. If you don't want the expense of hiring-in a bench-mounted masonry saw, you can make a simple 'vice template' to hold blocks steady while they're cut with a hand-held saw by nailing a few bits of 50x25, in the shape of the blocks, to a piece of 18mm ply. So, if you're using 200x100 blocks, make a rectangle on the board roughly 203x103, so that the block sits snugly inside it, and can be sawn without danger of it slipping out of alignment.
Another trick we've used is to rely on a splitter to do the initial cuts (and if the blades are maintained/replaced regularly, a splitter is a good as a saw), get them all fitted fairly snugly, and then, once there in, sanded and consolidated, run the saw blade along the joint between the edge course and the cut bricks. This has the effect of 'tidying up' the edge.
Or, if you fill with sand the gaps where the cut blocks are to go, you can position the blocks-to-be-cut so that they sit on the sand and partly on the edge course, then use a long, straight length of angle iron as a rule to guide the saw blade as you cut. This is a little more fraught, as you need a well-trained volunteer to keep his/her steel-toe-capped boot on the block being cut to stop it being spun out of line by the rotating blade, but it can, and does, work quite well.
With tumbled blocks, I actually think splitter cuts look more natural than the laser-sharp lines cut by a saw, but it's a matter of personal aesthetics.
They key thing is that, after 3 months, most of the blocks will have moved a couple of millimetres one way or t'other and all your careful aligning and precision cutting will count for nothing!
Another trick we've used is to rely on a splitter to do the initial cuts (and if the blades are maintained/replaced regularly, a splitter is a good as a saw), get them all fitted fairly snugly, and then, once there in, sanded and consolidated, run the saw blade along the joint between the edge course and the cut bricks. This has the effect of 'tidying up' the edge.
Or, if you fill with sand the gaps where the cut blocks are to go, you can position the blocks-to-be-cut so that they sit on the sand and partly on the edge course, then use a long, straight length of angle iron as a rule to guide the saw blade as you cut. This is a little more fraught, as you need a well-trained volunteer to keep his/her steel-toe-capped boot on the block being cut to stop it being spun out of line by the rotating blade, but it can, and does, work quite well.
With tumbled blocks, I actually think splitter cuts look more natural than the laser-sharp lines cut by a saw, but it's a matter of personal aesthetics.
They key thing is that, after 3 months, most of the blocks will have moved a couple of millimetres one way or t'other and all your careful aligning and precision cutting will count for nothing!
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68-1093879161
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suki
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Wed Jul 10, 2002 11:34 pm
Well we are also very fussy with our workmanship however this seems to be bordering on the insane, the only blocks that i cut in around the soldier coarse with a stihl cutter is the corner mitre blocks the rest are cut on a block splitter and we have very very straight egdes on our cuts , just make sure the blocks u cut are dry and they should cut fine we mark the cuts with white chalk and cut it along the chalk, then go along and align the blocks before using the kiln, i cannot imagaine cutting in a 150 square meter job with a diamond blade it would take days.
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84-1093879891
In theory, you only need to 'nick' the top face of the block with a diamond blade and it should snap with a smack on the base from a hammer, but, as cuts become more acute, the tendency for the acute angle to break off increases, and so you end up having to cut to at least half-depth on a 45 degree angle cut.
The dust is a major problem with saw cutting. Obviously, this can be countered by having a water attachment fitted to the saw (or one of the apprentices aiming the hose at the blade), but how often does this happen in reality? Also, according to Elfin Safety, you're supposed to have a back board behind the cutter to prevent any shards kicked out by the blade from going astray, breaking windows or blinding a member of the public. In over 25 years of using power saws, I've seen a back board used on only 2 jobs.
Splitters might not be perfect, but they are definitely more environmentally-friendly, they're cheaper, they're faster, and who really looks at the sharpness of the edge cuts 3 months after the work is finished? As long a sthe cut is parallel to the edge and accurate to within 3mm, I've no problem with splitter cuts.
I know there is a move towards using saw cuts 100% of the time on some jobs, but I'm not convinced they're either necessary or warranted.
The dust is a major problem with saw cutting. Obviously, this can be countered by having a water attachment fitted to the saw (or one of the apprentices aiming the hose at the blade), but how often does this happen in reality? Also, according to Elfin Safety, you're supposed to have a back board behind the cutter to prevent any shards kicked out by the blade from going astray, breaking windows or blinding a member of the public. In over 25 years of using power saws, I've seen a back board used on only 2 jobs.
Splitters might not be perfect, but they are definitely more environmentally-friendly, they're cheaper, they're faster, and who really looks at the sharpness of the edge cuts 3 months after the work is finished? As long a sthe cut is parallel to the edge and accurate to within 3mm, I've no problem with splitter cuts.
I know there is a move towards using saw cuts 100% of the time on some jobs, but I'm not convinced they're either necessary or warranted.