Thin Circular Saw Blades

I have a cheap circular saw from B&Q with a 20mm spindle and, I think, 160mm blade. I want to get a thin blade for the saw to use to cut access hatches in chipboard floors. Whenever I Google on the subject clearly loads of references to products come up, but they don't mention the width of cut. I did find a "fine" blade on the Axminster site, but wasn't sure if that referred to the pitch or cut width. Perhaps the 2 are related?

I was thinking of setting the saw to 45 degrees and just (!) deeper than the board depth, then cutting a rectangular hatch.

What blade should I ask for and is this idea going to work anyway? :)

Thanks, BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail
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Hi

Not sure that thin blades are an option

as the blade has to be thinner than the width of the teeth otherwise the blade will bind I think that if you made the teeth narrower than say about 3 mm the blade wound become too thin to be stable

Even on a thin cut at 45 the material removed will cause the hatch to sit lower than the surrounding floor

much better to make a vertical cut and batten around for support

Or better still use a router and those circular plastic inserts that fit flush and take the routed out piece

Regards

Reply to
TMC

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Reply to
TMC

That sounds reasonable, but I thought I remembered thin blades being available to cut vertically through T&G.

Yes, I had wondered about that. Oh well, on to plan B:

It is much easier to get the depth right and there is no way to make a cut with the blade 45 degrees the other way. :)

I do have one of these and they are very good in some circumstances, but a) the hole is circular and b) it's quite small. I want to cut a hatch about 2' x 3'.

Thanks, BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail

How about pinning a batten to the floor as a guide, using the router with the thinnest straight cutter to cut an oblong hole (accurate and easy to set depth of cut) and then adding battens to support the cutout?

Reply to
mike

Yes. You can't get close enough to the corners with a circ saw

Reply to
Stuart Noble

You need to look for fine "kerf" blades. (kerf = width of cut) I buy dewalt saw blades designed for skil saws for this sort of work but they are about 180 mm diameter with 16mm/5/8 bore. I think you might have less choice with your size saw. Covering the point raised in the thread about thickness & stability - yes the saw plate must always be less than the kerf and will be less rigid than a thick bodies blade but at 160mm diameter this is not likely to be an issue.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Minchin

I would have to accept some overrun yes, but it is covered by carpet. Besides I can't see a straight router cutter less than 5mm with a 19mm cut depth.

Thanks, BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail

Bingo!

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BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail
2' x 3' hatch? Most people put them under the patio :-)

Considering the price of the circular saw blade you cited, have you consider a Bosch PMF180?

They will do a thin cut (might be 1.5mm rather than 1.3mm) and can do a lot more re true "plunge-cutting". Basically a cheaper version of a Fein Multimaster (some tools interchange).

Reply to
js.b1

battery power,

I've found

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very good for saw blades.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

I drylined all of my house with a product called Fermacell .... initially I used a standard circular saw .. after one cut you could not see in the room for 20mins .. the width of the blade turned that quantity into flour !

I bought a battery operated saw which by default use thin kerf blades (as it takes less power to take a thin cut)

This proved excellent .. massive reduction in dust.

The saw I had was a Performance Power (B+Q) battery job .... anywhere that sells DeWalt tools will have the saw blades.

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Reply to
Rick Hughes

At the risk of diverting the thread a bit, what's it like in reality (as opposed to the marketing puff)?

Reply to
Bolted

I would be a bit worried about controlling the depth of cut and getting a straight line by hand with that. However, thanks for the pointer.

BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail

Jigsaw with a scalloped 'bread knife' blade - cuts foam with no dust at all.

Likewise I'd be inclined to use a jigsaw for the original floor cutting job as the kerf is narrower than almost any circular saw. Shorten the blade to the bare minimum to reduce the risk of hitting a pipe or cable (although there's always some risk involved in blind plunge cutting).

Reply to
Ian White

However would I not be correct in thinking that the 45deg cut idea is a bad one as even with a total 3mm loss of material (1.5 from each end) the hatch will sit lower than the surrounding floor when dropped back in?

Also fixing the hatch back in is more problematic with the angled cuts and no battens

What would be wrong with the tried and trusted method of cutting vertically adjacent to the joists and battening (having made the cross cuts first to find the exact position of the joists) ?

Regards

Reply to
TMC

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