How Do You Cut Bluestone?

When laying bluestone pavers or tiles in your home, you may come across situations when you need to cut them in order to get the perfect fit. Cutting through natural stone, however, can be a difficult task, as the tiles are prone to splitting and chipping with even the slightest pressure. Use these instructions to ensure you get a professional finish with your stone:

Step 1: Measure where you will need to make cuts on your bluestone tiles and mark out these lines on the face of the tiles using a metal square and a white crayon. Measure twice to avoid mistakes.

Step 2: Set up the power cutter that you have rented from your local hardware store. Place a piece of scrap wood on the bed so that, once the blade has gone through the stone, it will go into the wood and not the bed of the cutter. Make sure that the water reservoir is filled.

Step 3: Place the bluestone tile on top of the piece of wood. Then, set the cutter’s blade so that it will make an incision between a quarter and a half of an inch in the stone. Turn the blade on and push it downwards, using a moderate pressure, to make your first cut.

Step 4: Set the cutter’s blade down another quarter to a half of an inch and make your second cut. You will need to continue in this manner until you have cut all the way through the bluestone.

Whenever you are cutting bluestone , it is of the utmost importance that you take the proper safety precautions. Cutting natural stone creates a lot of dust, so you should always work in a well-ventilated area and wear a breathing mask, safety goggles and thick work gloves.