cutting and grinding 3cm granite

tltaylor22 · 11-03-09, 10:26 PM

I was planning on doing cement countertops but got a screaming deal on some high end granite slabs froma place going out of business. After shopping around to get the slabs cut ($1800-2500), i figure from some of the stuff I've read on the web that I could probably do this myself and invest a little money in some tools. Has anyone here cut granite counters before? I talked to one shop owner that said he uses a makita Worm drive saw and some $50 7" blades in some of his field installs. There are some water fed angle grinders on Ebay that come with the grinding and polishng pads and include the diamond 3/8" radius router tips for the edges. I'm mainly worried about the undermount sink cut out. Any advise?

-Spike- · 11-04-09, 10:08 AM

It's a bitch. I've done some small pieces and wouldn't tackle a kitchen. Maybe a bathroom, but I'd have to think long and hard. It takes a bit of experience and some tools to do it right. Do it wrong and it'll look like ass- forever. Cutting isn't particularly difficult, but getting the cuts perfectly straight and square is tough. Polishing the edges requires knowledge and experience, and way more patience than I have. Polishing the inside corners of the sink hole is a key area I'm not comfortable with, not to mention cutting the radiused corners for it. Labor for granite is where the money goes, generally $50 or more per square foot.

fj40charles · 11-06-09, 07:11 AM

I would not do it. Sell the granite slab. It is cheaper and better IMHO to pay for someone to provide a full service install.

When we got our granite, we went to a showroom and picked out the slabs we wanted. The fabricator picks up the slab and cuts, polishes, cut out the sink hole, it and installs it for you.

tltaylor22 · 11-06-09, 04:32 PM

As always, I appreciate the honesty. I went and priced the exact stone, cut and install through a local place and it would cost me over $3600. I also found a place to just cut and polish everything for $1100. I've got less than $1000 into the slabs and will have most of one slab left over for other projects so I can always have the stuff I own cut for less than these guys would charge me to use thier material. I may even have a guy that used to own a shop available to cut and polish for less than a grand. The total counter and island is $60 sqft. with one sink cut out.

tltaylor22 · 11-15-09, 02:24 PM

I spent friday afternoon building a railsaw out of a Skill SHD77 worm drive saw and some 80/20 I had at the shop. Then yesterday my father and I cut up the two full slabs of granite. The lighter colored stone cut like butter, but the absolute black was tough. Taking a little extra time and with the rail saw setup I built, all the cuts were straight and on the mark with the templates I made of the cabinets. In all I cut 60+ feet of cut. I also ended up with over half of the one light slab and a quarter of the black left over for other projects. I was able to find a bunch of the grinding attachments through a friend of mine and plan on radiusing the endges and polishing everything up this week. The large scrap peices I brought home look great in the kitchen. My wife is getting excited. I'll post up some pictures when I download them at work in the morning.