Soapstone can be cut with a carbide blade, however its best to use a masonry blade(I assume diamond?). Does anyone know if the Festool carbide blade can be used to cut this material? Do they sell a diamond or masonry blade? Since its a soft stone, creates alot of dust, and a perfectly straight line is needed, I want to use my Festool TS55! Just cant figure out the blade part. Someone help please!

Thanks

festool do make a blade that can be used for abrasive "concrete / cement" based products

but id take advice from festool as to if they were suitable for a stone even a stone as soft as soap stone

It really does cut pretty easy with just a segmented "turbo" diamond blade in a circular saw. I bought a 6-7" one from Harbor Freight for $10 and a 4" one for my right anghle grinder to do the sink cut out.  Messy and cuts very well.  Clean up the edges with a 60-grit in a belt sander, then RO working from 80 to 180 or 200 to gut the rest of the scratches out.

 I remodeled my sisters kitchen and installed the new soapstone. I had a piece of aluminum angle that I used as the straight edge for the straight cuts and made a template for the under mount sink.  I used a 1/2" router with a pattern bit to complete the shape of the cut out.  Get a good respirator because you end up making talc from the cuts - cut it outside! I was going to do the sink cut out inside - but we ended up not being able to carry the slab - so luckily we did it outside - my sister would still be cleaning up the mess inside if we had cut it there!

 Here are a few pictures before it was oiled.

-R

Rob, that is a great job. 

When i first went into mason biz, i cut everything the old fashioned way with hand tools.  that just took too long to meet competition, so i bought a cheapo circular saw and some abraisive type (carborundum) disc blades.  i burned out the saw on the first job.  For the next job, and the next, and so on, i kept trying other makes and burned them up very quickly.  I finally stopped in to my supplier of rental machinery and told them my problem. 

We talked for a while and they told me others were having the same problems and they did not like to rent out their "skill " saws for any type of mason work. (since most of their clientelle were masons, they must have had quite a lot of problem.  Eventually, after many many visits, the help started referring to me as "The Non-Latin Mason"  Some of my friends called me, and still do "Tinkerelli")   i asked to look over all of their hand saws and we took every one down off the shelf and looked them over very carefully.  If you look at almost every hand type circular saw, there is a sort of vent hole to cool the armature.  that vent on all but one was right down beside the blade arbor.  i determined that even tho a whole lot of dust became airborne, there was still a certain amount that would get sucked in to the armature.

We finally looked over the Milwaukee 8-1/4" and immediately, i decided that was the saw to get.  It also had that vent hole, but it was way around at the far side of the armature and brushes.  it was the most expensive "carpenters" saw they had but i had had my fill of loading up the landfill with the el cheapos.  That saw eventually lasted for just over 30 years until it finally caught fire (from inside somewhere) and just burned up.  I never used it for anything but solid masonry or "dirty" lumber that had been used for concrete forms or scaffolding.  It cut all types of stone, brick, concrete and cinder blocks and lumber full of concrete and nails.

Another thing i always advise about cutting any masonry is to do as Rob is doing.  Protect lungs and eyes.  That masonry dust will get into everything plus places that aren't even things and you don't even know they've been invented yet.  Dangerous stuff.  I not only used face and eye protection, but usually set up a fan to blow the dust away before it could rise to my face.

I have said before within previous discussions, I would NOT use my Festool saw for any type of masonry cutting, no matter what sort of blade i was using.  I seem to have a recollection that Festool will not honor their warrantee if the saw has been cutting masonry.  That is not a direct quote, just something that settled among the dust in the back of my head.  If i am wrong on this, my apologies to Festool; but if i were in the business, i would not warrantee any type of woodworking saw that was used for cutting masonry>>> period
Tinker 

That would appear to be the case. The US Instruction Manual states:

Use for intended purpose
The hand-operated circular saw TS 55 EQ is designed exclusively
for the sawing of wood, wood-like materials and plastics.
With the special saw blades for aluminium offered by Festool,
these machines can also be used for sawing aluminium.
The machine should not be converted or modifi ed, e.g. for any
other form of use, other than as specifi ed in these operating
instructions.
The user shall be liable for damages and accidents resulting
from incorrect use.

Festool Limited Warranty
This warranty is valid on the pre-condition that the tool is
used and operated in compliance with the Festool operating
instructions.

Interestingly, the instructions also mention the procedure for cutting the following:

D) Sawing plaster and cement-bonded fibre boards
Due to the high build-up of dust, using a cover (accessories)
that is mounted on the side of the protective cover is recommended.

I reckon that cutting soapstone is definitely forbidden!

Forrest

This thread is rather elderly, but I'm going to resurrect it because I've got an update...

This afternoon I discovered a new brochure on the Australian Festool website entitled Quick clean cuts, no dust TS55 Cement Sheet Sawing System

This uses a new diamond blade (160x2,2/1,6x20 Z 8, Order No 504573-79-3) which is apparently...

Perfect for cutting:
Fibre Cement Sheet
Blueboard
Plasterboard
Villaboard
Hardipanel
Compressed Concrete Sheet, up to 15mm


Issue 4 of the Australian Festool Facts also mentions the new diamond cutting system:



As can be seen, the price of the new diamond blade is 236.50 AUD (incl GST). For comparison, this is just over twice the price of the 491952 Fine 48-tooth blade that normally comes with the TS55 which is 109.45 AUD.


Forrest

Oyvind,

I went to their website.  Pretty cool stuff - but requires a contemporary building to look right in my opinion. ( I like contemporary!)

Question:  Are sparks created in the cutting process?  Just asking because of the paper bag in the CT.

Peter

Oyvind,

Thanks for the post and the pictures.  How are the joints between adjacent pieces handled?  I looks like there is a piece of flashing in the shape of a z flattened out where they stack on top of each other.

Peter

Here's a pic that shows the wall I'm currently working on.


The panels I have are 120cm wide by 300cm high, but they can be ordered in pretty much any size and shape you desire.  The panels are mounted side-by-side on planks (would you call them studs?) that are spaced 60cm CC.  On the upper and lower end there are smaller studs at 30cm CC to avoid the 'hungry dog'  look since the panels are quite flexible.  The panels are mounted so that air can freely circulate behind them, which means leaving some free room at the top and bottom when mounting.

It is very important that the studs are in the same plane.  Since the render on my walls is quite uneven, and the house has some sag to boot, every plank has to be carefully shimmed to line up on the vertical plane.  I use 3mm fiberboard that I rip and break into suitable lengths for shims.  They can be easily split with a knife for fine adjustment.

As you can see, I've mounted new shale plates under the windows.  Next week I'll order aluminum 'Z' profiles that are mounted to the sides and top of the window opening.  I glue these with Tec-7 (great stuff...)

Next, each plank is faced with a 50mm wide strip of white rubber-like material.  Then the panels are mounted side-by-side with a 5mm spacing between the panels.  This is where the rubber strip is important, since it acts as a seal and weatherproofing in the vertical gaps between the panels.

On the horizontal joints, an 'h'-formed aluminum profile is slipped over the lower panel to form a weatherproof joint.  Corners are also formed with a special aluminum profile.  The screws are stainless steel with white powder-coated heads.

Steni is by no means a cheap siding, but it is a very long-lasting one.  I'm looking at material costs that are pretty close to $100/m², and I'm doing pretty much all the work myself with some help from a carpenter neighbor.  For comparison, the quotes for restoring the cement rendering and painting were close to double, and I would still have to paint the house every few years and deal with any new cracks.  With this investment, I expect future maintenance to be next to nothing   

Please do.  I find it interesting that the horizontal joints are joined with an H profile.  I suppose that it would help counter the flexibility of the product, but unless the siding fit extremely tight in it, it could become a channel for water.  I guess with the air space behind the risk wouldn't be much.  Also with the make up of the product being of a non-absorbing material, having the ends potentially sit in a little water would not be detrimental.

Goes to show that it can be the little details that be the difference between success and failure - especially in the long term.

Thanks for the great post.  Keep us informed as to your progress.

Peter

I read your post gain and you used "h".  I have never seen a profile like that and wrongly assumed "H" which I have seen.

Peter