Recipricating saw blades for plaster

I'm taking down a whole bunch of plaster with wire mesh under it. Any suggestions as to which blades I should use?

I'm thinking about trying the diablo blades for metal. I figure at $3 the experiment isn't that bad if it fails.

The other option is a carbide blade. They are rather expensive, should do well on plaster, but I'm not sure how they would do on the mesh. at $9 a piece I'm not sure I want to burn through a bunch of them.

 

I recently cut a hole in a tiled bathroom wall, and I did that with a masonry cutoff wheel that had no trouble getting on through the expanded-steel mesh behind it. In my own experience, nothing with teeth is going to hold up well in plaster.

 

Just buy a LOT of blades, and be prepared for a LOT of dust!!!!!!!

 

Caarbide blades do not have teeth, so they cut slowly. A blade with about 18 tpi should cut the metal and still go through the plaster.

 

You bet! I recently used my "sawzall" to cut through a major infestation of roots while trenching down to replace a sewer line, and your plaster on top of the mesh is going to be even tougher on blades than was my dirt around those roots.

 

You might consider this a good excuse to get an angle grinder and the appropriate blades. The grinder will be messier but the time saved will offset the cleanup time. I don't have an angle grinder but after watching a couple of the people in the trades use them it's my next choice for nasty cutting jobs.

jmo