How to cut marble circles

[Gary McKown]

I have a bunch of 12" X ½" thick marble squares and thought about making some upright paper towel holders, so need to cut circles of, say, 4" to 6" diameter (I would stack 2-3 of diminishing size). I have most common tools including BS, lathe, DP, even one of those flying circle cutters (which scare me when cutting plastic or aluminum). What would be the best/safest way to cut the circles?

I know it is "soft" rock, but would the marble just destroy a steel BS blade? Could I mount the blank on a faceplate or, with a spindle, in a chuck and use some sort of scraping parting tool? I think the lathe would be good for smoothing/polishing the edges, anyway.

[alex grams]

angle grinder with appropriate grinding attachments. then draw your circle, round it off, then maybe use a compassing arm to spin either the marble or the grinder to make the perfect circle.

[Raul Hernandez]

Marble fairly "soft" (compared to things like granite), but it is much, much harder than wood and also breaks very easily. That said, trying to cut it on your bandsaw would not only destroy your blade, but it also wouldn't even work.

You could draw out the circle with a compass and a grease pencil or sharpie (color allowing), and then roughly freehand the circle with a wet saw for cutting tile, staying proud of your mark. If you don't own a wet saw, you can rent one by the day from a local store. These have a diamond cutting blade, which is what you'd need; steel won't cut marble.

One the circle is roughed-out, you could do the fine detail work with a dremel or equivalent, if you have one. Dremel makes two bits that would be useful: a diamond cutting wheel, and a conically-shaped "diamond point" (#7144). If your tile is really 1/2" (3/8" is more common) thick, you won't be able to cut all the way through the thickness with the dremel wheel, but you'll be able to score deeply enough and with enough precision that when you go back to your wet saw to finish up, it will cut very easily and perfectly along your line. Then smooth out your edges and touch up any remaining proud spots with that diamond point shaper.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Diamond burrs in a Rotozip type tool with variable speed with the work immersed in a pan of water. You can use a Dremel but it's slow. Make a fixture and run it or just follow a line by hand.

Heavily veined marble will be like working wet tissue paper. I have epoxied the stuff to itself to get a stronger piece of material that resists breaking under the vibration of the grinding tip.

I've also cut holes in highly veined marble in a shower (for lights) using those 1/4" carbide burrs they sell for use in the various manufacture names of those zip cutters. It's the most useful thin I have put the tool to,. I hate using it on sheetrock cause it's so messy. An old school keyhole saw is way better.

[Jon Bonham]

Cut it with a ton of water. I just use my tile saw to get it close, then I use the edge to get it perfect. It helps to lay it out first with something that won't come off in the water. I just blue masking tape to lay out the outside edge.

[Jamie Buxton]

If you have a bunch to do, look into core drills. They're machines intended to bore cylindrical holes in rock and concrete. They do it with a diamond-loaded bit that cuts just the outside of the hole, like a holesaw. My local tood rental place has them, for a fairly reasonable cost.

[Gary McKown]

Based on the complexity of replies, I will forget about circles. These are leftovers from the tile job in the house 16 years ago. I have used all the perfect ones on various table tops over the years, but still have 10-12 with small chips off the corners, etc. White marble with light black grain. Any ideas?

[Raul Hernandez]

I'm sure the replies sounded complex, but it really wouldn't take a ridiculous amount of time. I'd guess that I could get one of those circles pretty perfect in maybe a total of 30-45 minutes. I've got a lot of experience working with marble tile, though.

A cool thing to do with marble (especially if you're already dealing with imperfect tiles) is to break it up into random pieces with a hammer and then fit them together into a mosaic.

[Joe Close]

Have you considered taking it down to a monument shop (place that makes headstones) and have them cut it? Sometimes places like that will do one-off jobs for a small fee. In some cases, just a thank you and a handshake is enought payment.

[Jon Bonham]

Have you considered taking it down to a monument shop (place that makes headstones) and have them cut it? Sometimes places like that will do one-off jobs for a small fee. In some cases, just a thank you and a handshake is enought payment.


There's two things that don't go together in SoCal, Guy that works stone for a living and small fee. :D

[Anthony Whitesell]

I think you have the right idea, Raul. If you can cut a circle on a table saw, then I would think you would be about to cut a circle on a wet tile saw in much the same fashion.