I purchased a spare length of vinyl siding so that I can replace a panel on my house that got damaged by the string trimmer. When I picked up the panel at the warehouse, I had to cut it in order to fit into my SUV. Cutting with a utility knife proved to me that if I want a straight cut, the utility knife isn't going to work.
So, what's the best way? Use a hacksaw with a straight edge as a guide, or a jigsaw with a fine tooth blade, also with a guide?
Also, I'm going to have to fashion some sort of hook to pull the top piece from it being attached to the bottom damaged piece. Has anybody ever improvised with something? I saw the removal tool at the warehouse, but didn't want to spend $8 for something I would use once.
1) Take a table saw (or compound miter saw set to zero), reverse the blade (yes, it will cut backwards) and cut the vinyl.
2) There is a cheap tool to remove the damaged vinyl; it has a hook at the end; works great. Otherwise I have used a bent screwdriver with a dull edge. Remember, you are dealing with the outside of your home, it needs to work and look good!
I tried the 140 tooth blade turned backwards on my skilsaw when I did mine.... wasn't crazy about it. It will chip the siding when you get to the edge unless you have it perfectly flat and out of a bind. I prefer using the snips to cut vinyl siding.
I was trying to break up some vinyl siding for disposal and quickly found out that cutting with circular saw sends shards of sharp plastic right at your face. I had the blade installed the normal way, though.
I used a 40 and a 60 tooth 10 inch blade on my miter saw. No problems with either. The key seems to be a slow cut (feed it slowly). I tried it on the table saw and it wasn't as nice (the board bounced around a bit).
So I like the miter saw; it seems to keep the board stable.
I have a 12" Ridgid Miter Saw...I suppose a sliding one would be better for the typical 8" width panels, but we shall see. I might also try the hacksaw to see how that works. Edges on vinyl siding are covered anyway, so the cut I think may not need to look perfect.
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