Best tool to cut bricks?

[ps2cho]

I have some bricks I need to cut to size, they are about 5” thick. Concrete based.

What is going to be the best tool to do this cleanly without risking breaking the rest of it and most painlessly?

I was going to try my angle grinder but it’s dead and no longer works. So I need to buy a new tool now regardless. Another angle grinder or anything better suited?

Thanks

 

[jonesg]

hammer n chisel.

 

[strutaeng]

The professional Masons just use a mason hammer. It's pretty cool watching them do it. The hammer is like an extension of their arm and the precision is pretty darn good!

Short of that, score the brick with a wide chisel, all the way around. Work slowly and it will break along the score line.

A saw with masonry wheel works too, but dusty.

 

[ycgoat]

Use hammer or chisel to gently tap a score line where you want it to break slowly go back and forth from one side to the other.

Or you can rent a brick saw for higher precision and high volume

 

[olytdi]

Wide chisel scored all around then finish by breaking the brick from the side that will show (the face). Helps a lot, and produces best results, if you do this on a sand bed. If you did it all day long, you'd hold the brick in your non-dominant hand and score/break with your brick hammer in your dominant hand. You could use a masonry saw but that's overkill unless you really **** at using the hammer and chisel.

 

[JABgj]

I have been using a Home Depot tile saw on brick and pavers with good results. The saw runs the blade in a tray of water so no pump to chew up and blades are cheap and actually last a while. Have to make 2 cuts on thicker items but have cut concrete pavers and blocks with no drama except getting wet.

 

[dogdog]

they do sell manual brick splitters ??? maybe

 

[LiketoFix]

All the above will work. Today most use a hand held Quick cut saw as there's different makes out there but not economical to buy for a few bricks as they use similar dry cutting diamond blades similar to the grinder mentioned. Find a local mason shop and go there and have them cut them for you.
LTF

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

Rent a concrete saw with a diamond blade

 

[nadogail]

The masons I watched doing a job for me in Southern Spain cut their extruded hollow ceramic tiles with a heavy trowel.

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

The masons I watched doing a job for me in Southern Spain cut their extruded hollow ceramic tiles with a heavy trowel.

Some bricks snap perfect with a single hit of the trowel but most do not!

 

[Certified Drunk]

Rent a concrete saw with a diamond blade

This.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

Makita corded angle grinder with a diamond blade from Home Depot also have someone with a hose as well.

 

[Rusted Nut]

Use a masonry wet saw. If you insist on dry cutting, read up on silicosis first.

 

[ps2cho]

Thanks guys - the chisel actually worked great. Guess I was too afraid of it going wrong but it split right down where I marked it.

 

[dutchgray]

Some bricks snap perfect with a single hit of the trowel but most do not!

Back in the old days bricklaying trowels edges were hardened and tempered differently for this purpose, your normal edge was harder for wear resistance so it would last longer rubbing along masonry cutting the mortar back etc and the back edge would be a little softer so it wouldn't chip when used to break bricks.
"Left handed" towels were available for the lefties with the edges reversed.

Nowadays your lucky if you can find any trowel is actually any good at all.

 

[lund]

Be sure to wear a good respirator mask if you cut bricks dry. The dust is very bad for you and a light dust mask is not sufficient. Wet saws are better if you go that route.

Also, if you have trouble with getting accurate cleaving with score and break, you can reduce cutting by using a saw to score more strongly and then breaking.

 

[rayra]

My grandpa was a bricklayer, I was taught early on how to use a brick chisel. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
Early this year I started that way while building a brick oven, but very quickly switched to a diamond blade on my compound miter saw, pre-soaking the bricks thoroughly in a tub beforehand. Not too much dust. There were a lot of intricate cuts and angles due to my design choices. And the work was done over a period of weeks, so renting a tub saw wasn't really practical. Took about 4mos for me to complete the oven itself. The entire grill island project took 16mos from breaking ground. And I still haven't completed the final electrical connections for the counter and patio lighting.

 

[juddspaintballs]

I know the problem has already been solved, but if someone was looking for a concrete saw, I have a recommendation.

Evolution R300DCT+

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P1Y9H1H/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I used it to cut a step in all of my foundation blocks for my 36x60 foundation. I used it to cut a few other concrete things. I used it to cut some more concrete block. I keep finding concrete things to cut cleanly with it now that I have it. I would have spent more in saw rentals than I spent on this saw, and I don't have the downtime of going to get it or return it. My EU2200i will run it unless I bog it down a lot.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

My grandpa was a bricklayer, I was taught early on how to use a brick chisel. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
Early this year I started that way while building a brick oven, but very quickly switched to a diamond blade on my compound miter saw, pre-soaking the bricks thoroughly in a tub beforehand. Not too much dust. There were a lot of intricate cuts and angles due to my design choices. And the work was done over a period of weeks, so renting a tub saw wasn't really practical. Took about 4mos for me to complete the oven itself. The entire grill island project took 16mos from breaking ground. And I still haven't completed the final electrical connections for the counter and patio lighting.

Awesome project need to add something like this to honey do list.

 

[isb cornbinder]

The professional Masons just use a mason hammer. It's pretty cool watching them do it. The hammer is like an extension of their arm and the precision is pretty darn good!

Short of that, score the brick with a wide chisel, all the way around. Work slowly and it will break along the score line.

A saw with masonry wheel works too, but dusty.

My neighbour and I signed up for some adult evening classes offered by the city. We took brick laying. A mason's hammer mad good clear work of parting bricks. The score line is very important. I built a few fireplaces and they passed inspection. This is a hard work trade and I am sure it took a toll on my joints, along with the other factors.

 

[cmandp]

I know and have used a hammer and chisel to cut brick and block. I can't say I'm proficient at it. For precise cuts especially tapered along the length cutting with a diamond blade is going to be the way to go.

For a small patio area using concrete pavers I used a diamond blade on an angle grinder. Had to cut from both sides to make it through though. I used a HF angle grinder, the job killed it.

All the professionals I've seen that do pavers use a concrete saw, there's no time to use a hammer and chisel for each brick.

 

[four.cycle]

I had to cut some red brick for one of my sisters. The picky one.
I went up to Harbor Freight, bought a cheapie angle-grinder and a mess of different disks, having NO clue what I was doing or getting into.
I had already procured a full-face filtered respirator. (Something about cutting and grinding brick and stone that makes for real nasty stuff to breathe.)
The cut-off disks were too small in diameter to cut all the way through the bricks, so I had to cut them on one side, roll them over, and then cut them all the way through from the other side. They were being used as pavers, so the cuts didn't need to match exactly - only one side was going to show. But they all had to be cut exactly to size because she wanted to lay pavers into this oddball-sized-and-shaped area.
Took all day long. Made a big mess, which the ShopVac took care of quickly. Shredded probably half a dozen disks and broke a couple other gizmos I'd purchased which turned out to be not up to the task. Something of a learning curve involved. I'm a painter, Jim, not a bricklayer.

Turned out perfectomundo.

 

[rayra]

Pre-soaking and light cutting pressure / maintaining speed of the blade will make the least dust. And if using mortar in the project, presoaking will also greatly increase the bond strength of the mortar. It will wick better into the masonry as it cures. Periodic re-wetting of the set material also helps form a stronger bond.

btw, the dust really is bad for you. Mask up. Wet things down. If you are laying a repeating regular pattern, it is worthwhile to rent a wet / tub saw and batch cut as much as you can.
I did so in the early stages of the brick oven, cutting a large number of firebrick into halves.
but as I tried to set the, with no mortar joints exposed on its interior I quickly learned that most of the upper tiers needed to be cut at different angles on their side, as their angles and the diameter of the ring rapidly shrank. That’s when I switched to a 10” diamond blade and using a large poly mixing tub as a soaking method. Fitting and setting one layer a day was good progress.

 

[oldcarpenter]

I have been using a Home Depot tile saw on brick and pavers with good results. The saw runs the blade in a tray of water so no pump to chew up and blades are cheap and actually last a while. Have to make 2 cuts on thicker items but have cut concrete pavers and blocks with no drama except getting wet.

 

[Mike65]

When we set a paver pathway from the sidewalk to the front door at our last house, we rented a wet saw with a blade to cut concrete block from Home Depot & it worked great.

 

[NUTTSGT]

......
For a small patio area using concrete pavers I used a diamond blade on an angle grinder. Had to cut from both sides to make it through though. I used a HF angle grinder, the job killed it.

I bought a HF 4.5" angle grinder to cut block for a basement project. It worked well with a diamond blade but I upgraded to a 7" HF grinder.with a 7" diamond blade, oh so much better.

If it kills the grinder, that's fine. I'm considering it an expendable tool or a consumable.

 

[mervyn]

Jig saw

 

[Jayman17]

I hear those are worthless, you get an angled cut when you cut through a 5" brick.

 

[rayra]

Awesome project need to add something like this to honey do list.

Run! SAVE YOUR SELF!

 

[rayra]

I bought a HF 4.5" angle grinder to cut block for a basement project. It worked well with a diamond blade but I upgraded to a 7" HF grinder.with a 7" diamond blade, oh so much better.

If it kills the grinder, that's fine. I'm considering it an expendable tool or a consumable.

Don't know about the last couple years since supply disruptions, but those grinders could be had for $10-15 with coupons. They're holding up great for me, so inexpensive I bought 3 just to save me time changing blades. One has a metal-cutting disc on it, one has a flap-sanding disc, the 3rd has a carbide carving wheel on it.

 

[finn]

Rent a concrete saw with a diamond blade

My concrete saw works ok on block and large retaining wall locks or large pavers, but it flings bricks across the yard.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Don't know about the last couple years since supply disruptions, but those grinders could be had for $10-15 with coupons. They're holding up great for me, so inexpensive I bought 3 just to save me time changing blades. One has a metal-cutting disc on it, one has a flap-sanding disc, the 3rd has a carbide carving wheel on it.

I know the smaller 4.5" were 10-15 bucks, coupon/no coupon. That's why I started with one and not running CMU block dust through a $80-90 DeWalt.

It's not always about what you're buying but what you're saving from getting ruined is where the investment comes from.

 

[cmandp]

Yeah I intentionally used the HF grinder knowing the dust would be bad for it. I actually forgot, I killed 2 of them. The second one died because the electrical cord broke internally though.

The 7" would have been better but its done now lol.

I did not want to use my Dewalt grinder that's for sure!

 

[rayra]

I know the smaller 4.5" were 10-15 bucks, coupon/no coupon. That's why I started with one and not running CMU block dust through a $80-90 DeWalt.

It's not always about what you're buying but what you're saving from getting ruined is where the investment comes from.

Yes, and masonry + carborundum dust pretty much destroys any electrical motor. Better to kill the $10-15 tool

 

[juddspaintballs]

Or use a Milwaukee and send it in for a warranty repair when it stops working for a repair that costs nothing.

I've had a few M18 and one M12 tool stop working, plus a few batteries with issues. They've all been within the warranty period (3 years on tools and 2 years on batteries) and they all came back repaired and cost nothing. I have a local shop that I just drop them off at and they handle the repairs on site under Milwaukee's warranty.