Diamond saw blade?

[ray66v]

Trust me, you will do damage to your saw cutting them dry.

I have used up saws, and grinders, that were not made for concrete, brick and stone, cutting and grinding with them. Concrete, & stone dust is very abrasive and even corrosive.

It is possible to use a very slow running water hose, to keep the dust down, but using water, and electric together, can be dangerous.

For the sake of time, and money, I suggest renting a gas saw. If not, use up and old circular saw, or buy a cheap saw.

Don't forget to wear a dust mask.

 

[Richard]

I'm onto the mask. I also wear in ear headphones (mutes outside noise & provides some music) and over those, I wear my Pro Ear II's. Nose isn't an issue.

I put the blade onto my Milwaukee. Looking like this logic is going to work like a charm.

I might see if I can get this done by using this saw. I don't 'want' to trash the saw but if I do, I'll buy another...maybe that will help the economy just a bit.

This 7" diamond blade SMOKES through the stone much faster than the 4". I still have to go slow and it's still sort of ungainly holding the saw with 2 hands. I've been holding the stone with one hand and my grinder with the other hand or, setting stone agasint something and using 2 hands on grinder. Now, I MUST have two hands on the saw so I have to find some new tecnhiques to deal with these changes.

I think this sized blade is going to make many things a lot easier (regardless of the saw)

Oh... some of what I'm cutting.... I cut a little notch, to make a stone fit around another. I do not know how large some of these rental saws are so I'm presuming they are more for simply cutting something in two?

I'm more 'machining' the stone as the wife wants small tight seams. I have hounded her letting her know that life would have been MUCH easier had she simply bought squarish stones and not this irregular shaped stuff that I have to re-cut into squares...

 

[EddieWalker]

I've done this a few times and by reading the comments, wonder who else has? Flagstone is not like pavers or tile. It's a soft rock that cuts easily. I use a segmented diamond blade. Home Depot and just about everyone else sells them. DeWalt has them for around $40 to $45. I don't care for DeWalt, but they are the bargain tool with something for everything.

Use your Milwaukee saw. You have it, what are you saving it for? I've cut hundreds of pavers, cultured stones, flagstones and concret slabs with my Makita circular saw. I expect to cut hundreds more.

The trick to cutting flagstone is to score the back side. Know where you want it cut, then cut it about a quarter to 1/3 in. I like to change direction to give the rock a more natural look. I plunge into the rock to do this, the work the blade forwards and even backwards. It's loud and dusty, but pretty simple to do.

Then I break off the part that I don't want with a hammer. When it breaks, it gives you a natural edge. A little tapping with the hammer will fine tune it, but that's just personal preferance.

Eddie

 

[forgeblast]

I have cut a lot of blue stone flagstone with my grinders. I use the 4'' grinder a lot and then use a brick chisle (the wide one) to split them. I use the big grinder on my cheap circular saw for cutting large pieces.
Yes its dusty, so wear a mask.
Also i found that its best to use my aircompressor to blow the dust out of the tools at the end. I have been using them for 4 years now to cut everything and anything and they still work great.
just watch some of the cheap 4'' grinder blades, the center hub will fall out and then its a pain to put it back in. I have a washer that i drilled out and then smashed back into the center of the diamond blade to act like a hub since the center kept falling out.

(it was a husky brand blade)

 

[polo1665]

I haven't cut near as much stone as he has, but I gotta agree with Eddie. As I posted earlier, I cut quite a few concrete blocks and some large flagstones with my circular saw (cheap plastic Craftsman). Had no trouble, and the saw still works! I thought a wet saw would be easier, so I took some block to work (access to large industrial wet saw), the blade wasn't in the greatest shape and it took longer to cut than the circular saw, only benefit was dust control.

The Flag at 2" to 2.5" was alot more dense than concrete block, but still cut pretty easily. A lot easier to cut large chunks of the stuff as they are heavy enough and won't move around as you use both hands to run the saw. The blade pictured is the same type as what I used. It is a Dewalt masonry blade and goes for about 15 bucks. It is adequate if you are cutting a limited amount of stone. I will save renting the 14" gas powered job for when I really need it.

Mark

 

[Mamps]

Just my two cents, I have been working with the stone for over 15 years now. My prefrance for a natural stone of any type is to use a brick hammer and or a chisel. If you want to use your grinder, use a abrasive blade for concrete. It is MUCH thinner than the diamond blades for the 4" grinder which are actually made for grinding out mortar joints when tuck pointing. The abrasive wheel is almost paper thin and cuts right through. I think they are about $1.00 a piece and one last for a few stones.
As someone mentioned earlier, the best way is to score the bottum of the stone with a grinder and then split the front. Another option is to rent a splitter. Awesome finish and leaves it very natural!!!

 

[Ductape]

For cutting stone, I have an old circular saw that was given to me. If i kill it......... no real harm done. I know time may be more of an issue for you, but a cheap saw from a yard sale or Craigslist might be wort the small investment.

As far as the blades go......... we have a store near here that sells mostly cheap, made in china tools and equipment. Its sort of a local 'harbor freight'. I have been buying my diamond blades there for about 8 bucks, versus the nearly 20 bucks (or much more) at TSC, Lowes, or the Depot. I can see no difference in the quality of the cut,nor the life of the blades. As far as I can see, it looks like they are all made in china and the only difference is the label in the plastic package..... and the price to go along with it. I suggest trying the harbor freight quality diamond blades.

 

[Charlesaf3]

saw with a blade will definitely work. Its what most masons I know use (worm drive, for obvious reasons). It'll also kill the saw, but it'll take a while - daily masonry use up to several months.

Concrete cut saws are a little awkward to shape with - the masons I know who own one (stihl seems to be favored brand) still use skilsaw with a diamond blade for most things.

 

[Richard]

I've used it a couple times now. It REALLY saves a lot of time when I need to make a deep or long cut.

I'm bordering along a wall and on the other side, some of that plastic garden edging. I've picked out the stones with a flat edge to butt up against these locations. If I find another stone that's "the right stone" even though it has a rough edge on that flat side....I'll now cut that rough edge off.

I'm also cutting out 6x6 notches so the stones can fit around our 6x6 posts on 3 sides. Using the circular saw for 80% of this and then going in with my 4" grinder to clean up the cuts has worked out very nicely.

Just have to be thoughtful when cutting so I don't leave little cut marks in the stones where the blade exceeded the marks.

I got another chuckle this morning, out of the thought of using a wet saw (table variety)

I've not weighed them but little doubt in my head that some of these stones are easily 50 pounds and some are probably over 100 pounds. It's difficult enough wrestling them from the dump site to their install site. It's more difficult "machining" them with the hand held saw if need be (to cut a notch for example). I could not imagine trying to handle those larger stones on a table.... lifting up/down, moving...adjusting them...cutting...then moving again.

You can see some of the larger pieces laying on the ground.