There isn’t always a lot of finesse or subtlety in the job of breaking concrete. You take a big hammer, and you smash it. But sometimes we want a more precise way to break concrete. Can you cut concrete with a chainsaw?
Concrete can be cut using a chainsaw. The chainsaw should be a concrete chainsaw with a diamond blade. This will give the chainsaw the right strength to cut through the toughest surfaces, including concrete. With this chainsaw, you can make deep cuts with straight and square corners in the concrete.
Let’s talk more about cutting concrete with chainsaws.
Can you cut concrete with a regular chainsaw?
You can’t cut concrete with a regular chainsaw. Neither the blade nor the motor is designed to handle a heavy-duty task involving cutting concrete. The chainsaw and chain can break on a regular chainsaw if it is used on concrete. This increases the safety risk of using the chainsaw, leaving lots of potential for you to get injured.
A regular chainsaw will jump off the concrete, not properly biting and sawing. This causes the chainsaw to be dangerously thrown back towards you. Most typical chainsaw blades will break from this as well. The blades are usually made from a simple steel alloy. Depending on what the chainsaw is going to be used for, the teeth can be coated in other materials. But a regular chainsaw won’t be able to cut concrete.
You shouldn’t attempt to cut any concrete with a regular chainsaw because of the safety risks. It’s important to always practice construction safety when operating a chainsaw and only using tools with their intended materials.
What chainsaw cuts concrete?
The most important thing you want out of a chainsaw that will cut concrete is a diamond blade. There will be various features to so-called concrete chainsaws, but the most important is that the teeth are diamond.
There are masonry chainsaws specifically designed for cutting concrete that you can buy. These chainsaws have stronger engines and sometimes have water connections to improve chain cooling. This can also help minimise the dust produced when you use the chainsaw to cut concrete.
One important thing to have when trying to cut concrete with a chainsaw is a diamond blade/chain. You will need a chain with teeth that have diamond parts in them. Diamond is the best cutting material that we have. It can break almost anything. Diamonds are used in a wide variety of machines and tools, especially for work with concrete and stone. If you plan on cutting concrete at all, you should be looking into buying a diamond blade and/or diamond chainsaw chain.
What makes a concrete chainsaw different?
The most crucial difference in a concrete chainsaw is usually the blade. Many chainsaws will have detachable blades and may have a diamond blade you can add on. But most concrete chainsaws will come with a diamond blade as standard. Steel alloy blades just aren’t tough enough to cut through concrete. Most of them are designed to cut through wood and nothing much tougher.
That said, there are also corundum masonry blades. These are best for short and shallow cuts, little more than an inch deep. Diamond can cut concrete a lot more efficiently, making longer, deeper cuts, in both wet and dry sawing. Specialised concrete blades are almost always diamond tipped.
In terms of their mechanism and how they work, one of the most important differences is the depth of the cut and the blade-to-workpiece movement. Concrete chainsaws are capable of a higher maximum cutting depth than ordinary chainsaws, allowing it to get through tougher materials.
Are chainsaws good for cutting concrete?
With the correct kind, chainsaws can be very good for cutting concrete. The important thing is to have the right chainsaw design, with the right chain, and proper operation.
Lots of people do prefer to use a circular saw to cut concrete. This is a great option for cutting concrete. But, depending on your concrete-cutting goals, you might want other tools. Let’s say you want to cut out a particular-sized block of concrete to repair a damaged surface. For this, a circular saw is one of the best saws for cutting concrete. But concrete chainsaws allow for greater degrees of precision. With a thinner guide bar than a circular saw, chainsaws can be more precise and with less over-cutting. In fact, such chainsaws are sometimes used to get through solid walls by firefighters. They can start cutting through thick concrete, and then use a sledgehammer to break through the wall.
As we’ve mentioned, though, it’s important to have the right chainsaw for cutting concrete. Don’t attempt to cut concrete with regular saws. You need concrete cutting chainsaws with diamond blades to successfully and safely cut concrete with chainsaws.
Can a chainsaw cut through brick?
A chainsaw can cut through brick, but you will need a specialised chainsaw for this—any old blade or chain won’t do. Diamond is most likely your best option, allowing you all the cutting power you need to get through brick. You can also use a bricksaw diamond blade. This may also be where your corundum masonry blade comes in.
Corundum blades are cheaper individually than diamond-tipped blades. They’re also quite capable of cutting through masonry and brick. However, they are not as fast as diamond blades and wear a lot more quickly. On a cut-by-cut basis, they will end up being more expensive than diamond blades. If all you need is to make a few shallow cuts into the brick, then a corundum blade is a solid, economical option.
But if you’ve got a bigger job on your hands that is going to involve a lot of deeper cuts, then you’ll almost certainly save money in the long run with diamond blades. Not to mention that you’ll make the job faster and easier for yourself.
In any case, chainsaws can definitely cut through brick, but as ever, you’ve got to be sure you’ve got the right tool for the job.
While you’re working with and thinking about concrete, do you know if you can use an angle grinder to level concrete? For quality cutting and grinding tools, check out Paragon Tools Australia!
