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roto saw

To: Shop Talk <shop-talk@Autox.Team.Net>
Subject: roto saw
From: Douglas Shook <shook@usc.edu>
Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 09:55:00 -0800
John Mikes wrote:
> 
> Someone mentioned the roto saw during the garage heating thread.
> Anyone have experience with one? Being a tool junkie, I've had my
> eye on one for awhile. I mean, I put all those tool draw4rs in my
> garage and I need tools to fill them, don't I?
> 

John,

I just got one for Christmas this year and have used it to install a
direct vent wall furnace.  It works pretty much like a router (30K rpm),
but you can cut any line or any pattern you can draw with it in plastic,
wood, sheet metal, and especially sheet rock.  

It has special blades that allow you to simply place the sheet rock
against the wall where you will attach it, plunge the saw through near a
receptacle, and it will simply "trace" the exterior of the box from from
the front side of the panel.  It is the fastest, cleanest, most precise,
easiest install I have ever done with drywall. It really is a labor/time
saver, and does a much better job than I usually do by measuring and
cutting first, fitting, trimming, etc.

I used it on some of the true plaster in the house, and although it
works well, the blades don't last very long -- stucco and real plaster
tend to eat up the blades (they will glow bright red almost instantly
once they dull -- no difficulty in telling when to change the blades).

It is great for trimming out around outlets, cutting formica, sheet
metal or plastic, counter tops, precision work in wood -- easy to use,
but it won't replace your Sawzall.

doug

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