Not your father's chainsaw

[fossil]

House addition/remodel in progress. Concrete subcontractor had to open up an access through the old stem wall into the new crawl space. Solution was a Redzaw concrete chain saw, water cooled & lubricated, running a diamond-toothed chain. Pretty interesting (probably be pretty tedious trying to cut wood with it, though!). Rick

 

[Vic99]

Whoa.

 

[burntime]

I used one of those without the water...OMG if you have alergies you would be close to death. I looked white and my skin burned something awful. Little did I know you are supposed to have a resperator on with it. What ever doesn't kill you makes you stronger right???

 

[fossil]

I talked at some length with these guys. Water's absolutely essential for cooling and lubrication (not to mention dust suppression). This thing hooks up to a garden hose, and sprays water on the bar & chain, and into the cut. New chains run upwards of $200, and there's no way to sharpen an old one. I've used dry masonry blades and grinding wheels, and I know exactly what you're talking about with all the dust produced. In the case of a diamond wheel, blade, or saw chain, I'm sure it'll cut without the water...but not for long. I have a little diamond blade wet-saw for tile work, and I know how essential the water is to the process. I get wet, but I don't breathe the dust, and the blades last a long time. Glad you lived through the experience, burntime. Rick

 

[burntime]

I lived but thought I had emphazema (sp) for a week! Those fine particles are realllllllllly bad!

 

[Highbeam]

I rented a diamond bladed chop saw for a sidewalk cutout this winter. THe rental place said not to use water as it is a "dry" blade. They also charge by the reduction in diameter. Hmmmmm. Well I did as they said and I agree that the mess was huge. Nice clean cut though. I was blowing chunks of grey dust for quite some time. I wore ear and eye protection but didn't have anything for my lungs.

Is the wall where he is adding a crawlspace access a load bearing wall or is it under a gable end. I would love to relocate my crawlspace access and use the old one for HVAC.

 

[titan]

Looks like a Husqvarna powerhead on that saw. :smirk:

 

[fossil]

...Is the wall where he is adding a crawlspace access a load bearing wall or is it under a gable end. I would love to relocate my crawlspace access and use the old one for HVAC.

Highbeam, access to our crawl space is not from outside, but rather two hatches in the interior floors. The wall you see him cutting is currently the load-bearing exterior wall of that part of the structure, but we're adding 10' to the house there. He's standing in what will be the newly extended crawlspace, you can see the formwork for the new stemwall behind him. He's cutting that out so that once in the crawl space (from inside the house), one can access the extension of the crawlspace under the addition. He's making a similar cut at one of the existing foundation vents to get heating duct into the new extension. The new wall will become the primary load-bearing wall, but we're widening a second story gable-end room above him, so we're having to do a lot of additional concrete pier/footing work under the existing foundation to beef up the new load footprint, as well. The inside of the house is basically gutted, with a lot of sub-flooring cut out right now. We're living in our guest quarters. I'm imagining you're talking about a crawlspace access from daylight, in which case you'd have to check to see whether or not there's a lintel or header over the top of the existing one. If so, it'd be dicey (structurally) to go cutting a new one without doing something fancy. Rick

 

[fossil]

Looks like a Husqvarna powerhead on that saw. :smirk:

Could well be, Titan, for all I know. The brand name was Redzaw. I don't know anything about them, other than the fact that they cut concrete really nicely. Rick

 

[Carl]

Hi Rick, looks like the remodel is coming right along. Some of our modern equipment has came a long way as everything else has. I was really surprised to hear you have grocery stores, and now rental places. What is your area coming to.

 

[fossil]

Hi Rick, looks like the remodel is coming right along. Some of our modern equipment has came a long way as everything else has. I was really surprised to hear you have grocery stores, and now rental places. What is your area coming to.

Oh, Carl, you don't that's me wielding that saw...it ain't me, babe. That's one of the concrete subcontractor's guys. The sub owns that saw, and claims it's one of very few in Central Oregon, and I tend to believe him. But yes, we actually do have places to rent tools & things. Of course, they have hitching posts out front. :lol: Rick

 

[fossil]

Speaking of sub-contractors, this is my plumbing guy's truck (Crooked River Advanced Piping). I really like these guys out here on the frontier. Rick

 

[BrotherBart]

Must be related to this septic pumper.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I'm reminded of Big Black: "She went through me like a pavement saw"

 

[jrousell]

I rented a diamond bladed chop saw for a sidewalk cutout this winter. THe rental place said not to use water as it is a "dry" blade. They also charge by the reduction in diameter. Hmmmmm. Well I did as they said and I agree that the mess was huge. Nice clean cut though. I was blowing chunks of grey dust for quite some time. I wore ear and eye protection but didn't have anything for my lungs.

Is the wall where he is adding a crawlspace access a load bearing wall or is it under a gable end. I would love to relocate my crawlspace access and use the old one for HVAC.

I have used these several times. And yes- use water no matter what they tell you. It will both faster, also wear the wheel much less, and also keep the dust down considerably... while you "can" use it dry.. if you have access to a water hose it will be much better