Accurately cutting 8x4 sheets of 25 mm Stok board ..... advice sought

[DAPPH]

I've taken possession of six sheet of 8x4 x 15 mm " Stok Board" this afternoon .
It's a tad too heavy for me to safely manhandle on my own these days as the six sheets weighed in at around 300 kg .

I'm seeking to find ways of precisely cutting it without specialist equipment to cut them in to 8 foot strips 53.2 mm wide for shelving for my lasses bonsai staging display benches
I'm too decrepit these days to use a hand saw as my joints & spine won't allow it .

I do have a tiny shonky router & a few sharp parallel cutters and some stout timber to which a sheet can be securely clamped flat . length ways , a metre off the ground , have a 110 mm and a 9 inch angle grinder both with tungsten carbide impregnated " Cut all blades )

If any of you farming /engineering guys or any one else uses or hads used Stok Board can you tell me what you used to accurately cut it and get a clean edge


I can if required buy or hire a cheap power saw that's a lot lighter & not as powerful as my old Skil Saw

Thanks Dave

 

[mtt.tr]

Cheap tracksaw?

TOUGH MASTER 1400W Plunge Track Saw Circular Saw with 2 x 700mm Guide Rails | eBay UK

Tight space?. No worries. This handy plunge saw doesn’t require any space for materials to feed in or feed out, which makes it easier to cut large materials. It has a powerful 1400W motor that is made from pure copper for optimal performance, as well as highly-efficient dust extraction with a...

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[DAPPH]

Cheap tracksaw?

TOUGH MASTER 1400W Plunge Track Saw Circular Saw with 2 x 700mm Guide Rails | eBay UK

Tight space?. No worries. This handy plunge saw doesn’t require any space for materials to feed in or feed out, which makes it easier to cut large materials. It has a powerful 1400W motor that is made from pure copper for optimal performance, as well as highly-efficient dust extraction with a...

www.ebay.co.uk

Thanks , interesting .

I'd rather have a nine foot all one piece guide to cut along & don't want to have screw holes in the surfaces . ( as I already have a three metre 10 x 30 mm flat bright steel bar & numerous clamps to hold it securely . )

How effective is a hand held power saw , they seem to whizz round at a fair lick , will it melt the recycled plastic Stok Board as well as cut it sometimes & cause the blade to stick ?

 

[striker]

Definitely a track saw. I used to manhandle 8x4's through my table saw. Getting a track saw was a revelation. Should've got one years ago. Mines variable speed so I slow it down a bit to cut aluminium sheet too.

 

[mtt.tr]

Thanks , interesting .

I'd rather have a nine foot all one piece guide to cut along & don't want to have screw holes in the surfaces . ( as I already have a three metre 10 x 30 mm flat bright steel bar & numerous clamps to hold it securely . )

How effective is a hand held power saw , they seem to whizz round at a fair lick , will it melt the recycled plastic Stok Board as well as cut it sometimes & cause the blade to stick ?

The track has a non slip base and it really is non slip.

Your first ever cut, cuts the splinter guard.

Mark the timber, line the splinter guard to the line and cut.

 

[striker]

My track has clamps, two join together to make 3m. Have grippy strips underneath so rarely bother clamping. Never had to drill holes!!!

 

[addjunkie]

I use a battery circular saw and batton. Then just run a file over the rough edge.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Track saw. Use extraction as well if its plastic coated to stop the plastic melting to the blade.
For timesaving you can stack boards up and cut multiple at once but clamp them together both sides and you really want somebody else to handle the offcut side if you do that.

 

[DAPPH]

OK guys I starting to get convinced .. It's for 15 mm thick solid recycled extruded rolled plastic sheet .
" Dare I ask my lass for £200 more for a decent track saw set up that I'll only use once in a blue moon when I've just dropped £432 for the Stok boards & £ 112 for a delivered 288 kg of garden compost ? "

 

[hotponyshoes]

Where are you located?
You can borrow mine (with a suitable deposit if you are local..

 

[gaz1]

mine was free as i get the parts for free and its homemade using a good spirit level

mine was made out of laminate flooring

i wanted my circular saw just to fit into a lockable unit so adapted to this type easily enough

 

[Screwdriver]

I would be wary of using a circular saw on 15mm of plastic. It really could start melting quite quickly depending on the plastic properties. If you do, you probably want a very coarse blade sort of 3tpi I guess and run it as slow rpm as possible. Another option might be to cut it in multipass, go over it 2-3 times cutting deeper each time.

If it is recycled LDPE, it melts at very low temperature, circa 100-110ºC. It might jam up a blade easily. Can you ask the supplier what they recommend?

I might be way off base here (you'll find out with your first cut) so I would happily defer to anyone who has cut this product themselves.

<edit> it will aslo be pretty slippery so a regular track saw base might not be grippy enough without clamping...

 

[addjunkie]

Its awful stuff, best used for linning stables. Also heavy and expensive considering its just recycled bale wrap.

But is very durable and doesnt rot. Though not sure it will make good shelves unless the supports are fairly close together. Ive cut it with both a battery milwaukee saw and an old main black and decker. With what ever blades there supplied with. Chips go everywhere.

 

[hotponyshoes]

I would be wary of using a circular saw on 15mm of plastic. It really could start melting quite quickly depending on the plastic properties. If you do, you probably want a very coarse blade sort of 3tpi I guess and run it as slow rpm as possible. Another option might be to cut it in multipass, go over it 2-3 times cutting deeper each time.

If it is recycled LDPE, it melts at very low temperature, circa 100-110ºC. It might jam up a blade easily. Can you ask the supplier what they recommend?

I might be way off base here (you'll find out with your first cut) so I would happily defer to anyone who has cut this product themselves.

<edit> it will aslo be pretty slippery so a regular track saw base might not be grippy enough without clamping...

I've cut plastics with no issues. Mostly the 3mm stuff that they line commercial kitchens etc. with but also plastic coated partical/ply boards.
Seems to be better going through in one pass, sharp blade, feed rate enough that it comes off in chips rather than swirls.
You want extraction (or a mate with a leaf blower) otherwise it builds up in the saw and melts to the side of the blade.

I've also done part-depth cuts, for when I want to bend a sheet for a corner. These you want to go at a fair old rate as they tend to leave a swarf on the top of the cut that is just a molten mess if you go too slowly.

Basically, I think if you go too slow or don't have a saw with plenty of power the blade is in contact long enough to heat it enough to melt. That's why the track is ideal as you can run the saw along it a lot quicker

 

[hotponyshoes]

Its awful stuff, best used for linning stables. Also heavy and expensive considering its just recycled bale wrap.

But is very durable and doesnt rot. Though not sure it will make good shelves unless the supports are fairly close together. Ive cut it with both a battery milwaukee saw and an old main black and decker. With what ever blades there supplied with. Chips go everywhere.

Good point about using it for shelves. It saggs eventually on stable walls and that's with it mounted vertically...

 

[Fraserb]

Ive never done 15mm, done 12mm before and usually just score a line along the cut with a stanley blade and fold it back on itsself and it snaps along the cut.

 

[Screwdriver]

Ive never done 15mm, done 12mm before and usually just score a line along the cut with a stanley blade and fold it back on itsself and it snaps along the cut.

I did wonder if that might be possible. It is quite tricky to make a good long perfect score though. Maybe a decent score with a track saw followed by a snap??

 

[Fraserb]

I did wonder if that might be possible. It is quite tricky to make a good long perfect score though. Maybe a decent score with a track saw followed by a snap??

I just clamp a metal straight edge to it.

 

[Gareth J]

I've cut it with a jigsaw, hand held circular saw and table saw. The way carbide blades cut, there's very little heat build up. They all cut fine.

Be sure you want to use it for that though, as mentioned, it's heavy. Also performs terribly when hot, a hot day, sees it expand and buckle and sag all over the place, let alone if it's in direct sun!

 

[DAPPH]

I would be wary of using a circular saw on 15mm of plastic. It really could start melting quite quickly depending on the plastic properties. If you do, you probably want a very coarse blade sort of 3tpi I guess and run it as slow rpm as possible. Another option might be to cut it in multipass, go over it 2-3 times cutting deeper each time.

If it is recycled LDPE, it melts at very low temperature, circa 100-110ºC. It might jam up a blade easily. Can you ask the supplier what they recommend?

I might be way off base here (you'll find out with your first cut) so I would happily defer to anyone who has cut this product themselves.

<edit> it will aslo be pretty slippery so a regular track saw base might not be grippy enough without clamping...

Thanks,

It's not slippery the surfaces both sides are rolled like knurling patterns one diamond every mm or so .
I'll see if I can find out what the melting point is and what type of recycled plastic the "Stok board " is made of .

mine was free as i get the parts for free and its homemade using a good spirit level

mine was made out of laminate flooring

i wanted my circular saw just to fit into a lockable unit so adapted to this type easily enough

Those vids look easily doable for me .
Being disabled I can never rely on being fit enough long enough to use hired or borrowed gear in a reasonable time ( I purchased a cement mixer , Hitachi sabre saw . Hitachi grinders etc etc & a 240 volt medium road breaker for the same reason seven years ago .