Aerated concrete wall chaser

Aerated concrete wall chaser

Aerated concrete is currently very popular in private construction. First of all, this is due to its lightness and large volume of blocks. The second advantage is the foamy structure of the material - thanks to it, it perfectly retains heat inside the premises. Communications are laid inside the finished building, and some of them, especially electrical wiring, are almost always laid in the wall. To make a groove, you need a special tool, and a wall chaser is best suited for this. In this material, we will figure out what is a wall chaser for aerated concrete, what are the varieties of this device and how to make a chamfer on aerated concrete with your own hands.

Types and features of furrowers

There are two types of such tools: electric and manual. It is much more convenient and faster to make strobes with the help of an electric apparatus, but due to the high price and narrow focus, it is almost never bought for household needs. It makes sense to purchase an electric furrower for a person who is professionally engaged in electrical work. For self-cutting of grooves, a manual wall chaser for aerated concrete is usually used, the cost of which is several times lower.

Homemade furrower for aerated concrete

Features of manual wall chasers

Such a device, as mentioned above, is much cheaper than an electric one, but working with it requires more time and effort. In addition, this wall chaser is intended only for a gas block - it will not cope with brick, reinforced concrete and other hard materials. Its advantage is noiselessness and low dust formation.

Features of electric wall chasers

With the help of this equipment, you can make electrical grooves not only in aerated concrete, but also in materials such as reinforced concrete, brick and others with high hardness.

In addition, a vacuum cleaner can be connected to the electric furrow machine, which will prevent the deposition of a layer of dust on the surrounding objects.

The disadvantage of such devices is the strong noise they emit during operation. This has a detrimental effect on the hearing of the employee, as well as on the nervous system of the neighbors if the shading is performed in an apartment building. When working with an electric wall chaser, it is necessary to wear protective clothing, and also use protective equipment - a respirator and goggles.

Electric furrow cutter - wall cutter

The device and types of manual furrowers

This equipment consists of a piece of metal pipe, to which a metal arc is welded, which acts as a cutting element, and two clamping arms. More expensive models are equipped with a diamond tip.

There are two types of manual wall chasers:

  • For slitting horizontal surfaces.
  • For working with vertical surfaces.

There are no fundamental differences between these devices. They differ from each other only in that the pressure handles are fixed at different angles, and the base tubes are not bent in the same way. The difference in the device is due to the goal of correctly distributing the forces applied to the device when slitting both vertical walls and surfaces located horizontally.

An example of a horizontal wall chaser in the video:

How to work with a manual wall chaser

The grooving is done in the following order:

  • Mark the surface so that the strobe is flat.
  • Place the cutting part of the device at the beginning of the markup.
  • With your right hand, grip the hold-down handle, which is directly above the cutting element, and with your left hand, the handle that is remote from it.
  • Pull the device slowly with your left hand along the markings, while pressing the other handle with your right hand.

Horizontal slitting along the markup

A manual furrower, although not very expensive, does not have to be purchased from a store. For a small amount of work, a manual aerated concrete chaser can be done without much effort on your own.

You can also make aerated concrete wall chaser, which can be used in construction. Video example:

Making a manual furrower

Let's move on to the question of how to make a wall chaser for aerated concrete with your own hands. To make the simplest device, you need a piece of sturdy metal pipe, the diameter of which should be approximately 20 mm. Then, having measured 50-60 mm from one of the edges, use a grinder to make a cut, holding the tool at an angle of 45 °. When this is done, bend the top of the pipe at an acute angle. A homemade wall chaser designed for aerated concrete is ready. Most of it serves as a handle, and the second is a cutting element for the foam block.

Making a more complex tool will take a lot of effort. In addition, you must have a welding machine at your disposal.

Such a furrow maker is done as follows:

  • Weld in a perpendicular position two pieces of metal pipe (fittings) along the center points. For the part that will act as a handle, it is better to take a thicker piece - it will be more convenient to use such a device.

Homemade wall chasers

  • The length of the piece from which the working part will be made should be 10-15 cm, and the size of the diameter should be 25-30 mm.
  • From one or both ends of the pipe, you need to make a cut at an acute angle - this will be the working surface.
  • Weld the short side of the tube to the base. The corners of the work piece should be on the outside.

In order to facilitate the assembly of the tool and not make mistakes in manufacturing, it is advisable to make a drawing before starting work, indicating the angles and dimensions on it.

Visual step-by-step instructions for making on video:

Can you make an electric wall chaser yourself?

If desired, such a device can be made at home on the basis of a simple grinder. However, most masters do not recommend doing this for the following reasons:

  • The performance of a tool made from a grinder is rather low, in addition, it has all the disadvantages of equipment manufactured at the factory (it makes a lot of noise when cutting blocks and generates a large amount of dust). It must be used together with a powerful vacuum cleaner, otherwise time will be spent on cleaning the room than on making a groove.
  • If you cannot attach two discs to a single axle, the groove will have to be cut in two steps, which will generate more dust and increase time.

Cutting strobes with a grinder

  • It is impossible to adjust the gap between the discs on a homemade chaser with high accuracy, as a result of which the groove may turn out to be uneven.
  • A furrow cutter assembled by a layman can be dangerous, as it is rarely built according to established safety standards.

Based on this, we can say that if large-scale work is not planned, it is advisable to do with a manual furrower.

But, as already mentioned, it is suitable only for aerated concrete blocks - a more durable material is beyond its power.

Self-made electric wall chaser

If you still need an electric furrower but don't have the money to buy one, you can try to make one yourself. A simple grinder is used as a base.Of the additional materials, you will need a pair of aerated concrete diamond discs of the same diameter and an additional fastening nut.

The tool is assembled in two steps:

  • Install the first disc and tighten it tightly with the nut.
  • Then, on top of the first cutting wheel, place the second and also carefully fasten with a nut.

Grinder with two cutting wheels

When assembling a wall chaser yourself, you need to be very careful. If the length of the threaded part is not enough to securely fix the two cutting wheels, it is better to refuse to use such a tool.

How to ensure dust extraction?

A home-made electric furrow maker, although it has a lower efficiency than a factory-made tool, produces no less dust during grooving. To save the walls of the room and the objects in it from dust, you need to attach a special casing to the equipment, in which there will be a branch for connecting a vacuum cleaner. These housings are commercially available, but you can make this device at home and save money.

You can use a metal cloth or a simple plastic bottle to make the casing. The most important thing is to equip the protection with a tube to which the vacuum cleaner will be connected. It must be at the top of the guard and must be tightly connected to the suction hose. Thus, dust generated during operation will immediately be drawn into the interior of the vacuum cleaner.

Grinder with dust cover for vacuum cleaner

Conclusion

In this article, we looked at what a wall chaser is for working with foam blocks, the types of these devices and the features of each of them, and also figured out in detail how to make a manual and electric chasing chaser for aerated concrete with our own hands. We hope that the knowledge gained will help you in self-laying home communications.

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