The best tool to split plastic barrels

[TxMN]

Needing to split a few 55 gal plastic barrels to use as worm beds. Tried once to cut top out of one with reciprocating saw and it did not work very well. Ant tips or suggestions to tools/ blade choices/ or methods appreciated.

 

[mike93lx]

Circular saw?

What didn't go well with the recip? That would have been my first suggestion

 

[The Cobbler]

curious why the reciprocating saw didn't work. maybe a different blade?
how about a cut off wheel in an angle grinder

 

[RTM]

The plastic vibrates too much with the recip action, even when held tight against the shoe. DAMHIKT. Maybe with a super fine blade (jigsaw) it might work. The plastic on many is so thin, it just rides the teeth.

I did mine before I had my OMT, but seems like cutting along the flat, instead of down the edge might work.

Buddy tried a circ saw, threw pieces of plastic everywhere. Hell of a cleanup job.

Cut off wheel might melt the plastic, don’t know. Seems you’d have to move fast.

 

[General Geoff]

Try a hot knife?

 

[sparky 1971]

Milwaukee M12 FUEL 12V Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless 3 in. Cut Off Saw (Tool-Only) 2522-20 - The Home Depot

The M12 FUEL 3 in. Compact Cut Off Tool delivers multi-material cutting capability in an ergonomic package, optimized for 1-handed use. Spinning at 20,000 RPM and featuring a POWERSTATE Brushless Motor,

www.homedepot.com

 

[JeepYJ]

Circ saw with blade backwards.
Or recip saw with very fine tooth blade

 

[scooby074]

jigsaw is what i use

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Use a oscillating tool w a bimetal blade. Same idea as recip except more refined cutting with less violence.
I used an oscillating tool to cut away plastic pots after tree roots had grown through them and I had to do surgery to remove the pot to plant the tree. It worked well.

 

[flyingblind]

I had to chop up a few (50 Poly LC HF) for disposal and just a circular saw worked best. No backward blade just go. I had to cut them in quarters to fit in the dumpster.

 

[sea2summit]

Angle grinder.
But I use a reciprocating saw most of the time, just **** the stop against the barrel and keep pressure on it and aggressive teeth work best for me.

 

[PCustoms]

Been a few years, but I always used either a recip or a jigsaw.

Don't go too aggressive on the blade.

 

[whitesco]

Can’t believe I’m going to be the first to suggest an O/A torch.

 

[Old tool guy]

Can’t believe I’m going to be the first to suggest an O/A torch.

Or a laser tuned up by Binford.

 

[Dig Doug]

Tip the barrel on it side and mark your cut lines all the way around

cut With a fine tooth / like with a 40, 50, 60 tooth skill saw blade - it will cut like butter !! We used to do it all the time and make job site trash cans…

 

[PCustoms]

Can’t believe I’m going to be the first to suggest an O/A torch.

I can.

Sounds like a stupid idea to cut plastic.

 

[whitesco]

Well I just thought the thermite would be a little harder to cut straight with, but I see your point. More heat is probably better.

 

[ChevyEFI]

They may be too thick for this to be ideal but a blade that cuts deeper each pass (similar to a tubing cutter function) could be labor intensive but give clean cuts. Getting the line straight could be the hard part.

 

[The Cobbler]

chain saw & sharp blade

 

[PCustoms]

chain saw & sharp blade

Chain.

Chain saws use chain, not blade. Otherwise they'd be called bladesaws.

 

[The Cobbler]

you know what I meant

 

[Pexto]

Needing to split a few 55 gal plastic barrels to use as worm beds. Tried once to cut top out of one with reciprocating saw and it did not work very well. Ant tips or suggestions to tools/ blade choices/ or methods appreciated.

I cut the tops out of a couple of 55-gallon HDPE barrels last year; we use them to collect rainwater off the roof. I just used a standard wood blade in a jigsaw. Fast cutting and easily controllable - really no big deal.

 

[Old tool guy]

I can.

Sounds like a stupid idea to cut plastic.

I can’t believe you took the bait.

 

[dogdog]

higher tooth count circular saw blade as mention on post #2... I used 90 or more count blades for those clear plastics plexiglass

something like these . Maybe a 60th would work also but might chip.

Avanti 7-1/4 in. x 140-Tooth OSB/Plywood Circular Saw Blade A07140A - The Home Depot

The Avanti 7-1/4 in. x 140 Tooth OSB/Plywood Circular Saw Blade is an economical, high performance replacement blade. It is recommended for hardwood, plywood and oriented-strand board. This is made of

www.homedepot.com

 

[mike93lx]

higher tooth count circular saw blade as mention on post #2... I used 90 or more count blades for those clear plastics plexiglass

something like these . Maybe a 60th would work also but might chip.

Avanti 7-1/4 in. x 140-Tooth OSB/Plywood Circular Saw Blade A07140A - The Home Depot

The Avanti 7-1/4 in. x 140 Tooth OSB/Plywood Circular Saw Blade is an economical, high performance replacement blade. It is recommended for hardwood, plywood and oriented-strand board. This is made of

www.homedepot.com

Plastic barrels aren't really brittle, they're hdpe. I would bet whatever blade is currently on the saw will do fine.

 

[dogdog]

Plastic barrels aren't really brittle, they're hdpe. I would bet whatever blade is currently on the saw will do fine.

they are thinner, and will tear out with a lesser tooth blade like the normal 24T ones.... I have cut my garbage cans up before for recycle but that is because I don't care about the tear .... this is because it is more flexible

also set our blade depth as shallow as possible not the full plunge... I just set 1/4 or 1/2 maybe less

 

[ybnormal]

jigsaw is what i use

exactly! drill a hole, insert blade and start cutting. never had a problem doing it this way

 

[mike93lx]

exactly! drill a hole, insert blade and start cutting. never had a problem doing it this way

But jigsaws are ewaste.

 

[ybnormal]

But jigsaw are ewaste.

what about drills? just use a hammer and punch instead

 

[Old tool guy]

 

[rust in the eye]

Circ saw with blade backwards.

THIS^
learned this trick for cutting plastic from a vinyl siding installer.

 

[BombShelter]

There are CS blades for plastic, the issue is with no support it's hard not to get the plastic rattling. Maybe build a 2 x 4 frame and stick it inside to support the plastic.

 

[MoonRise]

Phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.

Fine tooth (high tooth count per inch) blade in a jig saw, or recip saw, or a circular saw. With a circular saw, one trick (as mentioned) is to install the blade BACKWARDS so that the cut is waaaay less aggressive (trick works well on vinyl siding).

If the recip saw attempt didn't work out well for you, tell us WHY. If it was because the saw or the plastic bounced or vibrated too much, then a variable speed jig saw with a fine tooth blade should be more controllable. The usual trade off of coarse tooth = fast but rougher cut versus fine tooth = slower but smoother cut applies here as always.

OMT will do it, just a little slower.

Cut off disk in an angle grinder will do it, might be more like melting through the plastic though. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Katana. Maybe a magurokiri Semi-seriously, a decent sharp knife should be able to cut through a plastic barrel.

Water jet cutter.

Laser cutter.

Hot knife cutter.

Hot wire plastic cutter, although I don't know if that will be able to get through the plastic barrel as you haven't given us any idea of how thick the plastic that you are dealing with is.

 

[Renegade1LI]

A multicut diamond blade in an angle works great, good of you need to cut up tires as well.

 

[mike93lx]

Phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.

Fine tooth (high tooth count per inch) blade in a jig saw, or recip saw, or a circular saw. With a circular saw, one trick (as mentioned) is to install the blade BACKWARDS so that the cut is waaaay less aggressive (trick works well on vinyl siding).

If the recip saw attempt didn't work out well for you, tell us WHY. If it was because the saw or the plastic bounced or vibrated too much, then a variable speed jig saw with a fine tooth blade should be more controllable. The usual trade off of coarse tooth = fast but rougher cut versus fine tooth = slower but smoother cut applies here as always.

OMT will do it, just a little slower.

Cut off disk in an angle grinder will do it, might be more like melting through the plastic though. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Katana. Maybe a magurokiri Semi-seriously, a decent sharp knife should be able to cut through a plastic barrel.

Water jet cutter.

Laser cutter.

Hot knife cutter.

Hot wire plastic cutter, although I don't know if that will be able to get through the plastic barrel as you haven't given us any idea of how thick the plastic that you are dealing with is.

Water jet is the best suggestion so far.

 

[Jarhead0408]

A machete and some steel toed boots.

 

[Maddog3355]

I use a chainsaw, tried a sawzall once but wasn’t impressed.

 

[no704]

4 1/4 angle grinder with a chainsaw disk. I think this is the first reasonable use for one.

 

[fang123]

Jigsaw.

 

[nadogail]

I used a table saw. I pushed the plastic barrel against the rip fence and rotated it.