Stonecutting / working stone on CNC's

#1

Hello - there is a big and often overflowing with offcuts marble skip near my flat which has often caught my thrifty eye. I’ve always stopped short of grabbing offcuts and discarded samples of marble from it for a future project because I don’t know if we have any tools for processing it - do we? Could we?

would it be possible to put engraving bits in the CNC’s?

Would quite like to make a herringbone table top out of various different types of stone for example.

Just exploring possibilities before I end up with more random material in my flat

#2

Oh any chance of pic of contents of said skip?

I believe cutting stone on CNC involves water, as in it’s wet cutting.

#3

Yes cutting stones is a no go because of water as mentioned. Not sure about engraving only, I will research but i don’t think it’s possible for similar reasons

1 Like
#4

It’s not marble it’s quartz and granite, my bad.

PXL_20230920_115533533
PXL_20230920_115533533.jpg2268×4032 3.73 MB
PXL_20230920_115138501
PXL_20230920_115138501.jpg4032×2268 2.57 MB
PXL_20230920_115107021
PXL_20230920_115107021.jpg4032×2268 3.1 MB

Also included an image of a bench a brewery next door has made, i believe from the scraps

Advice on fixing stone countertops
Making 2 flat plates with a handle to lift one of them up
#5

Some of the pieces in the skip look like marble rather than quartz or granite, and some pieces are good sizes too. It looks like waste from a kitchen and bathroom fitter, so probably has a variety of suitable stone, depending on what the customer chooses. Is this ongoing?

#6

Don’t know enough to ID but yeah it’s outside a fitter so gets refilled quite a lot. Nothing is ongoing, my original post was about if there is any tools to process this at the mspace.

#7

All I meant by ingoing is if it gets refilled like that quite a lot. I’d be really really interested in making use of this if there’s enough to go around, which there seems to be.

Yes, there are some tools at the space e.g. angle grinder with carbide disk. I also have some I could lend and bits I could donate e.g. diamond wire for handsaw, splitting chisel etc,. I’ve mainly worked with alabaster rather than marble, but would love to work with some of those pieces of marble being thrown out. Quartz and granite is probably far too hard, whereas marble is similar hardness to brass. If there was a supply of free offcuts like that, then setting up something for stonework may be worth considering. If anything, the issue may be space and extraction rather than tools.

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#8

The skip is near me (in Walthamstow) so if we’re keen I’m happy to bring a few bits down on the tube to experiment with but anymore and we’d need a more formal raid haha. Or I could grab a bit and keep it in my flat, then we move it via vehicle later.

There may be others closer to the space

#9

I’m in Holloway, so not far from there. I’m thinking just talk to the workshop - ask them about taking offcuts. I’m sure they’d be happy to give them to us, and it saves space in the skip. Marble gets heavy, and transport is needed, but that’s possible too.

As you say, there may be others closer. It’s a great idea calling around kitchen and bathroom fitters.

I wonder if we could find somewhere to keep pieces of marble, possibly outside? In the scrap wood toilet area?