Quick recommendation: What tool for one-time cutting of inch-thick sandstone paving stones?

I picked up about 20 inch-thick light brown odd-shaped paving stones (which I think are sandstone) from a friend (they were sitting in a pile when he bought the house long ago).

I want to arrange them in a narrow walkway but I would need to cut them into desired shapes to fit.

It's a one-time effort - so I wonder 'what' tools you guys would suggest?

Do I score them and break them or saw them with some kind of saw?

Note: I have the typical tools at home - but I've never cut rock before.

Reply to
Chuck Banshee
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Chuck, here are some choices from hard to easier:

  1. Cold chisel and hammer. Repeated light taps on a score line. Not all will break as intended.
  2. Fiber wheel on a circular saw. Lots of dust, may require several blades depending on stone hardness.
  3. Dry diamond blade on circular saw or on a grinder. HF tends to have one for about .
  4. Wet saw with wet diamond. Can be rented from Home Depot, etc.
Reply to
DanG

If they are sandstone, then they aren't for paving. You can crumble sandstone in your hands.

Lets guess that they are some sort of paving stone without a lot of grain.

-snip-

That is an art- if you are looking for 'character over precision, practice on a few and see how it turns out.

I found out that aged pavers-- the ones that look like brick, but have some epoxy or something holding them together- are tougher than the

14" fiber blades. I ate 3" of blade and barely scratched the paver.

wicked dusty, still.

Or bought for $60 or so from HF. The diamond blade will last forever. The 7" one only takes a 2" bite, but I've abused the crap out of mine for a 1/2dozen years and it still works fine.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

I'd TRY a masonry blade in an angle grinder. I've used same to cut ceramic tile. Sandstone is a lot softer.

Obligatory cautions: Be sure to wear ear, eye, nose, and throat protection. Douse all open flames. Wear gloves and make sure the outlet is grounded.

Reply to
HeyBub

You can buy masonery blades for a circular saw too. Around $5. Buy several, they dont last long. Wear eye/ear protection with these too. I cut across a 10' driveway once. 4" thick concrete. Think I used 3 blades. Saw did not go to the full depth of 4", but good enough to break off the rest with a sledge.

Reply to
jw

I was wondering what to score these inch-thick rock slabs with? I can easily buy a four inch or six inch-wide chisel (I think).

But do you score rock (sandstone) with a utility knife?

I have never heard of a 'fiber wheel'. I'll look that up.

Of course, I have a basic circular saw ... so I was thinking about a diamond blade (like what they use on paving bricks) ... but I'll have to look up a 'fiber wheel'.

Given I already have the circular saw, this seems to be the simplest route.

Might be overkill for just 20 of these paving stones.

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

Hmmm... I'll take a picture in the light tomorrow and post that picture.

I actually don't know 'what' they are. I assumed they were sandstone (they're light brown) and I assumed they were for walkways and wall facades.

They don't have much of a grain though. And they seem to peel off in very thin layers (but they're an inch thick and the peeling is only about

1/32" thick or so).

I'm not sure what a paving stone is actually, so, I'll say they're a flat light brown sandy-feeling stone about an inch thick with not much of a grain.

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

I didn't realize the blades were that cheap. Even a 'standard' steel blade costs much more than that! I figured a diamond blade would be expensive. I wonder 'what' a masonry blade is (gotta google that).

I will snap a picture in the light of the morning and post so you can see what they look like.

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

Here's a pack of five angle-grinder blades for $5.99.

Reply to
HeyBub

The fact that It has thin layers that peel qualifies it as sedimentary rock. The four most common ones are limestone (it isn't that), sandstone (not all are friable), siltstone and shale. The difference between the last three has nothing to do with composition, merely the particle size of the material. Yours sounds like shale.

Shale is primarily compacted mud...clay plus some minerals. If the shale were metamorphosed, it would be slate.

Reply to
dadiOH

It is a fiber circle, about 1/8" thick, with grit embedded in it. The grit is probably corundum (aluminum oxide). They cut by grinding, wear pretty fast and are way less than $5.00.

Reply to
dadiOH

Of those four, which would be light brown in color?

Here are two pictures I just took outside:

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Reply to
Chuck Banshee

A 'circle' would be just perfect for the sprinkler head in this picture to pop up inside the stone:

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But for most of these, I would need something straight:
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Reply to
Chuck Banshee

If I score them, what tool is used for the scoring?

Here's a picture of the stone that needs a round hole:

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And, here's a picture of a set that needs straight cuts:
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Reply to
Chuck Banshee

I'd call them shale-- or bluestone [even though they're brown]- but I'll bow to whatever dadiOH says.

I'd make the round hole with a decent hole cutter-- go slow and use lots of water. [the fiber disks are like saw blades-- you make straight cuts with them, not circles]

If you think you might *ever* do anything with stones, tiles, or pavers, again- get the $60 wet saw from HF. 10 times quicker than any dry blade and dust free.

My second choice would be a wet/dry diamond blade for a sacrificial circular saw. I've got a 40 yr old B&D whose bearing were screeching before I started using a dry stone blade with it. It is still running, but I don't know why.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

..or better than "make sure the outlet is grounded" is "make sure the outlet is a GFCI".

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Can't really tell much from the photos. Any of the three possible sedimentaries I mentioned could be brown/tan/reddish, just need a bit of iron.

Reply to
dadiOH

Uhhh...circular like a saw blade. They are used to cut straight. One does that by putting it on a circular saw and cutting with the edge. Like a saw blade :)

Reply to
dadiOH

For many people, there's a good reason they call them "circular saws". ;-)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Well, yeah. But I didn't want to get ridiculous.

Reply to
HeyBub

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