DIY design for a brick cutting jig.

[epsilonGreedy]

Over the next 3 months my house will need 2500 bricks cut in half in order to meet a planning condition for a brick bond finish.

 

On nearby builds the brickie team just whacked the bricks with a trowel to cut them in half but that led to undersized half bricks giving an irregular finish on the inner face of the exterior wall. So I am investigating cutting my bricks to provide a better end result and also let the brickies focus on laying.

 

There is a fancy Sthl brick cutting jig on the market for £320 that allows for different angled cuts which seems overkill for simple square cuts.

 

https://www.gustharts.com/machinery-c123/construction-machinery-c243/cut-off-machine-concrete-cutter-accessories-c261/stihl-large-brick-jig-p1313

 

 

So now I am thinking I could fabricate a cutting plinth with thick sheets of wood plus some fixed end stops that would keep 10 bricks aligned and square to the cutting blade of a large handheld cutter. I could steer the cutter by eye down the row of 10 bricks and achieve a more regular cut finish than the trowel whack method.

 

The aspect of the design of a DIY cutting jig that I am puzzling over how to quickly apply a clamp across the top of the 10 bricks lined up for cutting?

[Declan52]

A heavy hammer and a 100mm bolster will be quicker and much cleaner. Should take two hits only for each brick.

Just set up a platform and mark a row of 6 then wack away. No dust and a lot cheaper than buying a lot of diamond tipped blades.

[Russell griffiths]

Go and hire a brick cutter with a sliding table 

popular make is a clipper, 

it will have a wooden bed inside a steel tray, you screw a piece of wood down so each brick sits at the correct distance, water sprays on the disc, you will cut hundreds of them in a day. 

Probably don’t need to cut all the way through, 1/3 through and tap with a hammer. 

Edited January 26, 2020 by Russell griffiths

[Russell griffiths]

I’m not sure if you realise but the cut does not need to be accurate as the cut face will not be seen, it is the end of the brick that will be laid as the face. 

[PeterW]

Are the bricks perforated or solids ..? Perfs will split with a bolster and hammer in the time it will take you to set up 6 in a jig. 
 

Solids will take a bit more work but most facing bricks won’t take much more effort. 
 

Who’s doing the cutting ..??

[epsilonGreedy]

On 26/01/2020 at 20:12, PeterW said:

Are the bricks perforated or solids ..?

 

 

Solid with a small shallow frog, they came from Belgium via Tilbury though branded by Weinerbeger.

 

https://www.wienerberger.co.uk/product-range/bricks/hathersage-blend.html though mine look better than the brochure photos. They are at the soft end of an F2 category brick I think as they do not have that "ting" sound when tapped like a highly baked brick.

 

On 26/01/2020 at 20:12, PeterW said:

Who’s doing the cutting ..??

 

 

The brickie team knows about the brick bond planning condition and have quoted accordingly. However I would like to do the cutting to help deliver a better end result and keep the job moving along.

[joe90]

Are you cutting them longwise to create a brick slip?

[epsilonGreedy]

On 26/01/2020 at 19:46, Declan52 said:

A heavy hammer and a 100mm bolster will be quicker and much cleaner. Should take two hits only for each brick.

Just set up a platform and mark a row of 6 then wack away. No dust and a lot cheaper than buying a lot of diamond tipped blades.

 

 

The mess from 2500 full cuts would be an issue.

 

Following comments here I am now thinking about a hybrid solution, where a very simple jig would hold 10 bricks in a row, then with a 5mm shallow cut on each side, the bricks should split cleanly with a less forceful bolster tap.

 

A full header course around the house elevations would require 400 half bricks.

[epsilonGreedy]

3 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Are you cutting them longwise to create a brick slip?

 

 

Not until I finish off the fire places in the finished house years from now.

 

The current challenge is to split 2500 bricks cleanly in half for the pseudo header courses in an English Bond.

[joe90]

9 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

The current challenge is to split 2500 bricks cleanly in half for the pseudo header courses in an English Bond.

Ah!, my builder cut hundreds of my bricks in half as I wanted either full or half bricks at every window and door edge (I am a bit OCD and had doors and windows made to fit the openings), with mine two sides were seen so asked that the cut edge was against the Mortor joint. (They were long bricks so half was not the same as the width) With yours as a header Course you will not see the cut edge so it’s not so important ;is it?. My builder used a disc cutter then bolster.

Edited January 29, 2020 by joe90

[epsilonGreedy]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

With yours as a header Course you will not see the cut edge so it’s not so important ;is it?.

 

 

As a fellow OCD sufferer you may comprehend that I do not want the inner face wandering in and out when some bricks split 90mm/125mm.

 

Thanks for the tip about turning half bricks at window apertures, my approved mortar pointing detail is for a flush finish so not as significant as your case. Did the builder have to adjust perp thickness to compensate for the 7mm undersize of a turned brick?

 

I currently have the final mortar colour mix drying in the sun, the answer after many experiment is 5 parts white cement to 1 part standard grey cement plus a local sand with a strong orange tint = nice sandy buff colour mortar near the buff brick colour.

Edited January 29, 2020 by epsilonGreedy

[Big Jimbo]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

Ah!, my builder cut hundreds of my bricks in half as I wanted either full or half bricks at every window and door edge (I am a bit OCD and had doors and windows made to fit the openings), with mine two sides were seen so asked that the cut edge was against the Mortor joint. (They were long bricks so half was not the same as the width) With yours as a header Course you will not see the cut edge so it’s not so important ;is it?. My builder used a disc cutter then bolster.

That looks bloody nice fella

[joe90]

2 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said:

Did the builder have to adjust perp thickness to compensate for the 7mm 

He worked from the frame inwards so the perps were all (nearly) equal. Great job isnt it?

[epsilonGreedy]

45 minutes ago, joe90 said:

He worked from the frame inwards so the perps were all (nearly) equal. Great job isnt it?

 

 

Yes a very tidy standard of finish and everything blends into the window frame sealing so well.