Cutting granite worktops

If I was to obtain some old granite kitchen worktops how would I cut them to my sizes to cover my worktops in my workshop?

Is there any tool that will make it easy?

I have most types of saws, a stihl saw, wet tile saw table,

has anyone done it?

Ian

Diamond blade in a 115mm or 225mm electric grinder or 12" one in your Stihl will all do it quite quickly a tile saw will be slow and hard to balance a big slab ontop of. The small grinder is the usual way to trim granite upstands to length on site, the rest should have been cut to template but again the small grinder can adjust them to fit.

J

Edited By JasonB on 01/09/2014 14:02:22

This.

Diamond 12" blades aren't that dear anymore. I let the hosepipe run down the cut last time as it stops the dust.

graham.

Diamond tipped blade in a wood cutting skill saw type maching...you will have to make a spacer up for the saw to blade spindle as they never match, but believe me its a lot more controllable than free hand in a Stihl saw

I find it useful to clamp a wood lat on the line you want to cut down and this helps lots to keep the line straight. But you are right, freehand can end up all over the place.

graham.

(yes, I know the wood can damage the diamond of the blade but so far mine works just fine, no lasting ill effects)

yea we use them taking roofs apart as hitting nails has no ill effects unlike TCT blades

Hi Ian,

A water jet cutter is the thing (Iv'e seen it on telly).

Peter.

Hi Ian

Ask a real monumental mason for a price. I found it much cheaper and easier than doing it myself. By monumental mason I mean someone who makes the stones, not just sells them.

Jim

Is it solid granite or epoxy composite? You can cut the latter with a hacksaw (if you are foolish enough to want to).

I cut a 'surface plate' from composite using a diamond wheel. It was (almost) like a knife through butter, but it was too easy and I over did it and burnt out the angle grinder. On the plus side I recycled all the bearings and used the nice spiral bevel gears in my shunter...

Neil

Neil, I like your idea about using the gears from an angle grinder for use on a shunter. I thought about using them as a horizontal drive for my milling machine, but just changed my mine after reading about your idea. I had two scrap ones given me last week.Ted

Ted,

Do both - replacement sets cost about £5 on ebay! A startling example of how a mass-produced item is a tiny fraction of the cost of a 'special'.

Neil

OK, so it is possible to cut " granite" sheet in the home workshop particularly so if the material is a loaded plastic composite. I am less clear about is why one would want to use the material in the first place. Certainly real granite would add weight ( and stiffness) to a bench but might also add to problems coping with the weight of machinery and its desire to migrate to Australia by the direct route (from UK that is). It is also hard and cold with a poor bounce index. The composite material may have less problem with hardness and be a tad flexible but the "plastic" bit may not like all the oily messy stuff that we slop round our workshops.

A bit puzzled

John

It makes great 'hobby-standard' surface plates.

The filler is either epoxy or polyester based so it should stand up to most workshop abuse.

The real question is why use this stuff in the kitchen?

Neil