Wet Saw Question

[vinci666]

to make the hearth floor rounded so the soldier course could fit along side what would one use? a 10 " wet saw? angle grinder? Im not having much success with these 2.

I cut just 2 bricks and i dont like the cuts, but im using a 7" wet saw and a 4 1/2 " grinder. These are obviously to small for this job but before i go and rent one maybe someone could tell me how they did it.

Thank guys
Michael

[tusr18a]

Re: Wet Saw Question

It is all about using the right tool. The most popular option is the Harbor Freight 10" wet saw. The price is right. Most comment that it gets the job done. I used the MK Diamond BX-4. I decided to buy the saw and not rent. I am not organized enough to get all the cuts done quickly. Before buying the wet saw, I tried all kinds of tools that came close to killing me. Someone told me to us a skill saw with a diamond blade. Lots of noise, dust, and potential for cutting of extremities. I then moved over to a 10" tile/brick saw from Home Depot. Wouldn't make some of the harder cuts. Also broke after cutting the hearth bricks. Finally opted for the more expensive but great MK Diamond wet saw.

[dmun]

Re: Wet Saw Question

If you use one of those little 7" wet saws that are like a table saw, you can get the job done, but it will take a lot of time because the saw won't go all the way through the brick. You need to mark both sides of the brick, with something that won't wash off, then first cut one side than the other.

Try to cut with the rim of the blade, not it's side, that's where the diamonds are.

A hint with that nasty little tool: run it backwards, sit facing the back and pull the brick towards you. That way most of the flying slurry will go away from you instead of toward you.

I have that 7" saw, and went out and bought the HF 10. Keep it clean, and you can sell it after the project for a good chunk of the price you bought it for.

[rlodad]

Re: Wet Saw Question

Michael,
i am finishing my 42" Pompeii now, and thought the same thing you did. Don't be so hard on yourself. The oven floor should have 1/8" between it and the soldier course anyway, so if the "round floor" is more like a series of straight cuts done on the 7" table saw style wet saw, so what? Youl'll never see them when the oven is done anyway. i like the 10" mitering saws also, heck i love the 16" power feed saw at my brick supplier, but I think spending more on the saw than the oven is a little extreme. All floors are cut in circles by cutting a straight cut, then another at a greater angle and so on until you have a group of cuts approximating a curve. Get all the cuts done, lay the floor out with the soldier course, and clean up any floor bricks that don't have a sufficient gap between them and the floor. Oh, and don't get bummed out by the pics of these perfectly round floors. They're not, and yours will look better once you assemble the floor. Confused yet?

Brad

[vinci666]

Re: Wet Saw Question

Thanks guys I really appreciate the responses