How do I cut bricks for a small walkway?

[BrianStark]

Hi,

What tools do I need for cutting bricks??

I am planning on laying a small area of bricks (less than 25 SQFT). I will have to cut some bricks for a good fit where my walkway meets up with a curved section of concrete.

For cutting the bricks, what tools do I really need? I was at HD today and saw that they sell brick chisels, brick layer hammers, and circular saw blades that can handle bricks. I am not sure I need all of those -- could I get by with a brick chisel and a regular hammer? Do I really need to buy a brick-rated circular saw blade to score the brick before placing the chisel?

I think the tricky part of my work will be dealing with the curve, which is a more gradual type of curve rather than a sharp one.


Any advice is much appreciated!!


Brian

[kmk]

Angle grinder might work. Thats what I used to cut the pavers. I've also used
circular saw for cutting cultured stones but they were straight cuts.

[jlm]

If you've just got straight cuts to make, and depending on the size of the bricks you're using, you can probably get by with the chisel (called a "brick set" in the trade, I think). I built a patio with concrete pavers a couple years ago, and it works reasonably well as long as you score the brick well before giving it a good hard whack. You can score it with the chisel - line it up, give it a light tap to score a line into the brick. Flip it over, and do the other sides, then put the chisel in the scored line and whack it good. Should split right along the scored lines. Use the heaviest hammer you have, and make sure the brick is on a flat surface, no pebbles or anything under it.

This cuts well enough, but leaves a kind of rough surface. If you're building a wall or something, you can hide the cut edges in the mortar, but with a patio you may not be able to hide the rough edges. You can get smoother results with a masonry blade on a circular saw (the fiber type are pretty cheap, but the metal diamond grit ones cut a little faster), but it's really dusty and I wouldn't use a really expensive circular saw for fear of getting grit into the works.

In the course of building the patio, I started with the brick set and used it for all the short straight cuts, but when I got to the angled cuts I ended up renting a cutoff saw with a masonry blade. The chisel I had wasn't long enough to do a full diagonal cut on the pavers I was using, so I didn't really have much choice.

[BigguyZ]

I've always preferred a circ saw with a continuous rim diamond saw. Lots of dust, so wear a mask. Or, you could get a tile saw. Some heavier duty models are capable of doing bricks. Might be pretty pricey though.

[Pappy]

I have used an angle grinder with a diamond blade for brick, pavers and tile all with sucess. Second the caution, wear a mask, lots of dust.

[cabinetman]

If you use a circular saw, the masonry blades are dirt cheap. If you cut circles or a radius, the inside of the radius comes out smoother than the outside, and don't go too deep when scoring. You may have to hold up the guard (this can be dangerous), and visually watch your cut to the left of the motor (if the blade is on the right).

Angle grinders work good too. Or, do it the old way with a brick hammer, or cold chisels. I second the motion for a dust mask and eye protection.

[williwatt]

HD rental has a masonry wet saw that will cut both concrete and brick pavers and there won't be any dust. It's like having a fixed RAS with a moving sled. I have actually cut thin hexagonal brick pavers on my RAS by spraying water as the masonry blade was cutting. That worked fine but the pavers were only about an inch thick.

Bill

[newood2]

If it's a one-time job, this may be the cheapest way to go. This angle grinder(91223-9CMB) for $15.00 and a couple packs of these 4" blade(46152-7UPB, $7.99 each) from HF. Along with the grinder an old 1" to 1 1/2" wood chisel would suffice.
Renting the grinder could be second option.
You'll get a decent curve with the 4" blade.
Lots of dust so eye, ear, nostrils, etc should be protected.

[BrianStark]

If it's a one-time job, this may be the cheapest way to go. This angle grinder(91223-9CMB) for $15.00 and a couple packs of these 4" blade(46152-7UPB, $7.99 each) from HF.

Yes, this will be a one time job -- so the purchase of an in-expensive angle grinder could be the ideal solution. I only have about 4 feet of brick pavers that need an curve on them. I just purchased a new Bosch CS20 circular saw, but I'm not sure I want to run the risk of fouling that up just yet.

With an angle grinder, how deep of a cut can I make? My CS20 manual says that even with the right blade, I can only make a cut as deep as 1/4" when cutting bricks, and to get to whatever required depth I am going to, I will have to make multiple passes. Can an angle grinder cut deeper, or do I still have to do the multiple pass thing??

Brian

[newood2]

With a 4" blade you'll cut about a 1" -1 1/4"depth, depending on the brand. I think what they meant is to cut a 1/4" per pass,a good suggestion for starters. Also, with a grinder it will be free style cutting. Once you do a test run and get a feel, you will decide a few things.
1- Depth per pass.
2- Cutting on the ground or on table. I cut on the round to keep the dust down.
3- Blade direction, toward or away from you. Dust flow.
4- Dry or wet cut. I dip each brick in water before I cut, but that's up to you.
I cut one 1" deep, flip over and cut other side 1"deep then use an old 1" wood chisel to tap off.
Once you get going it's a piece of cake, or should I say piece of brick.
Have fun.
Howie

[DaveS]

I'm with willi on this one.

Go rent a wet saw for half a day.

Lay all the bricks except the ones on the curve, then go rent the saw.

You should easily be able to do it in half a day (i.e. 4 hour rental).

If you are worried about time, you can even pre-mark the bricks before you pick up the saw.

I tried using a skill saw with a diamond blade to cut some bricks and it gave me the heebie geebies. Plus, none of my cuts ever turned out very good.

The wet saw on the other hand, that was dead easy, and every cut was perfect.

[BrianStark]

Project completed!

If it's a one-time job, this may be the cheapest way to go. This angle grinder(91223-9CMB) for $15.00 and a couple packs of these 4" blade(46152-7UPB, $7.99 each) from HF. Along with the grinder an old 1" to 1 1/2" wood chisel would suffice.
Renting the grinder could be second option.
You'll get a decent curve with the 4" blade.
Lots of dust so eye, ear, nostrils, etc should be protected.

Thanks to all of the suggestions!! I ended up following the suggestion above. The walkway I installed is only about 64" long by 32" wide. For bricks, I ended up using 16" square bricks and had to put a curve across one end of the walkway. While at HF, I picked up a 4" brick set chisel for a few dollars. The blade of the angle grinder did not go all the way through the brick, so I scored around the bricks as best as I could with the angle grinder & dry blade and then used the brick set to carefully break the brick along the curve. I had my doubts about using the chisel along the curve, but I started at one end and after only a few solid taps the brick split exactly where I wanted to it to.

As several had pointed out, there was a lot of dust. I thought about dunking the bricks in water to cut down on the dust as was suggested in one post, but since I was not using a wet saw, I wasn't sure about using the angle grinder to cut a wet brick. Probably would have been ok, but I was overly cautious at the time.

Brian

[crokett]

Brian,

Glad to hear you got it done. I was going to suggest scoring with an angle grinder and wetting the bricks to keep down dust. I made myself a GFCI extension cord a while back to help with using my angle grinder around water.

[oakchas]

Brian,

Never mind, you got it done!