saw to cut holes in walls?

[dftkarin]

I'm a complete novice at carpentry but I might get an old doghouse from freecycle and try to convert it into a coop. What sort of tool would allow me to cut holes in a solid wall? I have a drill and a hammer and a staple gun. Besides a way to cut through wood and walls - are there any tools I would probably need to do this project? What sort of saw would I need?

I'm thinking I would want to saw window-size holes in the solid walls of this dog house - and that then I would cover the openings with hardware cloth that I staple-gunned and then secured with washers and screws. I might need to remove and replace the roof - so I would need a saw prehaps to do that too. I would be good to own a saw if it was affordable (to prune trees, etc).

 

[Mr_Jeff]

A hole saw? Don't mean to state the obvious. How big of a hole does it need to be? You can always use a small paddle bit to start a hole that you can then stick the blade of a jigsaw or a reciprocating saw into and then cut out the larger hole.

 

[Indiana hens]

Sawzall or sabersaw. Tool Rental is good for a 1 time thing, But if you are starting this project there may be more. I recommend buying one. Just a note: don't cut through a wall containing: plumbing, electrical wiring, heat ducts, etc.

 

[patandchickens]

If you're talking about substantial holes (like for windows and such), the easiest thing in most circumstances is to use a 1/2" bit on a regular ol' drill to put holes in the corners of where you want the hole to be. Then to cut lines between those holes, you can use a (hand, not power) drywall/'keyhole' saw, or a power jigsaw (a hand jigsaw will not work), or a reciprocating (saber) saw if it's thick wood, or something like that.

Choose the blade intelligently according to what you're sawing -- something thin or brittle/shattery (like some plastics) will need a finer-toothed blade than, like 3/4" plywood.

If this will be a purchase, I think I would recommend: for cutting plastic, a power jigsaw with a fine-toothed blade and a lot of care and tact; for cutting plywood up to 1/2" or so, either a power jigsaw or a (hand) keyhole saw; for cutting thicker plywood or 1"-thick lumber, a power jigsaw; and for cutting thicker lumber, a reciprocating saw.

I can't think of anything that's likely to be useful for this project that would also be good for pruning trees, sorry. For that, you want either a combination of a good pair of longhandled loppers plus a bow saw, or (if you never expect to have to cut any branches more than about 4" thick) a good Japanese-style cuts-on-the-pull-stroke pruning saw.

A Japanese pruning saw could be used for cutting up 2x4's if you REALLY have to, but is not the best tool for that - think about buying a 'real' proper handsaw as well.

Good luck and have fun,

Pat

 

[FutureChickenMan]

Ok, well you left some much needed info out.. what the wall material is made of..

Keyhole saws are great on drywall (aka sheetrock/gypsum board)

Sawsalls will cut through dang near anything but are pretty barbaric in their method of doing so. It takes some practice to use these saws with any bit of accuracy. You could use this for pruning trees, just get the really course long blades for it. And these things can and will cut through everything.

A circular saw will do the job nicely as long as there's no metal things you need to worry about and you don't need to cut circles.

A jig saw is great for slow precise cuts in plywood, but cant do anything with material thicker than about an inch.

It's kind of a mixed bag.. I guess if I didn't already have all the tools mentioned above and needed to complete your task I would probably buy a cheap-o circular saw and a cheap-o jig saw. Both can easily be had for under $100. Now, if I also needed a saw that can cut all kinds of stuff; metal, wood, plastic then I'd go for the sawsall, you can usually find those on sale for under $75.

Most of all, no matter what saw you get, be careful! Of the saws I listed the jig saw is probably the safest of them all. Circular saws like to "run back" on you if the material you are cutting binds up. In other words, while you're cutting with a circular saw if the wood binds up, the saw will want to shoot backwards at you. Many friends have also nipped off fingers with the circular saw becuase they were being dumb. The sawsall can be "jumpy" since the system works like a jig saw on steriods, the saw can bounce around on you if the blade catches comething hard and you don't have a good grip on it. And with all saws, don't set it down when the blade is moving! I've been guilty of this one myself and have had to re-wire a few circular saws because of it.. lol

 

[Omran]

If you are looking to make windows then you need a jig saw itwill not viberate as much as saw zaw and it is safer than circular saw.ifyou can use the circular saw safley then it will work,but becarful if you never did it before.hole bits will work with drill but they do not go bigger than 6" or 8"(I am not very sure).
Good luck and remember SAFTY SAFTY SAFTY first.