Cutting rigid insulation & plasterboard

andyman

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May 23, 2012
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Has anyone used a plunge saw & rails to cut rigid insulation board (i.e. Kingspan, Celotex etc) & plasterboard.

If so any idea on blade wear rate,  which blade to use & what sort of results you acheived?
 
i think it would definetly cut it. probably wear the blade thow. you would want a diamond blade.
the dust would probably gum up all the workings of the plundge. i used a jigsaw (cheapo one) to cut out a window opening and the dust gummed up the pendulam.
i would reconmend an old handsaw. that is what most use.
 
Yes thats what we have always used, but I find with the insulation it is hard to keep a square cut due to the flex in the material, it can be a pain when fitting the insulation between studs or joists if you want a tight fit.

I thought having bought the saw etc it might be an idea to use it especially with the guide rails for nice straight square cuts :-\
 
I'm nearly sure I saw a programme on tv before where they used a 5 metre rail to concrete board with the festool plunge saw. I'm sure plasterboard can be cut with the right blade and festool extractor
 
I used my TS55 and guide rail to cut all my rigid insulation for my basement.  I used the Owens Corning Extruded Polystyrene Rigid Insulation (pink).  The stuff was 2" thick so it did leave a small sliver on the bottom as the TS55 cuts a hair under 2".  This was easily removed with a sharp knife.  Set the speed to 1 as I found it made a cleaner cut.  It was a bit messy even with dust extraction, but I can't think of a better way to cut this stuff.
 
which blade did you use as I only have the 1 supplied at the moment?

What was the wear rate like as I presume the foil on the board I am using may take the edge off quite quickly?
 
I just used the blade that came with the saw (495377).  My insulation didn't have foil on it though, so not a lot of wear on the blade.
 
I have done it before no blade wear as such that I noticed. But it clog the saw up so it does go back into the casing fully even with extraction
 
I used the TS55 and standard blade to cut drywall. It sure was nice having a sharp edge on the sheet for butting to adjacent sheet. I doubt it would ever catch on with professional drywallers, but it sure was handy for a few delicate pieces or long narrow rips. The fine dust will build up in the saw, so I would recommend cleaning it out periodically. Make sure to remove the blade and clean the fine dust from the arbor near the motor seal. It won't happen right away, but after a lot of use, the abrasive dust will eventually etch a thin grove in the arbor shaft under the seal. This typically happens with saws that are dedicated to cutting stone and solid surface material.

The best blade to use is one that is already dull, because then you have nothing to lose. Because Festool blades are low-angle ATB, they won't dull as quickly as high-angle ATB blades. Drywall will definitely dull the blade quickly, but it doesn't need to be sharp to cut the drywall either.

I have also used the saw to cut foil-faced foam sheeting to fit the garage ceiling. I had no concerns about blade wear for this.
 
I also vote for the jigsaw with dust extraction set up.  This seems to be the fastest/most effective way that I've come up with.  The times I've used a circular saw it's really gummed up the blade even on the slowest setting.
 
The only problem for me with a jigsaw is I cant use mine with the guide rail as its a Makita [tongue], I think I might give it a try this weekend on the insulation & for the time being back to the knife for the plasterboard
 
woodie said:
This blade in a jigsaw should be less messy for rigid foam insulation.

http://www.festoolusa.com/products/jigsaws/jigsaw-blades/jigsaw-blade-s155w-3x-493656.html

I haven't tried cutting drywall with my TS, although I have some Minerit to cut so I'm interested in what others have to say on this.

I have cut drywall with the TS. I needed 48-12' x 1' pieces, stacked the sheets, made the cuts, set the depth so the saw marked the 4 sheet in the stack. Removed the rips, cut the next 3 sheets, repeat until done. No issues with the saw or blade (48 tooth), no mess, quick and accurate way to do it. Blade loss was not and issue.

I've posted before, I cut cement board with the TS also. Wastes the blade, so it gets used only on cement board.

Tom
 
I think the OP was talking about insulated plasterboard where the two are joined together. If so, then I am just doing this job myself and was looking for a quicker way.

What I have been doing so far works but is perhaps not the quickest. I am using a fein multimaster with a depth stop to just cut through the plasterboard then using the MM without the depth stop to get most of the way through the insulation. Then using a bread knife to cut through the remaining 10 mm or so of insulation.

Update:
I just tried a fine toothed hand saw that was old and rusty. It was at least 10 times quicker. Made a lot of dust but that's ok if wearing a respirator.
 
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