How to cut an artificial stone countertop
How to defeat porcelain stoneware
For drilling porcelain stoneware, because it is very hard, use a drill with a special attachment.
Drilling porcelain stoneware is not easy, it is one of the heaviest materials to work with. To get a straight edge of the hole, you should always start from the front side. At the exit, the drill can chip, but in this case it will remain invisible. If the board you are going to drill is not yet secured to the floor or wall, place a flat board or piece of Fiberboard underneath it.
If the diameter of the intended hole is more than 6-8 mm, you must first drill it with a tool with a smaller diameter. To work with porcelain stoneware, it is better to use a hammer drill or a sufficiently powerful drill.
The drilling speed is low or medium, depending on the diameter of the drill. The larger the diameter, the lower the speed. It is better not to use a striker, there is a risk of splitting the plate. In some cases, especially with a large thickness of material, a striker at low speeds is used if there are no voids under the slab, but everyone does this at their own peril and risk. When drilling, it is necessary to use water for cooling.
The best results are obtained when using diamond tools. In practice, different drills are used: carbide tips for tiles, a nib with a diamond tip, diamond-coated tubes, diamond core bits.
Good results are obtained with thin-walled monolithic diamond-metal pipes made in China, and they are also inexpensive, about 1 dollar.
The drill will wear less when drilled perpendicular to the material plane. For this, a drill or hammer drill can be mounted on a vertical stand. In this case, the drill resource is almost doubled.
It can be very difficult to start drilling with a crown on a smooth surface, it always tries to move to the side, scratching the surface. Therefore, to obtain a high-quality result, you can pre-make a template for holes of different diameters. The template is firmly clamped with clamps and prevents the crown from moving away from the drilling point. You can also add water here for cooling.
You can start drilling at an angle to the plane if the template is not used: then the crown cuts into the stone with one side, and then aligns. But this method is best used on softer materials.
Likewise, you can drill holes in concrete and agglomerate stone.
50 DIY How to Cut Quartz, Granite or Marble Counter with a Circular Saw.
How and what can you make a hole
For material such as artificial stone, you can use the same tools as when working with concrete products. The tool used for drilling the hardest materials can be successfully used for all types of drilling. This is usually done by one of the following items:
- puncher;
- drill;
- electric screwdriver;
- angle grinder.
An angle grinder is used for drilling using special diamond crowns, the design of which allows them to be used by winding them onto a shaft to fasten the disk. The crown is installed at right angles to the body of the angle grinder.
Drills or crowns are selected taking into account the size of the required hole and the hardness of the material used. Typically, they have a carbide tip, tipped with Pobedit, diamond-plated or tipped with diamond segments.
Clamps are used to fasten the material. Dry and drilling with water is used to cool the cutting edge of the tool and the stone itself. In addition, the water clears the drill cuttings, leaving the edge of the drill hole smoother. Much less dust during wet drilling.
In order to drill with water at home, make a plasticine bath around the drilling site or put a rubber ring where water is added. When using a template, water can be poured directly into it by sealing the cracks with ordinary tape. Sometimes water is just added a little from a plastic bottle.
Artificial stone can sometimes have a polished surface on which it is difficult to see the mowing line of the marking. In this case, paper construction tape glued to its surface will help. The mowing lines are clearly visible on it, even if you draw them with a pencil.
How to drill and cut artificial stone
Artificial stone in appearance is sometimes difficult to distinguish from natural. And in terms of strength and resistance to external atmospheric influences, in some cases it may even surpass it.
How To Cut Granite Countertop
Types of decorative stone: agglomerate, acrylic stone, porcelain stoneware, artificial concrete stone.
It is very important that the weight of such a stone and its cost is much lower than that of natural.
These qualities largely determine its popularity in the interior and exterior decoration of houses and apartments. It is also used for laying garden paths, equipping bathrooms, making countertops and window sills. Therefore, many home-builders are interested in how to cut such a stone, if you need to change its size or shape, how and how to drill holes, for example, for water pipes.
Artificial stone made using different technologies has different hardness. It depends on which components were used as filler and binder. All such types of stone can be divided into:
Agglomerates, which include large quartz, granite, marble or limestone chips, and sometimes whole pieces of stone bound with polyester resins, can be stronger than natural samples. The acrylic stone contains a fine-grained filler (up to 70%) and acrylic resin. This distinguishes it from agglomerates, makes it plastic when heated. It can be scratched or scorched.
Products made of porcelain stoneware are superior in hardness to ceramics and glass, since their main component is highly compressed kaolin clay.
Stones made from sand and cement or Portland cement are similar in properties to ordinary concrete. In some cases, manufacturers replace white cement with gypsum. Such artificial stones are less hard, can be easily processed, are cheaper, but are relatively easily destroyed by moisture and low temperatures.
Features of working with acrylic and plaster
All the methods mentioned above are suitable for working with any artificial stone. However, acrylic stone has a more plastic structure and allows the use of tools of less high hardness. Drilling in acrylic stone is more like working with hardwood or aluminum.
Therefore, it can be drilled using conventional metal drills, even a feather drill for wood or a Forstner cutter will do. Large holes are drilled with a crown or tubular drill. Can be drilled dry.
Artificial stone, cast using gypsum as a binder, also does not require the use of a tool of increased hardness. Sometimes, to work with it, they use an ordinary hacksaw for metal, or even for wood, an assembly knife, an abrasive mesh or sandpaper. You can drill it with a simple drill for metal, if there are few holes. But for the cleanliness of the work, it is better to use drills or bits with carbide tipped.
Drilling can be carried out using a cordless electric screwdriver, choosing the drill of the required diameter.
You can easily process a hole using a hand-held wood router by changing the shape of the hole or its dimensions.
How to give the slab the right size and shape
At the enterprises, artificial stone is cut on stone-cutting machines with a supply of coolant to the cutting site; laser or water-jet cutting is also performed. The last two methods allow you to give the stone the most amazing, even curved shape.
At home, the choice is not so great. You can solve this problem with a hand-held circular or plunge-cut circular saw, choosing a blade that matches the material being cut. An electric tile cutter will do just as well.
Electric tile cutters are equipped with a small bathtub of coolant located under his work table. According to the principle of operation, such tile cutters are of two types. In one case, the disk is stationary, and its working table moves with a stone fixed on it. In the other, the disc, together with the drive, moves along the guides above the cutting plane.
All of these devices work with diamond blades of various configurations, solid and segmented.
If the relief and thickness of stone tiles allows, it can also be cut with a manual tile cutter.
But the most versatile tool for cutting stone is considered to be an angle grinder with a diamond disc. It is advisable to choose a disc with a large diameter. Different discs are available for different materials.
To cut cuts in stone, they sometimes use a jigsaw, a diamond string. There are also special stone blades for ordinary metal hacksaws.
When reworking the countertop, the main thing is to understand whether there is enough material.
To understand whether there is enough material for reworking the product, you need a drawing of the countertop that is available and a drawing of the countertop that should eventually work out. If there is not enough material, then difficulties arise with the search and acquisition of material. The difficulty may lie in the fact that such material has already been discontinued and you need to look for, ask fellow manufacturers in the leftovers. Even if the material is found, it may differ slightly during gluing. Lot from lot of the same manufacturer is often slightly different. Sometimes there were times when different parties fit perfectly, but this is rare. If the required material from a certain manufacturer could not be purchased, then there is an opportunity to pick up material from another manufacturer. There are many manufacturers of artificial acrylic stone and each has similar, popular colors. You can choose a similar color, but you will still see the difference when gluing. It may not be so obvious, but if you look closely, you can see the difference in color or structure.
SAW THE WORKTOP. SHORTEN. TRANSFER.
An artificial stone worktop made of a material with a layer of at least 12 mm will reliably serve as a work surface in the kitchen. Acrylic stone retains its good appearance for a long time, thanks to this, the acrylic stone countertop can be safely used for 10-14 years. Renowned manufacturers of artificial acrylic stone give a 10-year guarantee for their material. During this period of operation of the countertop, small scratches, chips, spots appear on the surface of the product. these damages can be easily removed by surface grinding. Acrylic stone allows you to repeatedly update the surface of the product, it is the most practical material for the manufacture of complex products. Artificial acrylic stone can be repaired, glued, bent. A choice of huge colors and textures. Artificial acrylic stone products can be altered, extended, or reconfigured.
Imagine that several years have passed and you want to change the configuration of the countertop, change the kitchen unit or replace the lower basket with a different size, but you do not want to change the entire countertop. because it is in good condition and is not cheap. So, a countertop made of artificial acrylic stone can be easily sawn and re-glued. It is also possible to increase the length of the countertop, but you need a material of the same batch and series (preferably the remainder), otherwise there is a possibility that the material will differ in color. The material of the same brand and collection but different batch will be different. As a rule, for manufacturers, the material of one batch differs from another batch slightly in color or structure (more or less inclusions). It happens that the material has already been discontinued and is no longer produced, then you can pick up a similar material from another manufacturer, but there is a high probability that there will be a clear difference that will be noticeable directly during gluing, even if they are very similar.
Very often we are approached by clients who want to transfer their tabletop to another address and change the configuration of the tabletop. Acrylic stone can be altered, glued, sawn, built up, but there are some points when performing these works.
Artificial stone type. Artificial acrylic sheet stone comes in different thicknesses.
It is necessary to determine what kind of artificial stone was used in the manufacture of the countertop that needs to be redone. To do this, you need to photograph the edge of the tabletop (overhang 2-3 cm) from below so that the substrate can be seen.
Depending on the configuration of the countertop, the layer of stone, specialists will be able to understand how best to carry out repair work. On the countertop where the layer of stone is 3-6 mm, difficulties may arise. As a rule, the joints of such countertops are not reliable. A layer of stone of 3-6 mm does not allow for high-quality gluing, since the substrate on such countertops is solid and there is no way to additionally strengthen the joint. On the 6 mm tabletop, in principle, there is a technology that we use to strengthen, again, an individual approach to each tabletop is needed.
Regarding the filler stone, we unfortunately recommend replacing the product. You cannot alter the product. Here is a completely different technology and it is better to contact a specialist in jellied stone.
Here are examples of photos thanks to which we can understand which layer of stone was used in the manufacture of the countertop:
Artificial stone countertop care
Quartz
To keep the quartz agglomerate surface clean every day, clean water and a cloth will come in handy. If necessary, the area is treated with a household cleaner without the presence of abrasives, alkali and chlorine.
How to remove stains from a countertop?
Of course, no one is safe from the appearance of even the smallest stains on the kitchen surface made of artificial stone. Therefore, advice on how to cope with such flaws, depending on the material of the countertop, will come in handy:
Acrylic stone
Dirt on the acrylic surface can be fought with laundry soap, various acid-free and abrasive-free cleaning agents, and a soft cloth. Movement on the surface when using a napkin should be performed in a circle.
How to remove a hot stain on the countertop if no remedy helps? The defect disappears easily after grinding.
How to cut an under mount sink on granite or engineer stone.
- Hot water
- Acrylic stone
- From liquid stone and quartz
- Recommendations
The artificial stone used to make countertops comes in many different types. In particular, there are surfaces made of acrylic, liquid stone and quartz agglomerate. The popularity of materials is explained by their positive characteristics, among which are strength, durability, attractive appearance. However, a stone countertop requires careful maintenance, and in the presence of such elements of kitchen furniture, you need to know how to use them correctly.
From liquid stone and quartz
As for the sinks made of liquid stone and quartz, their surface is able to withstand the influence of boiling water. However, it is recommended to avoid hot water.
Hot water
One of the common questions asked by stone product owners is whether the surface can handle hot water? As a rule, the direct hit of boiling water most often occurs on the surface of the sink.