Sawzaw safety

We are doing a job which involves the running of pipe to fan coil units. In doing so we will need to cut floor tiles which are used in rooms which house computer systems. The flooring is raised for cooling purposes.

The last time we cut these tiles we used a sawzaw. One person cutting and the other holding the tile, bracing it one side using both legs sort of like a clamp and also both hands. The cutter makes his cut straight down the line.

Ideally a table saw or table band saw should be used but, that will not be available tomorrow.

Any thoughts on how to do this in a safe manner or things to look out for while doing it that way?

I spent most of my time worrying about a bind and the tile hitting my knee or worse the sawzaw colliding with a hand or leg.

OSHA would probably have fits with your choice!

Something like a B&D workbench is cheap insurance, or even just a couple of c-clamps and anchor it to a table, ladder, or something rigid. A circular saw with an appropriate blade would likely make a straighter cut.

The tiles I remember dealing with were 2-feet square and were particle board wrapped in heavy steel. I used a cutoff wheel in a chop-saw to cut the corners off a tile to make a space for wires to pass through.

It would have taken some work cutting one of those with a sawzall.

I would mark them where they need to be cut and take them to a metal shop and have them machined there.

I will look for my clamps tonight or encourage people to find some in their work trucks tomorrow.

Maybe a worm drive???

I had an accident with a sawzall, it was 3am, tired and reaching above my head to cut a vent, to lazy to get a ladder, my finger slipped and got caught in the shaft of the sawzall, went in behind the nail and pulled forward.

It took 6 months for the little front nail to fall off, and 2 years for the finger to completely heal with a new nail, whats sad is the nail is different from the other 9

atleast I didn't loose the tip of the finger though.

Be safe, it only takes a split second of wrecklessness.

Be careful, I'm an IT guy and the tiles in the raised floor of our data centers are 2x2 steel filled with concrete.

I've seen these cut using diamond blades on an angle grinder or using a cutoff chop saw.

Since the right equipment won't be ready tomorrow, you're willing to risk serious injury to do the job with unsafe equipment? How does that make sense? Take a step back and ask yourself it is really that damn important to do it tomorrow.

Well, here it is "tomorrow" -- I hope you're not in the hospital yet. I also spent some quality time in the mainframe raised-floor computer world, and cut my share of floor tiles back when they were only steel and vinyl tile. Now, as rmelo99 points out, they can be concrete-filled, which makes them damned hard to cut. If you're in Maryland, there must be dealers in these tiles and floor systems around. Call one of them (ask the people at the site you're working at who installed thier floor) and sub out the cuts. They may want you to just mark the cuts and take them in to their fab facility. Whatever they charge, it's money well spent.

How about a diamond blade in a skil saw instead!

I would use a metal cutting disk on a skill saw.

My rule for using a skill saw is clamp down the object I am sawing with two clamps and BOTH HANDS on the saw while cutting. Also eye goggles and ear plugs.

When cutting metal like this, sparks can fly all over the place. So good to have water or a fire extinguisher handy.