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Portable Masonry Saws: Ask the Man Who Owns One – or Rents It
Date: 08/23/2005
Roger Landry’s apprenticeship in masonry began at a very young age, helping his father build high-end brick and stone homes in Indiana. Although only twelve years old, the youngster was strong enough to help his father and two other men hoist a bulky table-mounted saw into the back of their truck.
“The saw rig was heavy and cumbersome, and there were times when we thought maybe we could do without it, but that kind of complex angle firebrick work usually required a powerful and dependable saw that could make clean, accurate cuts. For example, in cutting angles with firebrick we had to maintain mortar joints of 1/32-inch, which took a fairly accurate saw and a good blade to do the job.”
After completing a 22-year career in the Air Force and finishing his business degree, Roger went back to his roots, specializing in masonry restoration. He founded his own business, Master Masonry Restoration (www.mastermasonry.com) in Carrollton, Texas to service the North Dallas area. North Dallas has a long-standing ordinance that requires all homes and commercial buildings to have a masonry veneer.
Like many other areas of the U.S., North Dallas is subject to shifting soil and temperature swings, which cause expansion-contraction conditions around building foundations that eventually damage the brick, stone or cinder block veneers used on homes and commercial buildings.
Brick and stone are the choice for most custom features like arches, fireplaces, mailboxes and flowerbed borders. These materials are also widely used around barbecues, fire pits, pools and patio decks.
“There are many luxury homes in North Dallas, and in today’s housing market, these properties are one of our customers’ biggest assets. Naturally, they want to keep them in good repair,” Landry says.
To maintain the value of the structures and enhanced features like custom chimneys and pillars, homeowners recognize the importance of regular maintenance to seal water-troubled areas, combat erosion and ensure weep hole systems are functioning properly to prevent water damage caused by leakage.
This maintenance often requires precision cuts in unique shapes. “The brick and stone used in the area are quite hard,” Landry says, “so I am very concerned that the masonry saw and other power tools we use are sturdy, dependable and can take a lot of wear and tear.”
Ask the man who rents them
Several months ago, Landry was looking for a new masonry saw. He needed a model that was portable, yet was tough enough to take a beating and had the right features to make clean, accurate, difficult and repeatable cuts.
“Many of the heavy-duty saws available today are pretty much the same as when I started out with my dad in the ‘70s,” he says. “They are heavy and cumbersome, just like in the old days. That makes them tricky to load and unload on the truck, and tough to move around on the job site. I needed the ability to cut full size cinder block and a blade versatile enough to switch from stone to very hard firebrick. Also, I wanted to run the saw both wet and dry, so convenient water control would be very nice.”
Although he owns most of the tools he uses, Landry rents equipment occasionally. Knowing that equipment rental locations tend to carry saws that are the most durable and versatile, he began to consider what brands and models they preferred.
“Most of the construction equipment rental guys carry Target saws,” he says. “Contractors can’t afford to use unreliable equipment, and the rental people can’t afford to own equipment that won’t last. And at the do-it-yourself stores that rent equipment, their saws were almost exclusively Target. Do-it-yourselfers can really put equipment to the test, so I figured those saws had to be good. I was familiar with Target saws, but seeing them and using them at the rental stores was the clincher.”
Landry purchased the 2 hp dual voltage Target Portasaw over the 1.5 hp and 5.5 hp gas models. The saw will run wet or dry and comes standard with removable side handles to make transporting the saw easier.
“The Portasaw is much easier to load, unload and move around,” Landry says. He also chose the optional detachable stand because “it’s much less cumbersome and also lighter in weight than many competitive models,” he says. “Two men can easily lift the saw into a truck bed.” A removable quick-mount cutting head also makes transportation easier.
When time – and accuracy – means money
Landry has chosen to remain an independent contractor, primarily because doing so allows him to personally manage jobs in a way that assures customer satisfaction. Because restoration work is somewhat unpredictable as far as time is concerned, he needs to keep his crew on schedule, sometimes moving from one job to another within a couple of hours.
“This new portable saw helps me to get work done accurately and quickly,” he says. “It makes it simple to do beveled cuts even on tough firebrick. To make beveled cuts, typically I make a simple jig with blocks and zip straight through the bevel cut every time.” An optional foot pedal kit attaches to the steel stand to provide hands-free cutting; the operator simply uses the pedal to lower the blade onto the material.”
A control valve for the electric water pump is located on the blade guard, near the saw handle, which also helps Landry make precision cuts easier and faster. “It is easy to turn the water off by simply closing the valve near the saw handle,” he says. “That’s a very useful feature because it eliminates the problems you have when you scribe a reference mark for a cut with a pencil, and then some of the pencil mark washes away with the water spray.”
With the new saw Landry first scribes the cut by turning the water off and making a dry score on the brick or stone. He then switches the water on and follows the score to make a very accurate cut. “That feature alone makes cutting quicker, easier and more accurate,” he says.
Accurate cutting also requires stability, sometimes a challenge when a saw rig is working on slick flooring or shifty soils. For this reason, Target offers a skid kit with rubberized feet that attaches to the bottom of the Portasaw stand.
Another capability that is important to Landry is the saw’s large open-throat design, which allows him to cut 8-inch cinder block. “That’s one of the reasons I was in the market for a new portable saw,” he explains. “While we are specialists at restoration and servicing of brick and stone, there are situations where plunge cutting of cinder block is required, and that’s no problem. The Portasaw can handle all three types of materials.”
Saving on maintenance of his new saw is important to Landry, too, because it promises not only a higher ROI but also eliminates the need for spending on backup equipment.
Designed with only two pivot points, the Portasaw assures both reduced saw maintenance and longer diamond blade life. The cutting head pivots on bearings that are sealed and lubricated for the life of the saw and bearings are seated in a machined saddle on a heavy-duty support, promising precise and lasting alignment. Also, the field-installable blade shaft reduces downtime when blade shaft replacement is necessary.
Target was founded in 1952 and is owned and operated by Electrolux Construction Products of North America, a division of the Electrolux Group. With sales and manufacturing facilities throughout the world, Target is the industry's most trusted manufacturer of cutting, drilling and grinding products for the masonry, concrete, asphalt and tile industries.
For more information, contact Target at 17400 West 119th Street, Olathe, KS 66061; phone (800) 288-5040 or (913) 928-1000; fax (800) 825-0028; e-mail sales@targetblue.com; or visit the Web site at www.targetblue.com.
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By: Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan is a technology writer based in Hermosa Beach, California.
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