does this firebrick saw work?

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Looks like it's made for soft refractory material. When I rebricked my shop stove using the Rutland replacement firebrick splits, I put a masonry blade in my 10" chop saw and made quick work of it. That hand saw might cut the Rutlands, dunno, but I wouldn't bother with it. Masonry blades are cheap. Movin' your thread to the Gear Forum. Rick
 
Not sure what your goal is here as I am a little confused by your post. Do you want to buy THAT saw? Or do you need to cut brick?

If you just need to cut some brick I've done lots with the couple dollar masonry blade seen below in a regular old circular saw.

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I put a masonry blade on my table saw and did it. The grit and particles from the brick will scratch the saw table and the fence. So I tried a couple things to prevent this: one) I taped down thin cardboard on both table and fence and this worked fine 2) I simply used strips of duct tape for the same. Howevever, the particles eventually cut through the tape and I had to redo the strips. In other words, it worked but not as well.

Don't breathe the dust. You will have to make a series of passes for each cut, each pass a bit deeper than the former one. In other words, you won't be cutting the brick straight thru in one pass as you would with a piece of lumber.
 
Yeah, it's dusty fer sure. I carried my miter saw outside and set it up on a saw horse table, and I wore a dust mask. Rick
 
Made some cuts for a friend, and just put a dry masonary blade on a 14" chop saw. no worries about damaging an expensive mitre or table saw. chop saws are made to take the abuse!
 
Lots of folks seem to like to use the term chop saw to refer to what is actually a compound miter saw. Technically a chop saw is one with no angle adjustments either way...it just comes down and cross-cuts. A compound miter saw is adjustable along two axes, so can make miter cuts, or can make compound miter cuts. Set to zero-zero, it's a chop saw. Either way, it's a stationary bench tool. In any case, that's what I used, and I realized looking back that I referred to it both ways in two different posts...first as a chop saw, then as a miter saw. (certainly not talking about one of the old finely crafted hand miter box saw type of tools). It's a Delta compound miter saw, about 20+ years old, that I've used to cut everything from all types of wood to common bricks, to steel. I have a nice table saw that I won't put a masonry blade on for any reason whatever. The chop/miter/compound miter saw I have is an old workhorse that I'll use to cut anything. I'm talking about a tool similar to the one shown in the pic. Rick
 

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. For under $20 at Home Depot you can get a diamond blade that will cut hundreds of firebrick. I mounted mine on a little used portable table saw and take it outside when using it. Definitely use a mask when cutting.

Best wishes--Woodrat
 
A chop saw for me has always been what I used to cut metal. not nearly as fancy as a mitre/compound mitre/ sliding mitre/ sliding compound mitre saw or what ever it is that we call the wood cutters. The ones designed for metal are not equiped with dust catching bags, vaccum ports, clear plastic sheilds, etc.... guess it comes down to what you learend to call somethin that somebody else learned to call somethin else. :-S
 
Yeah, man, no matter what it looks like or how old it is, or what you call it, you can put a $4 masonry blade on it and cut all the firebrick you want to cut. My old Delta doesn't look quite like that pic I snagged, and I don't even know whatever happened to the dust bag for it, and it's from before the days of the fancy sliders with laser sights & what all. Hell, if I had something that nice (like the shiny one in the pic), I'd think twice about cutting brick with it. All I'm trying to do is give the OP some ideas beyond that hand saw he posted originally. I certainly don't suggest he go out and buy a nice compound miter saw just to cut a stove's worth of firebrick. Maybe he knows someone with a chop saw who'll let him bring a blade and use it...who knows? Rick
 
PINEBURNER said:
A chop saw for me has always been what I used to cut metal.
Ja, we know. Mitre saw is the proper term but we get lazy and say chop saw. It rolls off the tongue easier.

I keep a masonry blade in one of my skilsaws. Actaully I use a combo blade and cut metal with it too. I buy the blades by the dozen.
 
LLigetfa said:
PINEBURNER said:
A chop saw for me has always been what I used to cut metal.
Ja, we know. Mitre saw is the proper term but we get lazy and say chop saw. It rolls off the tongue easier...

Not exactly. There is such a thing as a chop saw like (I think) PINEBURNER was talking about. Can't adjust the angle of the blade on any axis, it just "chops". All the fancier generations of miter/compound miter/sliding compound miter are the evolved versions. Yes, we're lazy and we refer to compound miter saws as chop saws, but that's as technically incorrect as referring to a chop saw as a miter saw. A compound miter saw can be used as a chop saw, but a chop saw can't be used as a compound miter saw. But, hey, since when do nit-pick here? %-P Rick
 
Woodrat said:
. For under $20 at Home Depot you can get a diamond blade that will cut hundreds of firebrick. I mounted mine on a little used portable table saw and take it outside when using it. Definitely use a mask when cutting.

Best wishes--Woodrat

I use a diamond blade in my 4.5" hand grinder for cutting. Wear a respirator is all I can add. By the way, I faced the lower story of my home with stone a couple of years ago and cut every stone to fit with one of those blades, well, two of them actually.
 
I use the angle grinder with a masonry blade on it. I only have a 4 1/2" blade but it cuts nice and easy. Fast too. I have a wet saw for tile but I hate getting it out of the box.

Matt
 
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