cutting vinyl fencing

[christo]

I bought fence panels to cut apart and fill in the underside of my deck around the outdoor kitchen.

Not so friendly with the power saw - it tends to chip and it melts to the saw.

I had some spray cooking oil left over from the concrete forms and tried that on the saw blade - it made a huge difference. no more chipping and no more melted plastic on the saw blade.

Does anyone have any other tips for cutting vinyl fencing?

thanks

Christo

[nissanneill]

Hi Christo,
I assume the fencing panels are the PVC lattice panels!
I cut a batch of those a few months ago without any problems, simply used my 9" circular saw with a general purpose tungsten tip blade in it but I reduced the cutting depth to around an inch or so. This allows the blade to cut the material at quite an acute angle rather than exit the cut at almost 90˚. Never experienced the PVC sticking to the blade but I would expect similar problems if the blade was blunt!.
Here is are the panels that had to be cut.

Cheers.

Neill

[Neil2]

"but I reduced the cutting depth to around an inch or so."

This is a good trick for any thin material.

[Pdiff]

I had to cut vinyl skirting to go around a mobile home once. It chipped and cracked badly with a circular saw. I had resigned myself to cutting it by hand when my wife's grandfather suggested putting the blade in the saw backwards. I thought he was nuts, but tried it out of desperation anyway. Worked like a charm. Neat trick. Not sure where he picked that one up.

... just remember to switch it back before cutting any wood ...

... not saying why I know that ...

... I'm just saying it might be a good idea ...


Pdiff