Any one out there cut a granite slab? My wife found a slab of granite to fit a table top. It is perfect except it is two inches too long? The price was a steal, but I am now left with cutting it. Any thoughts. The slab is 22 inches wide and 50 inches long. Oh that’s right 1 1/2 inches thick.
Would one use an abrasive blade in a grinder…..or dry diamond blade. I have seen portable tile cutters that look like a circular saw? Do they have enough kick to cut a slab like this? I know it would be slow (4″ blade and costing about $130)
Thanks
Replies
get a dry cut diamond blade for your 7 1/4" cirular saw .About $80.00 and cut away . I did a 4" chunk of granite works great . Don't mess with the abrasive blabes they take too long and don't cut as nice.
Don
Don , do you make counter tops , arcitectural stone , or memorials ? do you have a large supply of granite? Can you get Dakota Red? Email me at [email protected]
I cut granite all the time. It can be done, but it is not easy. I use a Dewalt dry diamond disk in a Craftsman saw. Set it up w/ a straight edge to guide the cut. It takes a bunch of passes, cutting no more than 1/2" at a time. The dust is TERRIBLE and WILL KILL YOU. Not an exaggeration. You must wear a mask, and a paper mask will not do the job of protecting your lungs from the dust. Also, safety glasses. And a long sleeve shirt. 1 1/2 " is nothing - I routinely do 3" stuff.
The cut edge will not be pretty. I have the equipment to polish the cut edge up - a 36" dia diamond surface grinder. An infinite amount of wet-or-dry used wet will clean it up reasonably well if you have the patience of the Chinese damming the Yangtze River using wicker baskets and shovels. Start w/ the coarsest grade possible, expect it to wear out fast, and progress to 1200 grit. It will have a satin finish to it. Takes 3500 grit to get it to shine. And a LOT of time. that's how I started before getting my diamond lap machine.
Good luck
Don
I would ask a granite fabricator to see how much they would charge to cut and finish the edge, compare that to the cost of a diamond blade, the wear and tear on your saw/grinder, and the wear and tear on your body and mind, then make a educated informed decision.
Tom.
I think Don summed the process up very well but Tom has the most efficient approach. It takes a lot of practice to finish granite edges well and a two foot edge should take a pro 30 to 60 minutes to cut and polish from start to finish.
The difficult part is to find someone who knows what they are doing but has enough idle labor to be willing to do such a small job.
Karl
I should like to post a dissent. Use a 7 1/4 inch diamond blade, but pull the saw backwards through the granite. Have a helper hold a milk jug full of water so that a nail hole in the bottom pees a stream of water at the point where the blade enters the kerf. This pulls the water through the entire kerf, cools the blade, and carries off the stone-dust water mix downward toward the ground. Cut the full width in a single pass. The saw should move through the stock at about the same rate as cutting through an equal thickness of wood. Clamp a guide strip on the stone and you should get an extreemly smooth edge. Done this way there should be no ridges that need to be worked down in the final polishing.
I've only done the cutting. I haven't polished granite so the following is opinion. I would try a diamond honing stone with water lube. A $80 diamond blade is top of the line. You might try a Harbor Freight blade at a fraction of the cost and spend the difference on a good diamond hone.
And don't forget the safety precautions posted earlier.
BJ
Gardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
Edited 8/6/2002 2:41:10 AM ET by Bee Jay
I'd try the option of getting a shop to do it first. If they won't or one isn't close,BeeJay has the right idea of adding water, tho' I've never tried running backwards.
B&D has a DIY diamond Blade for 7-1/4" saws at about $40. I've used it a lot on concrete and it's still good. If you've got an old clunker saw, that's what you want to put it on.Excellence is its own reward!
BeeJay,
When you say
"The saw should move through the stock at about the same rate as cutting through an equal thickness of wood. "
I can only assume you mean the same rate as attempting to cut through an equal thickness of wood using that same diamond blade. I would want at least 10 times as long to cut two feet of inch and a quarter granite as I would for ripping a 2ft two by four if I am cutting with a handheld saw.
If not you must have an incredible blade or some very soft stone. I would want at least 10 times as long to cut two feet of inch and a quarter granite as I would for ripping a 2ft two by four if I am cutting the stone with a handheld saw.
If you don't make multiple passes the blade will tend to wander in a full depth cut. By cutting in 3/8" passes it creates a "track" to help keep the blade running straight.
Was it actually granite that you cut or a marble/limestone/slate type stone? There is a huge difference in difficulty of both cutting and polishing.
Nobody has mentioned the difference between a granite blade and the average concrete/brick/tile blade. Granite needs a soft matrix binding the diamonds and concrete etc needs a very hard matrix binding the diamonds. You can get by using a granite blade for soft materials if you don't mind wearing the blade out in a hurry but you can't cut granite (very effectively) using a concrete blade as the matrix is just too hard to expose new diamonds as the stone removes or burnishes the outer layer.
Any of the stone cutting tools I use send out a forceful jet of water against the blade and I would always opt for a pressurized water source over a gravity drip. The other problem with a skilsaw is the baseplate can scratch the surface if not adequately protected with some kind of intermediary bearing surface. Cutting against a straight edge with a 5" angle grinder with a flush cutting blade eliminates this worry. If I have to cut indoors I will hold a wet sponge on the blade to cool it and minimize dust but it is makeshift at best.
Ultimately the original post will get the cheapest, best and fastest results taking the stone to a local shop but I can relate to finding the challenge of doing it oneself rewarding.
Karl
DIY,
I've cut a lot of granite with a 4" diamond tile saw which I've modified long ago by attaching a fixture which I made to flow water onto both sides of the blade. You don't need the fixture though if, like the other post said, you simply have someone squirt water on it for 5 minutes. Put a clamp on the slab to guide your saw. If you need to finish the edge get at least 3 diamond disks, 50grit, 400grit and buff, to put into your 4" grinder.
Darrell
GFCI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's a lot of work for only 2". I think I'd learn to live with the extra length. It's only 2". How much can that take away from it being a good tabletop? I say, the bigger the better.
And we all know, bigger is better.
Rod
Where do you get your diamond disc at?
I got my diamond tiools at Euro asia
http://www.diamondtoolstore.com/index.php?main_page=privacy
I cut the granite with a skil saw and a dry cut blade and polisded it with the diamond wheels they talked about above
I also got a diamond cup wheel to rough out the corners but that goes real fast so be careful. You can't put it back ;)
Anyone looking at dates of these posts? This one is A DOZEN YEARS OLD! I sure hope that table came out nice back when Reagan was in office - just kidding
Fine
Susan inserted a spam link for quartz to help out this thread....on granite......that was her reason for resurrection.
but, it's not uncommon nor not helpful for info to be added later. (When related to the topic)
I tried cutting some granite slabs myself with the use of a stone cutter but was not successful so I just asked for a professional to do it for me. I think getting this work done with the help of a pro is a better option.