2 Hard Rock Questions

[Rennie Heuer]

A friend of a friend gave me these two pieces of quartz (about 4" wide, 5' long and pretty thick) and three smaller bits of granite. You know the story - Hey, you're a woodworker, could you use this?

Aside from the obvious sticking some sandpaper to it and using it to sharpen (question #1) what can be done with this? Question 2 is does anyone want it? Free to a good home, though if you can't come and get it, or at leaset meet me part way, the shipping would be a killer.

 

[Leo Voisine]

Using diamond coated bits on a CNC Router, some cool stuff can be made.

 

[Ted Calver]

These look like they might be used backsplash material. I get bunches of it for $20 a load from the local granite place, It's between 1" and 1-1/14" thick. I guess it's material removed during home renovations . In addition to the sandpaper sharpening trick, I used it with sandpaper to level my cigar box guitar frets, also used it to edge my garden paths and cut it into squares on the tile saw for making mosaic stepping stones. I've also seen it cut and used in building fountains.

 

[Charles Lent]

A granite counter top company near me pointed to their scrap pile when I asked if I could get a piece to use in my wood shop for sharpening, precision measuring, etc. When he pointed to the scrap pile he said "don't leave me with a mess to clean up" and "take all you want. It will help me avoid the cost of taking it to the dump". I picked out several pieces that seamed suitable and re-stacked what I had to move to get them. I kept one for myself and made several woodworker friends very happy when I gave each one a remaining piece. Many were suitable for building small tables, etc. but some had diamond saw cut edges on several sides that weren't polished smooth.

Those are too narrow to do much with, except maybe cutting them into squares for inserting in a walkway, making heavy duty coasters, etc. If you have time and a tile wet saw, you should be able to cut them to whatever size you need. A ceramic tile installer might have interest in them for bathroom thresholds, etc. so maybe you can get him to cut one for you in exchange for the other, or trade him these for something that he has surplus.

Charley