May 11, 05: Cutting Soapstone

Cutting Soapstone

Posted by Liamlunchtray (My Page) on Wed, May 11, 05 at 17:27

I was curious as to how difficult it is to cut. I know that they reccomend a diamond blade - Are there different types of diamond blades available? Any work better than others? Also, my circular saw is just a $50 Craftsman cheapie. Will this be enough to make it through or will I need to track down something beefier and more contractor grade? I dont have that much to cut - basically I will need to trim one slab to length, the on a 60"x30" slab I will need to take off the excess 4" and then cut it to length. I am using the Ipenema Reserve from M.Teixera Liam

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Follow-Up Postings:

RE: Cutting Soapstone

• Posted by: Sweeby (My Page) on Wed, May 11, 05 at 18:35

We had great success with an $88 hand-held 4" diamond blade wet saw purchased from Home Depot (tile aisle, not tool coral). DH kept saying "Gosh this is easy!" We (OK, that would be 'he') also drilled some faucet holes and some smaller cuts with regular woodworking tools, and that was less easy, but still very do-able. If you look on eBay, you should be able to find a 4" diamond blade wet saw for not very much money. Don't know if they work as well, but they very well could. The HD one is yellow and comes in a nice plastic case.

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RE: Cutting Soapstone

• Posted by: pebbles396 (My Page) on Wed, May 11, 05 at 18:39

I thought that you didn't need a wet saw for cutting soapstone. I was told you could use regular wood working tools.

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Woodworking Tools

• Posted by: Sweeby (My Page) on Wed, May 11, 05 at 18:47

Regular woodworking tools DO work... but not as well as a diamond-blade wet saw. And for one that works so well and can be used for lots of other things, the $88 is a good investment.

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RE: Cutting Soapstone

• Posted by: Liamlunchtray (My Page) on Wed, May 11, 05 at 18:52

I actually have one of those cheap 4" wet saws - My question is how on earth do you get a full countertop up onto it? The body of my saw is plastic, I would think the weight of the counter would crush it. Liam

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Wet Saw

• Posted by: Sweeby (My Page) on Wed, May 11, 05 at 18:56

Different type of saw... HD also has a 'table saw' type that gets lousy performance reviews - even from the folks at HD. This one looks like a small circular saw. It's metal with a nice weight to it. It has a bottom plate that the blade protrudes down past (1 3/8" max. thickness), and you work your material from the top side.