Can you use a Miter Saw to Cut Brick? Super Beginner Guide in 2023

If you deal with bricks, you may often need to cut them into pieces for various reasons. Professional masons may be aware of a variety of brick-cutting tools. However, do you know, you may also use a miter saw to cut bricks at various angles?

Isn’t it amazing?

Of course, it is!

A single tool is providing you with the facility in dual fields, carpentry plus masonry. Therefore, I don’t think you need to buy some separate tool just for cutting the bricks, rather you can use your miter saw for this purpose.

There’s no doubt you can use a miter saw for cutting bricks, but the tricky point is its correct use. Moreover, you need to use masonry blades for this purpose. However, it’s important for you to know how to cut a brick with miter saw?

Furthermore, you’ll come across various tips and facts about a miter saw. Let’s take a detailed account of the process of brick cutting.

Which blades of the miter saw should be preferred for brick cutting?

If you want to cut bricks using a miter saw, you need to be quite choosy about the type of blade you are using. This is because a miter saw is specially designed to cut wood, which is comparatively easy to cut. Therefore, you need to use masonry blades.

Two types of miter saw blades may help you cut the brick, i.e, tungsten carbide-tipped blade and diamond-tipped blade.

• Tungsten Carbide-tipped Blade

This blade is suitable for the use of beginners. Tungsten carbide-tipped blades are capable of cutting thick materials. You may use it to cut bricks, concrete, pavers, and masonry blocks.

• Diamond-tipped Blade

You may not find a tungsten carbide-tipped blade perfect if the bricks are recently treated with a fire-resistant coating. For such bricks, a diamond-tipped blade would be a perfect match. You may also use the steel-tipped blade for this purpose.

Guide about Cutting Brick while using the Miter Saw

Before you set your miter saw to cut bricks, you must be aware of some rules and tips.

1. Check out the errors in your miter saw

Make sure you always check for damages in your miter saw, before using it. A slight error may result in a wrong cut. Therefore, you need to check every part of the miter saw keenly.

Mostly, problems arise due to the blade. If it’s not sharp or is broken it may cause huge trouble for you. Moreover, also check out the miter gauge, bevel gauge, and fence of the miter saw, whether they are adjusted right or not.

After confirming that your miter saw is perfect to go, you may start your project.

2. Use the blade according to your material

Different blades are there for different types of materials. For example, a blade cutting plastic will never be perfect for metal due to the huge difference between them. Therefore, if you need to deal with more than one type of material, you must have a wide collection of miter saw blades having different sizes and tips.

The first and foremost step is to detect the type of material you are going to deal with. Then choose the appropriate blade for cutting.

For instance, if you have to work on plain bricks, then a tungsten carbide tip would be most suitable for you. However, if the bricks are treated to resist fire, a diamond-tipped blade is the right option.

Further, once you go to the market, you’ll surely find much remarkable brick

3. Utilize the Fence

As you know, dealing with a miter saw is quite risky due to its fast-moving sharp blade. So, it should be handled carefully. You may result in an injury if your blade comes in contact with some other object, other than your workpiece.

The best solution to this problem is to avail the safety fence. This will surely decrease the chances of mishaps by giving support to your workpiece. Plus, it will offer you more accurate cuts.

4. Make use of featherboard

The Featherboard gives extra support to your workpiece. It acts the same as a clamp.

Featherboard functions in holding the material to the place you have adjusted while making cuts. Moreover, it perfectly reduces the kickbacks, which is a sign of an accurate cut.

However, you may adjust the position of the workpiece with the help of a knob on a featherboard, whenever you want.

What Safety Measures should you adopt?

Source: Youtube

Make sure you follow the precautionary measures while using any kind of tool because your safety matters more than your project. Here are some safety tips you should never ignore while dealing with a miter saw;

• Turn off the power

Whenever you are meant to change the blade of your miter saw, ensure that the power is completely turned off. Also, make sure that you adjust the blade properly so that it may not fall off while cutting the brick.

• Cover yourself with some workwear

Many small pieces of brick flew towards you while cutting the brick with a miter saw. These small pieces may hit your face, especially in your eyes. Thus, always try to wear a hard hat, glasses, and gloves while making cuts.

Also, it is better to cover your face with some piece of cloth in order to prevent your mouth and nose.

• Keep a first aid kit near you

Even if you are following the safety measures, still you should always keep a first aid kit by your side. You should always be prepared for sudden accidents so prefer to keep the first aid box at your workplace.

• Protect your ears

Miter saw makes a pretty loud sound when it is being used. Hence, whenever you set the miter saw for cutting bricks, firstly cover your ears. You may use earplugs or some kind of helmet in order to prevent your ears from this screeching sound.

• Do not use a domed-tip blade

Never go for a domed-tip blade of the miter saw to cut bricks or any other masonry materials. Such blades may fall as there are greater chances of coming in contact with the ground or some other surfaces. Hence, always avoid such blades.

Final Verdict

In the end, you are well aware of the answer to the query, can a miter saw cut brick? All you need is to install a masonry blade to your miter saw and you are ready to go.

Moreover, make sure that you make the cuts perpendicular to the face of the brick for getting better cuts. However, following the tips given in this article will help you a lot in starting this project.