Hello,

2007 is the year I will undertake a massive and complex garden paving
project I've been putting off since last century.

It's time to invest in a "serious" disc cutter.

This:
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-313749/h...sc-cutter.html
caught my eye.

Are there any disc cutter gurus out there prepared to offer an opinion?

David

vortex2 wrote:
Hello,

2007 is the year I will undertake a massive and complex garden paving
project I've been putting off since last century.

It's time to invest in a "serious" disc cutter.

This:
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-313749/h...sc-cutter.html
caught my eye.

Are there any disc cutter gurus out there prepared to offer an
opinion?
David

Yes.

I wouldn't buy a new grinder just for one job, you can pick up a used one
for buttons or hire one for £20 a week, the latter option is probably the
best idea, because you can lay all the full ones, then spend a fairly short
time hiring.

A 2nd hand one will set you back £100 and I've been using one for 5 years,
almost daily, without any problems, it's a Makita though.

A diamond disk is now less than a tenner in many discount shops.

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:43:41 -0000, "vortex2"
wrote:

Hello,

2007 is the year I will undertake a massive and complex garden paving
project I've been putting off since last century.

It's time to invest in a "serious" disc cutter.

This:
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-313749/h...sc-cutter.html
caught my eye.

Are there any disc cutter gurus out there prepared to offer an opinion?

David


Try the forum at 'paving expert'

cheers,
Pete.

vortex2 wrote:

It's time to invest in a "serious" disc cutter.

This:
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-313749/h...sc-cutter.html
caught my eye.

Slightly cheaper he

http://www.transtools.co.uk/store/pr...sc-cutter.html

Are there any disc cutter gurus out there prepared to offer an opinion?

What sort of paving are you cutting? You may find a smaller 9" grinder
will cut also cope with a supprisingly large volume of work, and would
work out much cheaper on a one off job like this.

I have a 9" Hitachi grinder that has spent its entire life cutting
masonry of one type or another - and so far I can't fault it, it just
keeps on going.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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\================================================= ================/

"vortex2" wrote in message
.. .
Hello,

2007 is the year I will undertake a massive and complex garden paving
project I've been putting off since last century.

It's time to invest in a "serious" disc cutter.

This:
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-313749/h...sc-cutter.html
caught my eye.

Are there any disc cutter gurus out there prepared to offer an opinion?

David


Are you cutting bricks or slabs?

"mrcheerful ." wrote in message
.uk...

[shortened]



Are you cutting bricks or slabs?
Hello,

Answering yours and other points:

This is a pretty high budget exercise involving mainly slabs but some bricks
too. (Also concrete and asphalt!)

About 100m^2 of paving and we favour sandstone ("Indian Stone" though I am
troubled about indirectly supporting child labour based on TV prog I saw
recently).

Overall materials budget for paving and other works is 3k5 to 4k0 hard saved
quid and it will take me from Easter to the end of the summer (minimum) to
complete. (I have a proper job to do!). Tool rental is not a sensible
option.

I think a decent disc cutter is a "mission critical" acquisition.

David

vortex2 wrote:
Hello,

2007 is the year I will undertake a massive and complex garden paving
project I've been putting off since last century.

It's time to invest in a "serious" disc cutter.

This:
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-313749/h...sc-cutter.html
caught my eye.

Are there any disc cutter gurus out there prepared to offer an opinion?

David

Do all the cuts last and hire a petrol Stihl saw, or buy one. An
electric grinder is tiresome for lots of cuts.

Rumour has it that the Medway Handyman has a grinder for sale - check
out the 'grinder 1, hnadyman 0 thread. :-)

dg

On 2007-01-12 21:20:48 +0000, "Vortex" said:


"mrcheerful ." wrote in message
.uk...

[shortened]



Are you cutting bricks or slabs?
Hello,

Answering yours and other points:

This is a pretty high budget exercise involving mainly slabs but some
bricks too. (Also concrete and asphalt!)

About 100m^2 of paving and we favour sandstone ("Indian Stone" though I
am troubled about indirectly supporting child labour based on TV prog
I saw recently).

Overall materials budget for paving and other works is 3k5 to 4k0 hard
saved quid and it will take me from Easter to the end of the summer
(minimum) to complete. (I have a proper job to do!). Tool rental is
not a sensible option.

I think a decent disc cutter is a "mission critical" acquisition.

David

Given that situation, I think that a cutter of the form factor you
illustrated would be a good plan.

I have just had a driveway and some other areas redone with hand made
clay pavers and with stone in some areas.

The area was somewhat larger than you describe - about 150sqm - and the
contractor who did the work used a petrol version of what you showed -
he's had it for years, apparently.

This was not going to be a DIY job for me - too large an area and too
much heavy lifting. Nonetheless, I did have a go with his cutting
machine. In the past I have done paving and cut it with a 240mm
angle grinder. The larger machine is much easier to use and cuts
quite a bit faster.

The other issue with the bricks is that for certain cuts, they were too
thick to cut with one pass of the angle grinder - quite easy with the
bigger tool.

Whether an electric or petrol one is more appropriate, I don't know -
contractors do seem to use petrol ones.

Either way, this is going to be a lengthy project. To give you an
idea, mine took three weeks leading up to Christmas. Admittedly, the
working days are short - 0800 - 1600 basically - but this was with one
guy working 7 days a week (half on Sundays) and with two others part
time and an occasional lad to move pallets of bricks around. It did
include removal of the old drive - tarmac and concrete - using a
mechanical digger, but most of the work was from after the digging out
was done.

I think you said that you had access to a whacker plate? That's
essential as well.

Vortex wrote:

About 100m^2 of paving and we favour sandstone ("Indian Stone" though I am
troubled about indirectly supporting child labour based on TV prog I saw
recently).

I did about 70m^2 of block paving and 20m^2 of crazy this summer. The
block splitter I had hired was making rather too much of a pigs
breakfast of the block edges, so I ended up using my 9" grinder to cut
all the blocks (all curved edges as well - so probably had to cut 600 -
800 block in total). I am not convinced that particular job would have
been any easier with a bigger stone cutter. Having very thick or hard
slabs may swing it though - especially if you want water cooling.

I think a decent disc cutter is a "mission critical" acquisition.

yup certainly.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

I think you said that you had access to a whacker plate? That's essential
as well.

I've thought about that Andy.

I see little "hand" wackers on ebay "buy it now" for 70 quid or so. I
thought maybe to pick up one of those, and rent a big one when required.

Also the project involves a 35m trench from house to greenhouse for power
(SWA cable), water and cat5 (don't ask!). This will be under a paved path.
Definitely wacking will be essential!

For some idea of the scale of the project look he
http://home.btconnect.com/vortex/dom.../DSCN1237.html

* Path from house to dome greenhouse down edge of garden.
* 4m diameter circular paved area where the pool is
* Ornamental pond where the old greenhouse is.
* Large paved area to the right (out of sight)

Of course I'll need a digger too. perhaps it's time to start a plant hire
business.

David

"dg" wrote in message
oups.com...

vortex2 wrote:
Hello,

2007 is the year I will undertake a massive and complex garden paving
project I've been putting off since last century.

It's time to invest in a "serious" disc cutter.

This:

http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-313749/h...sc-cutter.html
caught my eye.

Are there any disc cutter gurus out there prepared to offer an opinion?

David

Do all the cuts last and hire a petrol Stihl saw, or buy one. An
electric grinder is tiresome for lots of cuts.

Go for matabo 9" angle grinder £118 inclusive. I've tried them all as a
professional. The matabo as a swivel 360 deg handle for left or right hand
working, . 110 or 240v. Petrol are for cutting through thicker walls and
materials. They can be hard work sometimes to start when they have been used
for a time and that pull cord snaps just when you don't want it to, petrol
runs out, electrics there all the time instant start..

The main thing is no matter which disc cutter toy choose, its the blade that
important. Point of rule, the harder the material the softer the blade.

dg wrote:

Do all the cuts last and hire a petrol Stihl saw, or buy one. An
electric grinder is tiresome for lots of cuts.

Rumour has it that the Medway Handyman has a grinder for sale - check
out the 'grinder 1, hnadyman 0 thread. :-)

Thats only a 15mm jobby - God knows what damage I could do with a bigger one
:-)

I love that phrase "mission critical" acquisition. Must try that on SWMBO
:-)


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On 2007-01-13 09:15:29 +0000, "Vortex" said:



I think you said that you had access to a whacker plate? That's
essential as well.

I've thought about that Andy.

I see little "hand" wackers on ebay "buy it now" for 70 quid or so. I
thought maybe to pick up one of those, and rent a big one when required.

I talked to the contractor I used about this. He uses three different
machines. A large one is used for compacting the base layer for
larger load bearing areas such as drives and then the sand used on top
for laying bricks/blocks/etc. The smaller ones were used for
smaller areas where more manouevrability is needed - e.g. paths. These
don't carry as much weight either, so a lighter machine is OK.




Also the project involves a 35m trench from house to greenhouse for
power (SWA cable), water and cat5 (don't ask!). This will be under a
paved path. Definitely wacking will be essential!

For some idea of the scale of the project look he
http://home.btconnect.com/vortex/dom.../DSCN1237.html

* Path from house to dome greenhouse down edge of garden.
* 4m diameter circular paved area where the pool is
* Ornamental pond where the old greenhouse is.
* Large paved area to the right (out of sight)

Of course I'll need a digger too. perhaps it's time to start a plant
hire business.

David

I must say I like the dome project. Presumably this will also be a
leisure area?

For the low voltage cables such as CAT5 etc. over this length, it would
be an idea to get hold of proper telecoms ducting. This is a smaller
version of the large flexible corrugated tube you have in the dome (not
sure what it's used for there). Suppliers of groundwork materials
such as Burdens have it.

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2007-01-13 09:15:29 +0000, "Vortex"
said:



I think you said that you had access to a whacker plate? That's
essential as well.

I've thought about that Andy.

I see little "hand" wackers on ebay "buy it now" for 70 quid or so. I
thought maybe to pick up one of those, and rent a big one when required.

I talked to the contractor I used about this. He uses three different
machines. A large one is used for compacting the base layer for larger
load bearing areas such as drives and then the sand used on top for laying
bricks/blocks/etc. The smaller ones were used for smaller areas where
more manouevrability is needed - e.g. paths. These don't carry as much
weight either, so a lighter machine is OK.




Also the project involves a 35m trench from house to greenhouse for power
(SWA cable), water and cat5 (don't ask!). This will be under a paved
path. Definitely wacking will be essential!

For some idea of the scale of the project look he
http://home.btconnect.com/vortex/dom.../DSCN1237.html

* Path from house to dome greenhouse down edge of garden.
* 4m diameter circular paved area where the pool is
* Ornamental pond where the old greenhouse is.
* Large paved area to the right (out of sight)

Of course I'll need a digger too. perhaps it's time to start a plant
hire business.

David

I must say I like the dome project. Presumably this will also be a
leisure area?

For the low voltage cables such as CAT5 etc. over this length, it would be
an idea to get hold of proper telecoms ducting. This is a smaller
version of the large flexible corrugated tube you have in the dome (not
sure what it's used for there). Suppliers of groundwork materials such
as Burdens have it.


For dome info look at www.growingspaces.com The single most satisfying
piece of building I have ever done....even if it was a kit!!! Home grown
tomatoes on Christmas Day takes some beating!!!!!

The tube is to warm the raised beds. When the sun it out a solar powered
fan sucks the ambient air through.the pipes.

I have about 15 metres spare so I thought I would get more for ducting the
pipes and cabling. under the path.

Cat5 is for a future data logging application.

I have hundreds more pictures to upload when I get round to it.

david

On 2007-01-13 13:07:06 +0000, "Vortex" said:

For dome info look at www.growingspaces.com The single most satisfying
piece of building I have ever done....even if it was a kit!!! Home
grown tomatoes on Christmas Day takes some beating!!!!!

It's certainly a nice concept. Did you buy the metal tank locally?



The tube is to warm the raised beds. When the sun it out a solar
powered fan sucks the ambient air through.the pipes.

I have about 15 metres spare so I thought I would get more for ducting
the pipes and cabling. under the path.

What would the pipes be for? Water supply to it?



Cat5 is for a future data logging application.

Worth putting in plenty, then you can add remote controls etc as well,
although this would be a nice application for a small industrial type
PC located in the dome with a single link to the house.


I have hundreds more pictures to upload when I get round to it.

Do post when you've uploaded them



david

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2007-01-13 13:07:06 +0000, "Vortex"
said:

For dome info look at www.growingspaces.com The single most satisfying
piece of building I have ever done....even if it was a kit!!! Home grown
tomatoes on Christmas Day takes some beating!!!!!

It's certainly a nice concept. Did you buy the metal tank locally?

Tank made from galvanized sheet from a local stockholder, with a huge pond
liner.




The tube is to warm the raised beds. When the sun it out a solar powered
fan sucks the ambient air through.the pipes.

I have about 15 metres spare so I thought I would get more for ducting
the pipes and cabling. under the path.

What would the pipes be for? Water supply to it?

Yup. Water, 4mm SWA, Cat5.



Cat5 is for a future data logging application.

Worth putting in plenty, then you can add remote controls etc as well,
although this would be a nice application for a small industrial type PC
located in the dome with a single link to the house.

It's very humid. I originally intended to install "regular" strip lights
but have now purchased some IP rated units. Not a nice environment for a PC
but where there's a will.......




I have hundreds more pictures to upload when I get round to it.

Do post when you've uploaded them



david

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
.uk...
dg wrote:

Do all the cuts last and hire a petrol Stihl saw, or buy one. An
electric grinder is tiresome for lots of cuts.

Rumour has it that the Medway Handyman has a grinder for sale - check
out the 'grinder 1, hnadyman 0 thread. :-)

Thats only a 15mm jobby - God knows what damage I could do with a bigger
one :-)

I love that phrase "mission critical" acquisition. Must try that on
SWMBO :-)


You've got me thinking about jargon. Look out for a new thread on the
subject.

--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Vortex wrote:

You've got me thinking about jargon. Look out for a new thread on the
subject.

Now that is something well suited to the wiki I suppose...


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 2007-01-13 14:16:00 +0000, "Vortex" said:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message ...
On 2007-01-13 13:07:06 +0000, "Vortex" said:

For dome info look at www.growingspaces.com The single most satisfying
piece of building I have ever done....even if it was a kit!!! Home
grown tomatoes on Christmas Day takes some beating!!!!!

It's certainly a nice concept. Did you buy the metal tank locally?

Tank made from galvanized sheet from a local stockholder, with a huge
pond liner.

Ah right. Looks very effective.






The tube is to warm the raised beds. When the sun it out a solar
powered fan sucks the ambient air through.the pipes.

I have about 15 metres spare so I thought I would get more for ducting
the pipes and cabling. under the path.

What would the pipes be for? Water supply to it?

Yup. Water, 4mm SWA, Cat5.

OK. Generally mains power and others are supposed to be run
separately. I'd go for direct burial on the SWA and the others in a
duct.





Cat5 is for a future data logging application.

Worth putting in plenty, then you can add remote controls etc as well,
although this would be a nice application for a small industrial type
PC located in the dome with a single link to the house.

It's very humid. I originally intended to install "regular" strip
lights but have now purchased some IP rated units. Not a nice
environment for a PC but where there's a will.......


You can get quite large IP65 or 68 rated enclosures from RS

have a look at http://www.linitx.com/ for small PCs and bits to go with them.

What would the pipes be for? Water supply to it?

Yup. Water, 4mm SWA, Cat5.

OK. Generally mains power and others are supposed to be run separately.
I'd go for direct burial on the SWA and the others in a duct.

Understood.


Worth putting in plenty, then you can add remote controls etc as well,
although this would be a nice application for a small industrial type PC
located in the dome with a single link to the house.

It's very humid. I originally intended to install "regular" strip lights
but have now purchased some IP rated units. Not a nice environment for a
PC but where there's a will.......


You can get quite large IP65 or 68 rated enclosures from RS

have a look at http://www.linitx.com/ for small PCs and bits to go with
them.

Actually I'm kind of intrigued by this bit of kit:

http://217.207.106.180/dr-prod3.cfm/...upId/12153.htm

Ethernet remote data acquisition node. Not prepared to pay £250 but the
concept is sound.

I would also like to have a weatherproof ethernet security type camera for
grabbing timelapse of stuff. I've had a lot of fun with my camcorder doing
this in the past....but tape transports and condensing environments aren't a
good combination.

Actually I'll use Cat6 and pull 2 or 3 lines through cos otherwise I'll need
a "switch" as well.

You see my wife is in charge of horticulture. I am the anorak. Problem is
I think of things I could do faster than I can actually do them so a lot of
them are completely unachieved.!!

cheers.

On 2007-01-13 16:34:14 +0000, "Vortex" said:


What would the pipes be for? Water supply to it?

Yup. Water, 4mm SWA, Cat5.

OK. Generally mains power and others are supposed to be run
separately. I'd go for direct burial on the SWA and the others in a
duct.

Understood.


Worth putting in plenty, then you can add remote controls etc as well,
although this would be a nice application for a small industrial type
PC located in the dome with a single link to the house.

It's very humid. I originally intended to install "regular" strip
lights but have now purchased some IP rated units. Not a nice
environment for a PC but where there's a will.......


You can get quite large IP65 or 68 rated enclosures from RS

have a look at http://www.linitx.com/ for small PCs and bits to go with them.

Actually I'm kind of intrigued by this bit of kit:

http://217.207.106.180/dr-prod3.cfm/...upId/12153.htm

Ethernet remote data acquisition node. Not prepared to pay £250 but
the concept is sound.

Yes it is. I've looked at things like this for heating monitoring
and control. Part of the reason for the high price is the high
resolution. One probably doesn't need 16 bit for most of these
applications unless the sensor is highly logarithmic or something like
that.


I would also like to have a weatherproof ethernet security type camera
for grabbing timelapse of stuff. I've had a lot of fun with my
camcorder doing this in the past....but tape transports and condensing
environments aren't a good combination.

Actually I'll use Cat6 and pull 2 or 3 lines through cos otherwise I'll
need a "switch" as well.

You see my wife is in charge of horticulture. I am the anorak.
Problem is I think of things I could do faster than I can actually do
them so a lot of them are completely unachieved.!!

cheers.

Why does this sound so familiar? ;_)

Vortex wrote:
"mrcheerful ." wrote in message
.uk...

[shortened]



Are you cutting bricks or slabs?
Hello,

Answering yours and other points:

This is a pretty high budget exercise involving mainly slabs but some
bricks too. (Also concrete and asphalt!)

About 100m^2 of paving and we favour sandstone ("Indian Stone" though
I am troubled about indirectly supporting child labour based on TV
prog I saw recently).

I don't think it's actually Indian....I doubt you could even purchase the
100m2 of stone for 4k if it had travelled all that way, although ICBW.

Overall materials budget for paving and other works is 3k5 to 4k0
hard saved quid and it will take me from Easter to the end of the
summer (minimum) to complete. (I have a proper job to do!). Tool
rental is not a sensible option.

I think a decent disc cutter is a "mission critical" acquisition.

David

You mentioned an excavator in another post, we hired a bloke and digger for
£100 per day*, he shifted 14 tonnes of (mostly) clay each day...if yours is
mostly topsoil, you might want to plan ahead and decide where it's going to
go, or arrange to sell it...skip companies may take it away for free if it's
clean, although you'd be surprised how much you can get rid of in 'raised
beds' :-p


*
He charged an extra £50 per day for use of a skip loader...a sort of
enormous hopper on tracks, the hopper can rise up and down and also tip,
even tall skips are filled in a matter of a couple of hours by one man - we
ordered them 2 at a time.

I think you said that you had access to a whacker plate? That's essential
as well.


Been thinking about this.

I can borrow a compacter from a landscape gardener friend but of course he
would have first "call" at all times because for him summer is busy with
long hours.

Looking at: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=050210040 I'm
thinking it may make sense to buy one. £400 now and I bet I could get £300
in a year's time if I keep it clean.

"A tool is for life, not just for Christmas"

David

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Vortex wrote:


Looking at: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=050210040 I'm
thinking it may make sense to buy one. £400 now and I bet I could
get £300 in a year's time if I keep it clean.


It's £400 + VAT! - and appears to be a fairly weedy one.

Could you not hire a slightly heavy duty one for a week or so for less than
you expect it to cost you for buying one and selling it second hand?

Alternatively, if there is a second-hand market in these things, why not buy
a second-hand one now - since it will depreciate more slowly than a new one.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

On 2007-01-14 07:36:48 +0000, "Vortex" said:



I think you said that you had access to a whacker plate? That's
essential as well.


Been thinking about this.

I can borrow a compacter from a landscape gardener friend but of course
he would have first "call" at all times because for him summer is busy
with long hours.

Looking at: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=050210040 I'm
thinking it may make sense to buy one. £400 now and I bet I could get
£300 in a year's time if I keep it clean.

"A tool is for life, not just for Christmas"

David

Hmm...

Looks a bit light compared with those I saw.

All but the smallest were a two person lift.

Vortex wrote:
I think you said that you had access to a whacker plate? That's
essential as well.


Been thinking about this.

I can borrow a compacter from a landscape gardener friend but of
course he would have first "call" at all times because for him summer
is busy with long hours.

Looking at: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=050210040 I'm
thinking it may make sense to buy one. £400 now and I bet I could
get £300 in a year's time if I keep it clean.

"A tool is for life, not just for Christmas"

David

At this rate you are going to end up spending a grand on tools before you
start.

On 2007-01-14 13:28:23 +0000, "Phil L" said:

Vortex wrote:
I think you said that you had access to a whacker plate? That's
essential as well.


Been thinking about this.

I can borrow a compacter from a landscape gardener friend but of
course he would have first "call" at all times because for him summer
is busy with long hours.

Looking at: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=050210040 I'm
thinking it may make sense to buy one. £400 now and I bet I could
get £300 in a year's time if I keep it clean.

"A tool is for life, not just for Christmas"

David

At this rate you are going to end up spending a grand on tools before
you start.

That may be worth doing if further used is planned and/or if the new
price less the second hand
price is less than the equipment rental cost.

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2007-01-14 13:28:23 +0000, "Phil L" said:

Vortex wrote:
I think you said that you had access to a whacker plate? That's
essential as well.


Been thinking about this.

I can borrow a compacter from a landscape gardener friend but of
course he would have first "call" at all times because for him summer
is busy with long hours.

Looking at: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=050210040 I'm
thinking it may make sense to buy one. £400 now and I bet I could
get £300 in a year's time if I keep it clean.

"A tool is for life, not just for Christmas"

David

At this rate you are going to end up spending a grand on tools before you
start.

That may be worth doing if further used is planned and/or if the new price
less the second hand
price is less than the equipment rental cost.


Disc cutter is a no-brainer.

Wacker tough to justify...specially when I can borrow a "proper" one