[racedirector]

We had our kitchen replaced today and had granite benchtops installed. The guys left me 2 offcuts that I want to make into small tables. Being offcuts the edges are messy and not straight so I had this bright idea of cutting it to shape on my cnc.

Is that at all possible? It is 18mm thick, solid (as it would be!) and bloody heavy. Is this just a pipe dream or actually possible to do?

Interested in your thought

Cheers
Bruce

[fizzissist]

What you don't want is the grit in your coolant. With a diamond coated tool, there's no physical reason you can't, but some good reasons you want to be careful with your approach. The CNC doesn't give the feedback your hand gets when feeding.

[ger21]

You should probably explain what type of machine you have.

I'd say there's no way you're cutting any granite.

[dodger889]

You will need a diamond cutting tool first and then you will need to add cooling of some sort. Now you could do it dry if the tool is designed to do it that way but the dust you will raise could cover a large area.

Good luck

[adam_m]

They make a dry cut diamond blade that I use in my circular saw, works reasonably well but creates a lot of chip-out due to the design of the blade.

For rough cuts it works very well.

Adam,

[keebler303]

How about one of the grinding cups made for an angle grinder? I've never used them but they seem popular at the big box stores.

Matt

[awerby]

You can cut it with a circular saw, a diamond blade, and a plywood guide. But not with your CNC wood router. There are machines that cut granite, but they're as different from your machine as an Abrams tank is from a VW bug.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[brian257]

Why not just use a tile cutting wet saw? You can rent them from most tool rental stores. I have seen some Lowes stores that cut tile for you also.

[racedirector]

Thanks guys for all you replies, I completely forgot about lubricant to cut the stone! I attribute that to the excitement of having the stuff. Gerry is right, I have an MDF machine so coolant flowing around the place is not a good idea.

I will take the suggestions of hand tooling and run with them. Just gotta find the right things here in Australia...

Cheers
Bruce

[wizard]

Thanks guys for all you replies, I completely forgot about lubricant to cut the stone! I attribute that to the excitement of having the stuff. Gerry is right, I have an MDF machine so coolant flowing around the place is not a good idea.

I will take the suggestions of hand tooling and run with them. Just gotta find the right things here in Australia...

Cheers
Bruce

I'm thinking you should have had the guys doing the install work cut the granite to size before leaving! You can DIY of course, but you will be out a few bucks just buying a blade to do the work.

As to clean up and dressing the slabs, grinding wheels for a right angle grinder should be useful if they are designed for masonry or stone.

Post a pic or two when you are done!

[louieatienza]

You can cut granite relatively easily with an angle grinder and appropriate diamond blade. The "diamonds" are actually particles suspended in an aluminum alloy. The "soft" alloy is used to cut harder stomes, and vice versa.

To polish the edge, installers use wheels similar to the 3M Roloc disks, and some water.

[pirate323i]

Hi Bruce, Where abouts are you in Australia? I have a diamond saw, that could work... how big are the pieces?
I am in Sydney (Enmore)...