Brick / Paver Cutting Question

Tool Researcher

My company is researching the idea of entering the brick/paver saw market.

I'm looking to get some basic information to help us begin our research:
1. What are the Size of Bricks and/or Pavers you're cutting today
2. Would you be open to a saw that cuts Bricks/Pavers but not block?
3. Do you cut wet or dry? Why?
4. Do you use dust extraction? Why?
5. Do you cut on a scaffold? If not, is there a reason?
6. Have you ever cut brick/pavers on a Metal Cutting Chop Saw (w/ a diamond blade)? If so, how did it work?
7. On average, how many cuts do you make in a day?
8. Could I contact you personally for more in-depth research?

Thanks so much everybody! Our goal is to provide you a better solution for cutting your bricks & blocks.

dakzaag

tool researcher,

Not sure your going to get much response. Try introducing yourself and participating in some discussions, then maybe you will get a little better response. If you read the rules you'll notice this is for contractors, not necessarily vendors unless you have valuable info to contribute.

FWIW
I was at WOC last week, there were 140 diamond saw blade vendors (I asked) maybe 10% offered cutting machines or more accurately Saw vendors offering diamond blades.
This is just at WOC, what I'm saying is the market seems to have plenty of participants, I hope your doing more research than just on CT.

Good luck

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

Tool Researcher

Dakzaag,

Thank you for your feedback, I greatly appreciate the candor.

My name is Eric Bernstein and I am with DEWALT powertools, responsible for the product development for our Concrete/Masonry/Metalworking business. We believe there is a better solution for cutting brick and pavers -- and are conducting our primary research on job-sites. I have been extremely impressed by the knowledge base of the users on this forum, and thought it would be a shame not to tap into it. With this forum's help, I truly believe, we can bring something special to the market, similar to what we've been able to do with our 10" Tile Saw.

I'd also love to hear any frustrations that you're feeling today with cutting brick and pavers. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'll also be looking to get some contacts to meet with personally to show some prototypes of some ideas that we have.

I hope this helps bring clarity to my questions.

Thanks again.

Brickie

a Stihl TS 400 is going to be hard to beat.

__________________
“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan

denver 2

Tool Reaseacher,

I just bought a small lightweight masonry saw called the Lachmond LPX3M.
The saw is fantastic! After years of lugging a heavy Norton Clipper saw and making rought cuts with the TS400 Stihl saw I finally found the perfect saw. They must be a small company for their products are not well know. You guys ought to buy them out and mass produce it. Just a thought.

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NJ Brickie

I thought you might want to know that in my state (NJ), it is against the law to cut masonry dry. Unless there is absolutely no way to cut wet. This is a state law and you can be fined for it. I'm not saying people don't cut dry but I'd take this into consideration before mass producing a saw since it sounds like other states will be adapting this law also.

concretemasonry

If you are dealing with brick and especially pavers, there is no need to cut all the way through the units. A saw cut gives a clear exposed surface, so it looks good.

You really only need to make a good score mark and can easily break the unit since you have either mortar or sand cushion between the adjacent unit and/or the paver edging.

For pavers, it is difficult to beat a portable splitter for efficient cutting since you do the cutting where you are. For larger paving applications, a hand held gas powered saw does a great job of cutting the scribed pavers in place (completely through or partially before the edging is placed.

Fancy stuff is for those that like toys and everything that goes with them, not for doing it properly and economically without a lot of cords, excessive moving of material and everything that goes with it.

__________________
Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

INTRA

Hello Denver 2 i just tried to google you saw you purchased, but nothing comes up. Can you tell me where did you order this saw from. Im also looking for a new saw. thanks

Tscarborough

It is Lackmond. I used to sell their blades, but they were pricey.

http://www.lackmond.com/

__________________
It ain't Rocket Science unless you are building rockets.

dakzaag

Eric,
I think the real need is a dust collection unit like I saw in Vegas. A company had one of your chop saws mounted on a box and it sucked the dust right off the blade and into the box. They were cutting brick and block pieces all day and no dust. This addresses the point NJ brickie brought up and allows dry cuts.

They didn't have a slider table on it but it sounded like they were working on one. The company rep said some of your people were over checking it out pretty close.

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

denver 2

I bought it from Tools Direct. Try this http://www.toolsdir.com/shopping/products.asp?id=28

The unit comes with a nice stand and also has a wet cut kit with pump etc. Better built and less exspensive than other comparable models. I used it the other day on a herringbone fire box and it cut the firebrick like butter. I wish I had it years ago!

denver 2

Norton Clipper BBM 307 mini saw has just that. They have a wet kit and dust collector kit. The picture posted is the saw that the kit attaches to.

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INTRA

This dust collection kit you seen does it keep the brick dry after cut. Also
Do you know where I can purchase one at.

dakzaag

Completely dry system.

I will have to look through the stack of stuff I brought home, I cant remember if they had a flyer or if I asked for a card. They scanned my plastic doohicky I think, so I should be getting some information from that company pretty soon.

If I recall correctly they were asking $1,500 for the unit and if you wanted to mount your own saw they would sell the box for $1,300. I thought it was a little salty, but when dust is a big issue, you are either pumping water or looking at something like this.

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

Tool Researcher

We saw that unit too, and thought it was a really nice concept.
2 things that I'd love the groups feedback on.

-- Is it ok that it only cuts brick and not block?
-- I believe on the current execution, the filter needs to be cleaned after apx 25 cuts. Would that be acceptable?

Thanks everyone.

Eric

dakzaag

Not a big deal to me that it doesn't cut block, but a lot of guys use a saw for their block cutting needs so probably an issue for most. ( I use a chisel for 95 % of block cutting needs.)

Didn't catch the 25 cuts then clean the filter issue when I saw it. Gonna need a better performance than that. I would want at least a full day. On a day with lots of cuts that is probably a minumum of 100 cuts. A 4 man mason crew will run that saw non stop some days, but they would probably have a full table saw so maybe the niche for this product is just us little guys. (or build a box to fit on table saws )

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

stacker

if i had to clean a filter every 25 cuts,id take the damn thing out and throw it away.my man would spend more time cleaning than cutting.the other day,just doing one side of a bay window i had over 100 cuts.
and if i was going to buy a new saw and it only cut brick,i wouldnt buy it.

__________________
life is short,do your masonry naked!!
http://ok.local.yahoo.biz/knabemasonry/index.html

NJ Brickie

I can't imagine a market for a saw that only cut brick AND needed to be cleaned every 25 cuts. I work mostly on large scale projects with a full time saw man so I am most likely not the market you are looking to sell to, but I can't see how anyone could make money cleaning a saw as much as running it. If not more. I couldn't see anyone except for maybe a homeowner buying something like this. And that is a big maybe because how many homeowners even buy masonry saws anyway. I would say you would need to get atleast a half of a day cutting in before cleaning.

Brickie

No, I wouldn't buy it if that's all it cut. It has to be able to cut block, brick & some stone otherwise it is useless & a waste of money.




Totally unacceptable

__________________
“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan

Tool Researcher

Thanks! How many cuts would the saw need to make prior to having to clean the filter for it to be acceptable?

If a product could achieve that, but still only cut Brick type dimensions, would it be of interest?