chain for demolition

[jg1]

morning,

I'm needing to cut through plaster/lath and a lot of it.

Looking at these:
http://www.carbidechainsaw.com/

Anyone familiar with these chains? How long will they go between sharpenings?

thanks.

 

[Zombiechopper]

not sure about those but I believe I read here once that the carbide chain that comes with the 460 rescue saws are $350-$400

 

[adkranger]

Carbide will go longer than conventional chain, but a cast iron beotch to sharpen. I would personally go another route for that kind of work. Old plaster will dull that expensive chain too and the crap flying all over wouldn't appeal to me either. Get yourself a quality sawsall and go to town. Recip blades are cheaper (heck the saw itself will likely cost less than a carbide chain) and the dust will be more manageable. My .02.

Make a few select cuts with a recip saw and break out the sledgehammer or pulaski (fire axe). That's how I'd do it.

 

[Zombiechopper]

high quality sawzalls (dewalt, makita etc) will be less than a carbide chain for sure. Never thought bout it that way but that makes very good sense. A sawzall is a very handy thing to hae around too.

 

[Guido Salvage]

A sawzall is a very handy thing to hae around too.

And will be a whole lot safer too. You never know what you will find hidden in a wall, everything from cast iron pipe to metal wrapped wire.

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

If it was me, I'd use a K-12 type saw for plaster and lathe.JMO

 

[jg1]

"sawzall"

Yes it is the obvious choice and have both electric and cordless. Unfortunately I don't have electricity at the house (yet) and the cordless "sawzall" goes quick.

If the cost is what you fellows have indicated maybe a generator will be the way I go, but does anyone have an idea how long the carbide chains would last?

I appreciate the responses.

take care.

 

[Zombiechopper]

Stihl has a new carbide tipped lo-pro chain and they say 4 times longer between sharpeneings. Just keep in mind that carbide chips and breaks when it hits hard stuff. Its brittle. I think this chain is intended for dirty or really abrasive wood not demo work though. But the 4 times longer rating should give an idea at least.

 

[nmurph]

why not rent a chop saw? is there some type of circular blade that would work well enough for wood and also cut the metal and plaster?

 

[Zombiechopper]

Yes it is the obvious choice and have both electric and cordless. Unfortunately I don't have electricity at the house (yet) and the cordless "sawzall" goes quick.

If the cost is what you fellows have indicated maybe a generator will be the way I go, but does anyone have an idea how long the carbide chains would last?

I appreciate the responses.

take care.

honda or yamaha generator and a brand name sawzall should still come in at less than or maybe slightly more than a solid carbide cutter chain I think. Plus, generators and sawzalls are tools that will continue to be used in the future but probably not so much the carbide chain. I could be way off on the chain price so check it out yourself i was just going by memory. Carbide ain't cheap though

 

[oscar4883]

not sure about those but I believe I read here once that the carbide chain that comes with the 460 rescue saws are $350-$400

Been toying with the idea of getting 105dl of carbide chain for stumpin. Looks like THAT'S not going to happen. LOL

 

[CGC4200]

Sawsall with demolition blade

That sounds like good advice if you can buy,borrow or rent a generator.
I started to advise about these little Craftsman counter-rotating carbide
saw about $150, supposed to cut through about anything, but the
the reviews on their site said the Chinese motor & gears would last about as
long as the smell from passing gas, I have one, have used it for
cutting corrugated barn metal, but didn't push it too hard. They throw shavings, need to use goggles & dusk masks too, same with sawsall.

 

[deezelman]

go for it

i recently did some demo with lath and plaster. tried the sawzall wore out blades in bout foot to 1 1/2. Then spent $25 for 3 carbide sawzall blades, worked better but slow and the batteries in sawzall went dead regurlary. so i pulled out the carbide chain and with in no time had the work done. i just cut out sections then carried it out. my chain was around $100 and i think its a rapco chain. will look later to see if it was. it made a dusty mess but worked great. :chainsawguy:

 

[bullseye13]

If your cutting real plaster, good luck. Your carbide chain if you would spend that kind of money wont last long imo. Cutting plaster is like going outside and trying to cut a piece of sandstone in the back yard. Sawzall blades dont seem to last long at all, and at $3/ea and up, that gets expensive real fast. If the cuts have to be perfectly straight, then use the sawzall but get ready to change the blade every few feet.

I would just beat it out with a sledge, pickaxe, fire axe, ect. If your gutting a place like it sounds like, just beat it all out. You could also try beating a hole in it, and using a very heavy roofing shovel to pry the lath away from the studs/joists bringing the plaster with it. There is simply no nice way to remove plaster.

If you have to cut it, use a circular saw to cut through the plaster with a diamond blade, then go back witht a sawzall for the lath. If you try to cut the lath with a cutoff wheel from anything, all your going to accomplish is setting a fire.

 

[bartlanz]

If you are serious about using a chainsaw... Use what is designed to do that... Its made by Cutters Edge and called a bullet chain... I used them and sold them when I was on my local FD and selling Fire equiptment. here's a link to their site. They are good stuff, but are expensive.

http://www.cuttersedge.com/Products/BULLETChain/tabid/78/Default.aspx

 

[CGC4200]

? about lathe

Is it wooden or metal mesh? A $20 tile saw blade in a cheap circular
saw might work. A cordless splitting maul might make a impression,
depending on the staying power of operator. Crowbars, sledgehammers, wonder bars & other manual tools don't need electricity. Maybe you could beat on
it for a while & then pry leftovers off framing.

 

[jg1]

lath type

If it was regular lath I would just rip it off with a crowbar (which is the only method I've ever used), but this lath is 3/4" tongue and grove that has horizontal groves on the outside. When the plaster was applied it filled the groves on the outside of the "boards" and was built up to cover the whole "boards". The "boards/lath" was nailed to the studs with a 16 equivalent. The plan is to rip between the studs and then remove the connected pieces from the studs. I really want a fast solution.

I appreciate the responses. I have not given up on the chainsaw yet, but will depend on cost of chain and how long the chain lasts. If the "sawzall" looks like the best solution then so be it. I plan on calling rapco today, but wanted an opinion before I called the manf. I rate the opinion (based on consensus) as a "maybe".

Again, I appreciate the comments.

take care.

 

[reccutter]

Stihl makes a carbide type "RD" chain also. I was lucky enough to buy a used saw with a new RD chain on it. It's cut stumps and firewood and was still throwing chips great. I took it off because I imagine sharpening it will take patience and waste a couple files(if those will even work).

One thing about plaster is it will dull anything quick. If there is a way to knock the plaster of and just cut the lath you will be far ahead.

 

[chainsawland]

It's expensive, but an ICS chainsaw is the way to go for regular cutting of plaster, stone or concrete.

http://www.icsbestway.com/en/products/index.aspx

 

[mtfallsmikey]

high quality sawzalls (dewalt, makita etc) will be less than a carbide chain for sure. Never thought bout it that way but that makes very good sense. A sawzall is a very handy thing to hae around too.

I've had a lot of experence demoing/cutting up plaster walls, nothing beats a variable speed Sawzall, Lenox blades.