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  • I need a circular or plunge saw to chop up a load of Viroc cement boards (as featured in red on the Hackney Downs Grand Designs house!).

    I'm doing a whole house self-build renovation, so whatever I buy is going to get plenty of use. It seems to make sense to buy a DeWalt circular saw (I'm already very much bought into the DeWalt 18v system) and use it with a track for cutting boards but then be able to use it for other jobs.

    The other option is to get a cheap track saw like the Mac Allister one from B&Q and fit it with a decent blade, then buy a circular saw separately.

    @dbr has also pointed out that I'll need a chop saw too (I had to google this - I've never even used a circular saw before so have no idea what I'm doing really).

    Any pointers? Do I want 185mm or 165mm? Black Friday is coming, which is convenient...

  • Do you need a water feed for cutting them?

  • I had the same track or circular or circular + guide trilema and ended up buying nothing :(

    Didn't help that the 18v Milwaukee circular that is track compatible costs £££

  • Idk if this helps, but as an amateur, I find having a cable attached to circular saw an extra compilation that makes life harder. I'm sure it'd get easier with practice, but I rarely use it.

    Mine is on perma-loan from my folks - so no point to replacing it - but if I was buying a new one it would definitely be cordless... and I'm happy to buy corded tools when they're better VFM.

  • You may like to consider an Evolution cutting blade. The abrasion from cementitious boards is extreme.
    https://shop.evolutionpowertools.com/collections/evolution-blades/products/rageblade185multi

  • My only experience of cutting cement board was that it fucked the (wood) blade after 2 of 3 cuts. I imagine it'll do the same to any other moving parts so I'd go cheap and warranty-able if I were you, then upgrade for future joinery jobs if it survives.

    And yeah, use extraction, even if you're outside. I had a nasty reaction to cement dust in the eye due to being too lazy to set mine up. I had eye protection on but it was overwhelmed. To be fair I had to be quite close to the cutting surface and it was a grinding disc on 2" edgings but wholly avoidable if I'd have just bothered to get the Henry out, luckily no lasting damage done.

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