TS55 for cutting....drywall?

[panelchat]

This is a bit ridiculous but i have a small, unusual, and intricate bit of drywall demo work to do.
I'm seeing now that my TS55 and dust extractor could give me a big advantage in quickly and surgically removing some vertical sections.
(not the ceiling sections of course, won't be using a saw over my head...)
Will cutting ordinary gypsum board/drywall hurt the saw/motor/dust collection, or otherwise damage the saw/vac? [eek]
thanks for any input..

 

[Paul G]

Is there a blade for that? Hitting a nail or screw wouldn't be fun. I'd be more thinking running a rotozip along a guide board and hand hold a vac hose for dust if it's important.

 

[sancho57]

Depending on how big a cut you have to make roto zip or a Fein Multimaster would work

 

[AlexThePalex]

If you cut just a small bit of drywall it shouldn't have any detrimental effects to your saw. Festools are made to perform under tought conditions. People here pamper them too much. Just make sure you give the saw a good cleaning afterwards.

But if it could be avoided to use the saw, then I would choose that option. Isn't it possible to cut it with a good knife? Or one of the options mentioned above?

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

The drywall dust shouldn't have any adverse effects on the saw. I'm not sure you'll see great dust collection because of the type of cut and you do run the risk of damaging the blade on a screw or hitting plumbing or electrical. I'd personally use a good utility knife and straight edge. I have a big T-square I use for drywall. Thankfully I've not had to mess with any of it in years.

 

[Frank-Jan]

I think it will work fine, If you have to cut a lot of drywall I would use a vac suited for that purpose if you have one at your disposal. (not for damage to the vac, but because of decreased suction when the drywall dust clogs the bags.) The only damage to the tool I expect is the blade needing a sharpening afterwards.

I have a few rails in which I drilled and countersunk a few holes for jobs that require vertical cutting.

A few years ago just after the introduction of the the TS75 saw there was a testimonial in the printed newsletter of festool Belgium where a drywall contractor was telling how he used the new saw for gangcutting sheets of drywall on the stack quickly neatly and without dust.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Because the ceilings in my workshop are 8-1/2-feet high, I needed to cut some narrow, long strips to finish the job (years after I started it of course). I got the idea of using my TS55 for these cuts and it was fantastic. It worked so well that I started using it for all of the cuts. It gave me a better-than factory edge when I needed to butt-joint sheets. Even better, is that I didn't have to use a drywall plane to clean up the rough edge a knife cut would give. With the butt-joints tighter than typical, it also made taping the joints a lot easier.

The dust collection was quite good, and got nearly 100%. If you were going to do a lot of cutting, then periodically remove the blade and inboard arbor flange, and look to see if you are getting very much (if any) dust on the arbor bearing seal. I looked at mine, but didn't have any.

As was mentioned, you will want to locate all your nails/screws before cutting into the drywall. If you have to make a cut parallel to a stud, consider making it inside the stud, and then afterward, sister a new stud to the first to give you a new nailing surface. That way you don't have to try to remove all the nails/screws.

To help you steady or even secure the guide rail to the wall, screw a cleat to the wall at both ends of the guide rail. You really want the guide rail fastened to the wall in some manner so it can't move and you don't have to hold it.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

To help you steady or even secure the guide rail to the wall, screw a cleat to the wall at both ends of the guide rail. You really want the guide rail fastened to the wall in some manner so it can't move and you don't have to hold it.

You can also use a screw and washer with the holes already in the rail, but it would reduce cut length slightly.

 

[rrmccabe]

I vote for the Fein !

I use mine all the time for just that. It makes little mess and the vacuum will remove about everything else  if you decide to use it.

On the Fein you can use one of the half circle blades. It will run flat against a piece of wood and cut a perfect line.

 

[bigjonh]

Fein tool with the vac in your other hand, I do this all the time. I just make a pencil line and follow it but like I said I doubt all the time.

 

[panelchat]

thanks for the info guys!

certainly screws need to be avoided...

the issue is there's very a concentrated area of bad mold damaged drywall that i am looking at removing.
multiple sources say bang/jiggle the drywall as little as possible while removing to avoid releasing huge amounts of mold spores.
so i don't want to do normal demo methods.
Multimaster is a great tool but i don't own one (yet).
if i make depth set cuts leaving the last 3mm or so of drywall intact, i can razor the rest by hand and surgically remove sections with near zero disturbance, then carry the pieces outside and bag them (i'm also wildly allergic to mold). then remove whatever leftovers are there by hand.
its a small area so i don't mind the extra time, should be worth it if it works.
but i didn't want to use the saw system if the dust would maybe cause damage.
will be wearing tyvek, P100s on the respirator, etc..

the many novel uses of the track saw!!

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

I highly recommend that you hire a mold remediation expert.

 

[Scott B.]

Yikes. About the last thing I'd do is send a spinning blade into mold infestation. Please don't.

 

[erock]

Dude!  Please don't cut into the mold.

I helped a buddy remove mold on drywall a couple years back.  We first covered the area about a 3x4 foot sections with a thick mill plastic and duct taped the

plastic over the mold area.  The area taped off was at lease a 5x6 area.  We cut out more then we needed to.  With him cutting with a utility knife and me

holding a vacuum hose we cut the drywall out.  And placed it into a thick mill plastic garbage bag.  Please don't walk the exposed mold thru your house to

bag it in the garage.  We then cleaned the wood behind the drywall and primed the area with a good oil based primer.  Patched the wall and moved on to

the next area.

Eric

 

[Rick Christopherson]

To help you steady or even secure the guide rail to the wall, screw a cleat to the wall at both ends of the guide rail. You really want the guide rail fastened to the wall in some manner so it can't move and you don't have to hold it.

You can also use a screw and washer with the holes already in the rail, but it would reduce cut length slightly.

I had thought about that, except it wouldn't be very likely that both holes would be over a stud. At least one of them would require using a wall anchor, and that leaves a bigger hole to patch.

However, it did give me an idea. If he has guide rail connecting bars, remove one of the setscrews and screw the bars to studs. You need to leave the screws slightly loose to allow the guide rail to slide across them, but they would hold the guide rail to the wall quite well.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Good point, Rick, about the studs.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Mold spores are naturally occurring. That's how it grew there in the first place. They are all around us every day. While it is true that you need to be careful to limit exposure (by not just taking a sledge hammer to the wall) the existence of the mold on the wall has already created the exposure. That's why it needs to be removed. But it is not necessary to get carried away with fear. Because the OP has indicated an allergy to mold, the idea of duct taping plastic over the effected areas is a good idea.

 

[erock]

Mold spores are naturally occurring. That's how it grew there in the first place. They are all around us every day. While it is true that you need to be careful to limit exposure (by not just taking a sledge hammer to the wall) the existence of the mold on the wall has already created the exposure. That's why it needs to be removed. But it is not necessary to get carried away with fear. Because the OP has indicated an allergy to mold, the idea of duct taping plastic over the effected areas is a good idea.

Well said Rick.....I forgot to mention my friends girlfriend at the time now wife has MS and he didn't want to take any chances with her in the house.

We're not doctors so we probably went above and beyond.  Better safe then sorry right?  [wink]

Eric

 

[Scott B.]

So, do we believe that there is a need for a discipline such as "Mold Remediation" or is it all just kind of like hype and stuff?

 

[JoggleStick]

I've done bathroom reno's for the last 15 years or so and moved more mould than I care to remember.

The TS55/rail will easily do the job with no ill effects. What's not clear is will you be cutting stud to stud? Or just specific 'sections' which makes patching more difficult?

What about the cut at the ceiling and floor- the saw can't pass through to start or complete the cut?

Just be sure to blow the saw out with compressed air, on completion and avoid moisture on the dust, or it gets very claggy.