I have a nice Makita circular saw that i use for wood applications. I stumbled upon a nice slab of granite that i want to use for a project. It was broken off a bigger piece and so one side is not square to the rest of it. I need to cut a nice straight edge on that end to fix it. The granite is about 5/8″ thick and I know i need a diamond tipped blade made for dry cuts. Should i go to a pawn shop and get a throw down saw to make the cut or will my nice circular saw not be harmed in the process? The cut is only about 14″ long.
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I work fo a concrete drilling and sawing company generaly when we make cuts like you described. We cut it wet because granite is such a hard material it tends to overheat even dry Diamond blades. I would recomend getting a throw away circle saw (double insolated of course) rig up a way to get water on the blade and cut it wet go very slow. On the other hand you can rent tile saws that will do the job. Cutting hard materials dry does do a lot of damage to saws that are not designed for cutting stone the dust alone is very harmful to the machine and the operator.
Get a diamond blade for wet cutting and your saw should be just fine. I just had to cut the grout out of 4,000 square feet of quarry tile and I did 1/2 of it with a circular saw and a spray bottle. It wasn’t the safest way, but it didn’t hurt the saw, other than getting it dirty. Here’s a link to a relatively cheap saw made just for your application. They’re good saws.
As mentioned above, a diamond blade would be the best option. As long as it is harder than the substance (in this case, granite) which it always will be (Diamond is a 10 of 10 on moh’s hardness scale). Your saw will be alright, I hope you get the look you want to get after your done cutting it.
We cut granite with them all the time… However we don’t use a carbide bit. Buy yourself a diamond blade or rent one. Most rental places will rent you the blade… but if you are worried about your saw (which would be just fine) then rent the saw and blade.
If you are like me, this is just one of those moments where you have an excuse to buy a new tool!
Good luck
Stone is usually cut with a wet saw because it is so hard that the amount of heat generated is great. Try to find a wet saw to use or take the piece to a granite shop to be cut. You could hurt yourself if your saw decides to die or burst into flames while you use it for something it wasn’t meant for.
i used a circular saw for years before i got a quickie saw…it will ruin them after a couple of years but for one cut it will be fine…fill a tin can with water and put a nail hole near the bottom…place it so it shoots a stream of water where you are cutting…
no! it won’t hurt a thing run it slow don’t try too push, your cut is so short that nothing is going to happed to your tool
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