Rotary saw
Encyclopedia
A rotary saw, spiral cut saw, or cut out tool is a type of mechanically powered saw
Saw
A saw is a tool that uses a hard blade or wire with an abrasive edge to cut through softer materials. The cutting edge of a saw is either a serrated blade or an abrasive...

 used for making accurate cuts without the need for a pilot hole in wallboard, plywood, or another thin, solid material.

Another name commonly used to refer to this type of tool is RotoZip, from the Rotozip Tool Corp. a company set up by Bob Kopras, an American drywall installer who pioneered this type of saw. Rotozip was later acquired by Bosch Tool Corp.
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...

 in 2003.

This type of tool was originally developed for making cut-outs in drywall but it was later discovered that a myriad other materials could easily be cut using the tool.

The design is similar to a small wood router
Wood router
A router is a tool used to rout out an area in the face of a relatively hard workpiece, typically of wood or plastic. The main application of routers is in woodworking, especially cabinetry....

 but usually features only one handle for single handed operation. Bits look similar to a twist drill; some cut on the upward twist, and some cut downwards. The cutting edge on the flutes actually slices (either upwards or downwards) through the material which means that they can cut in any direction.

Medical use

A rotary reciprocating saw is a type of saw
Saw
A saw is a tool that uses a hard blade or wire with an abrasive edge to cut through softer materials. The cutting edge of a saw is either a serrated blade or an abrasive...

 that spins a cutting implement around a rotary axis, instead of thrusting it along a linear axis. The first use of such devices was in medicine, where cutting through bone warranted the need for a saw with minimal stroke length, and a cutting action that could be implemented through depth cut rather than a follow through cut.

The timber industry now also uses this type of action to cut in the same manner. A particular manufacturer has a hand-held version for making difficult cuts, which would not be possible with other implements.

See also

  • Reciprocating saw
    Reciprocating saw
    A reciprocating saw is a type of saw in which the cutting action is achieved through a push and pull reciprocating motion of the blade.The term reciprocating saw is commonly assigned to a type of saw used in construction and demolition work...

  • Radial arm saw
    Radial arm saw
    A radial arm saw is a cutting machine consisting of a circular saw mounted on a sliding horizontal arm. Invented by Raymond De Walt in 1922, the radial arm saw was the primary tool used for cutting long pieces of stock to length until the introduction of the miter saw in the 1970s.In addition to...

  • Bone cutter
    Bone cutter
    -Unpowered:Unpowered bone cutting implements include varieties of hacksaw and sabre saw. In many applications, the saw is used in specialised jigs to provide accurate, measurable cuts, e.g. in knee surgery...

    (medical)
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